Veit Stoss
As with Copernicus, the issue of the nationality of the man who carved the Mariacki altar - unquestionably the greatest work of art ever created in Poland - was long the source of a rather sterile dispute between Polish and German protagonists. Although his early career remains something of a mystery, it now seems indisputable that the sculptor's original name was Veit Stoss , and that he was born between 1440 and 1450 in Horb at the edge of the Black Forest, settling later in Nuremberg, where a few early works by him have been identified. He came to Krakow in 1477, perhaps at the invitation of the royal court (the Polish queen was an Austrian princess), though more likely at the behest of the German merchant community, a sizeable but declining minority in the city, who worshipped in the Mariacki and paid for its new altar by subscription. Despite being his first major commission, the Mariacki altarpiece is Stoss's masterpiece. It triumphantly displays every facet of late-Gothic sculpture: the architectural setting, complete with its changing lights, is put to full dramatic effect; there is mastery over every possible scale, from the huge figures in the central shrine to the tiny figurines and decoration in the borders; subtle use is made of a whole gamut of technical devices, from three different depths of relief to a graded degree of gilding according to the importance of the scene; and the whole layout is based on a scheme of elaborate theological complexity that would nevertheless be bound to make an impression on the many unlettered worshippers who viewed it. It would seem that it is mostly Stoss's own work: gilders and joiners were certainly employed, but otherwise he was probably only helped by one assistant and one apprentice. While engaged on the altarpiece, Stoss carved the relief of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane , now in the City Art Museum. Made of sandstone, a material he later used for the Mariacki crucifix, it is indicative of his exceptional versatility with materials. This is further apparent in consideration of the works he created after finishing the altarpiece: the tomb of King Kazimierz the Jagiellonian in the Wawel cathedral is of Salzburg marble, the epitaph to Philippus Buonaccorsi in the Dominican Church is of bronze, while his two other key Polish commissions - the episcopal monuments in the cathedrals of Gniezno and Wloclawek - are both of Hungarian marble. These sculptures made Stoss a great Polish celebrity, and he rose far above his artisan status to engage in extensive commercial activities, and to dabble in both architecture and engineering. The forms of the Mariacki altarpiece and his monuments were widely imitated throughout Poland, and continued to be so for the next half-century. It therefore seems all the more curious that he returned to Nuremberg in 1496, remaining there until his death in 1533. His homecoming was a traumatic experience: Nuremberg was well endowed with specialist craftsmen, and Stoss was forced to follow suit, concentrating on producing single, unpainted wooden figures. Attempts to maintain his previous well-to-do lifestyle led him into disastrous business dealings, which culminated in his forging a document, as a result of which he was branded on both cheeks and forbidden to venture beyond the city. He never really came to terms with the ideals of the Italian Renaissance, which took strong root in Nuremberg, nor did he show any enthusiasm for the Protestant Reformation, which was supported by nearly all the great German artists of the day, most notably his fellow townsman, Albrecht Durer. Yet, even if Stoss never repeated the success of his Krakow years, he continued to produce memorable and highly individualistic sculptures, above all the spectacular garlanded Annunciation suspended from the ceiling of Nuremberg's church of St Lorenz.
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