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Peter Flötner, also Flatner, Flettner, or Floetner (c. 1490 in
Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...
– 23 October 1546, in
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
), was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
designer, sculptor, and
printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...
. He was a leading figure in the introduction of Italianate Renaissance design to sculpture and the decorative arts in Germany, competing in this regard with the Vischer Family of Nuremberg. He designed and produced work in a wide range of media, but "seems to have made only a modest living", unlike many of his contemporary artists.


Life and work

Flötner probably trained as a goldsmith in
Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
with Adolf Daucher. Under his master's guidance he contributed to the goldwork in the Fugger Chapel . After an interlude in Italy, he became a master craftsman in
Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...
. He moved to Nuremberg in 1522 and took the ''Bürgereid'' ( "Citizen oath"), described as a sculptor. Two of his most important free-standing sculptures are a 34.5 cm tall limewood figure of a nude man, possibly Adam, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, his only surviving signed sculpture, and the figure of
Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
firing a bow on the ''Apollo Fountain'' (1532). The fountain was made for the ''Herrenschiesshaus'' in Nuremberg, and cast in bronze by Pankraz Labenwolf. As a printmaker he produced prints for other artists or artisans to follow as patterns: designs for furniture, altarpiece surrounds, or goldwork, and panels of ornament, as well as book illustrations, playing cards, and a decorative alphabet. He became increasingly a designer of works that were actually made by others, even in media such as gold or bronze that he was trained in himself. Reliefs, medals and similar objects were modelled in carved wood or wax, with drawings for other types of object. Small easily portable metal relief plaques and statuettes were produced in editions and, like his prints, played a leading part in disseminating Italianate style across Northern Europe, following the pattern begun by the prints of Nuremberg's most famous artist,
Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
. His plaques appear in a variety of metals, but most often
brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...
, though lead, bronze and gilded ones (illustrated) are also found. At least 17 examples of one design are known.Scultz, 445 A collection of his prints and designs, the ''Kunstbuch'', was published after his death in 1549. He designed the sculptural decoration, and possibly the architecture, of the ''Hirschvogelhaus'' (destroyed in 1945) and the Tucherschloss villa in Nuremberg. He also made the triumphal arch of
Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
(no longer standing) and may have contributed to parts of
Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle () is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th c ...
. Flötner was also interested in
Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...
's scientific work. Two years after Flötner's death, Petrejus of Nuremberg published the first German translation of Vitruvius, largely on the back of Peter Flötner's previous work. Like Dürer and other artists, he is buried in the ''Johannisfriedhof'' cemetery. Flötner received most attention around 1900. He was seen as one of the finest German architects of his time and a pioneer of Italianesque architecture in the north. Braun (see "sources") emphasized Flötner's importance for Renaissance art, and said "genius" was not too much praise for him. There was a 1945 exhibition of his work in the German National Museum.


Works designed

*Choir stalls and organ in the chapel of Fugger in Augsburg, Germany - 1516-18 *Fountain in Mainz, 1526 *''Apollo Fountain'' in Nuremberg, 1532 *Hirsvogelsaal (Hirschvogel Hall), composition, and interior *Triumphal arch of Emperor Charles V, Nuremberg - 1541 *Ottheinrichsbau (design of the facade) of the Heidelberg Castle (not certain) 1546–50


Notes

''This article was translated from its equivalent in the German Wikipedia on 18 July 2009.''


References

*Schultz, Ellen (ed). ''Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg'', 1986, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, * Dr. Konrad Lange: ''Peter Flötner, ein Bahnbrecher der deutschen Renaissance'', Grote-Verlag Berlin 1897 * E.F. Bange: ''Peter Flötner, Meister der Graphik Band XIV'', Leipzig 1926 * Prof. Dr. Edmund Braun: ''Peter Flötner'', Verlag Karl Ulrich, Nürnberg 1950 * J. Reimers: ''Peter Flötner nach seinen Handzeichnungen und Holzschnitten'', Sirth's Kunstverlag, Leipzig 1890 * Albrecht Haupt: ''Peter Flettner, der erste Meister des Ottheinrichsbaus zu Heidelberg'', Leipzig 1904 * Barbara Dienst: ''Der Kosmos des Peter Flötner. Eine Bildwelt der Renaissance in Deutschland''.
Deutscher Kunstverlag The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and bu ...
, München und Berlin 2002, (zugl. Dissertation, Universität Jena 1998) * Joachim Thiel: ''Peter Flötner und sein architektonisches Oeuvre'' in 'Der Hirschvogelsaal (Hirsvogelsaal) - Festarchitektur des 16. Jahrhunderts', Nürnberg und München 1986


External links


Ornamental Prints in the Art Library of Berlin
(Caution - no return link!)
Press release on Hirschvogel Hall
(PDF; 32 kB)
Review by Barbara Dienst: ''Der Kosmos des Peter Flötner'' 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flotner, Peter German sculptors German male sculptors German printmakers German goldsmiths 1490s births 1540 deaths 16th-century German artists