Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

WOHLGEMUTH, MICHAEL (1434-1519)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 769 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

WOHLGEMUTH, See also:MICHAEL (1434-1519) , See also:German painter, was See also:born at See also:Nuremberg in 1434. Little is known of his private See also:life beyond the fact that in 1472 he married the widow of the painter Hans Pleydenwurff, whose son Wilhelm worked as an assistant to his stepfather. The importance of Wohlgemuth as an artist rests, not only on his own individual paintings, but also on the fact that he was the See also:head of a large workshop, in which many different branches of the See also:fine arts were carried on by a See also:great number of See also:pupil-assistants, including See also:Albert See also:Durer. In this atelier not only large See also:altar-pieces and other sacred paintings were executed, but also elaborate retables in carved See also:wood, consisting of crowded subjects in high See also:relief, richly decorated with See also:gold and See also:colour, such as pleased the rather doubtful See also:Teutonic See also:taste of that See also:time. Wood-See also:engraving was also carried on in the same workshop, the blocks being cut from Wohlgemuth's designs, many of which are remarkable for their vigour and See also:clever See also:adaptation to the See also:special necessities of the technique of woodcutting. Two large and copiously illustrated books have woodcuts supplied by Wohlgemuth and his stepson Wilhelm Pleydenwurff. The first is the Schatzkammer der wahren Reichthumer See also:des Heils, printed by Koburger in 1491; the other is the Historia mundi, by Schedel, 1493-1494, usually known as the Nuremberg See also:Chronicle, which is highly valued, not for the See also:text, but for its remarkable collection of spirited engravings. The earliest known See also:work by Wohlgemuth is a See also:retable consisting of four panels, dated 1465, now in the See also:Munich See also:gallery, a decorative work of much beauty. In 1479 he painted the retable of the high altar in the See also:church of St See also:Mary at See also:Zwickau, which still exists, receiving for it the large sum of 1400 gulden. One of his finest and largest See also:works is the great retable painted for the church of the See also:Austin friars at Nuremberg, now moved into the museum; it consists of a great many panels, with figures of those See also:saints whose See also:worship was specially popular at Nuremberg. In 1501 Wohlgemuth was employed to decorate the See also:town See also:hall at See also:Goslar with a large See also:series of paintings; some on the See also:ceiling are on See also:panel, and others on the walls are painted thinly in See also:tempera on See also:canvas. As a portrait-painter he enjoyed much repute, and some of his works of this class are very admirable for their realistic vigour and See also:minute finish.

Outside See also:

Germany Wohlgemuth's paintings are scarce: the Royal Institution at See also:Liverpool possesses two See also:good examples—" See also:Pilate washing his Hands," and " The Deposition from the See also:Cross," parts probably of a large altar-piece. During the last ten years of his life Wohlgemuth appears to have produced little by his own See also:hand. One of his latest paintings is the retable at See also:Schwabach, executed in 1508, the See also:contract for which still exists. He died at Nuremberg in 1519. See the reproductions in See also:Die Gemdlde von Durer and Wohlgemuth, by Riehl and Thode (Nuremberg, 1889-1895).

End of Article: WOHLGEMUTH, MICHAEL (1434-1519)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
WOHLER, FRIEDRICH (1800-1882) 		[next]
WOKING

Site © 2006 - Net Industries