Nikolaus Gerhaert (c.1420 – 28 June 1473), also known as Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden, was a Dutch

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, although aside from his sculptures, few details are known of his life. He worked in both stone and wood.

Biography

Gerhaert is considered to be the most influential

northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

an sculptor of the 15th century. He was born in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

(present day Netherlands) sometime around 1420. Based on the location of his work, he spent most his working life in the Germanic areas of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Straßburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

, and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Much of his documented work is lost to history, but what has survived is characterized by elaborate drapery and extreme physical

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

, both extraordinarily vivid and unconventional. His specialties were

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

s and other religious pieces.

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

are among his most frequent mediums. One of his most well known works currently resides in the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame in Strasbourg (

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, present day France). Called the ''Buste d'homme accoudé'' (circa 1465), it is an undisputed masterpiece, and is believed to be a self-portrait. Gerhaert died on 28 June 1473 in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

(present day

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) while working on the tomb of emperor Frederick III. Nicolaus Gerhaert was summoned to the imperial court to create this tomb after the death of his wife empress Eleanor of Portugal. The tomb was completed in 1513.

Works

Public works attributed to Nicolaus Gerhaert are the following: ; In Germany * Baden-Baden, parish church: ''Crucifix of Baden-Baden'', 1467 * Berlin,

Bode museum The Bode-Museum (English: ''Bode Museum''), formerly called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (''Emperor Frederick Museum''), is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1898 to 1904 by order of Germa ...

: ''Madonna with child'', circa 1460/1470 * Frankfurt,

Liebieghaus The Liebieghaus is a late 19th-century villa in Frankfurt, Germany. It contains a sculpture museum, the ''Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus'', which is part of the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of the River Main. Max Hollein was the direc ...

: ''Two heads, a prophet and a sibylle'', fragments from the portal of the Strasbourg chancellery * Trier,

Museum am Dom Trier A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

: ''Tomb of archbishop Jakob von Sierck'', 1462 ; In Austria * Vienna,

Stephansdom St. Stephen's Cathedral (german: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, ...

: ''Tomb of emperor Frederick III'' ; In France * Strasbourg, Cathedral of Strasbourg, chapel on the left side of the choir: ''Epitaph of canon Conrad de Bussnang'', 1464 * Strasbourg, Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame: ** ''Head of an ottoman in turban'', circa 1464 ** ''Meditating man'', before 1467 ** ''Head of a man with lopsided face'', red sandstone ; In the United States * New York,

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

: Standing virgin with child, circa 1470 * Chicago,

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

: Saint Margaret of Antioch (attributed), walnut with traces of polychromy, circa 1465

Gallery

File:Dangolsheimer Muttergottes.jpg, ''Dangolsheimer Muttergottes'' (attributed), Strasbourg circa 1460/63 (

Bode-Museum The Bode-Museum (English: ''Bode Museum''), formerly called the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (''Emperor Frederick Museum''), is a listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1898 to 1904 ...

, Berlin) File:Nicolaus von Leyden, Self-portrait2.JPG, ''Man meditating (possibly self-portrait), circa 1465 ( Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg) File:Sybille (genannt Bärbel von Ottenheim) Liebieghaus.jpg, ''Sibylle, also referred to as

Bärbel von Ottenheim Bärbel is a German-language feminine given name, often a diminutive or variant of the name Barbara. Individuals bearing the name Bärbel include: *Bärbel Bas (born 1968), German politician * Bärbel Bendiks, East German rower * Bärbel Beuerma ...

'', Strasbourg circa 1460/63 (

, Frankfurt) File:Barbele d'ottenheim.jpg, ''Sibylle, also referred to as

'', plaster File:Homme au turban-Nicolas de Leyde-Strasbourg (1).jpg, ''Prophet with turban'', possibly Jakob von Lichtenberg ( Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg) File:Abguss Prophet (genannt Jakob von Lichtenberg) Liebieghaus.jpg, ''Prophet with turban'', plaster File:Workshop of Nicolaus von Leyden, Paralysed Man.JPG, ''Buste of man with lopsided face'', from his workshop (Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg) File:Portrait du chanoine Conrad de Bussang-Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame (2).jpg, ''Head of man'' (attributed) (Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame, Strasbourg) File:Épitaphe du chanoine Conrad de Bussnang cathédrale de Strasbourg.jpg, Fragment of tomb of Konrad von Bussnang File:Nicolaus Gerhaert van Leyden 001.JPG, ''Standing Virgin and Child''''Standing Virgin and Child''
picture and commentary from the

. It is one of only eight works in wood attributed to Nikolaus. File:Saint_Margaret_of_Antioch,_Nicolaus_Gerhaert_van_Leyden.jpg, Saint Margaret of Antioch (attributed) (Art Institute of Chicago) File:Wien - Stephansdom, Grabmal Kaiser Friedrichs III.JPG, Tomb of emperor Frederick III in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna

References

"Nikolaus Gerhaert von Leyden"
In ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'' Online.
''Buste d'homme accoudé''
at the Musée de l'Oeuvre de Notre Dame in Strasbourg, picture and commentary from the Web Gallery of Art

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhaert, Nikolaus 1420s births 1473 deaths Artists from Leiden Early Netherlandish sculptors Dutch sculptors Dutch male sculptors German male sculptors Austrian male sculptors

Biography

Works

Gallery

See also

References

External links