Nikolaus Gerhaert (c.1420 – 28 June 1473), also known as Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden, was a Dutch
sculptor, 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 European sculptor of the 15th century. He was born in
Leiden,
Holland (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,
Straßburg,
Baden,
Konstanz, and
Vienna. Much of his documented work is lost to history, but what has survived is characterized by elaborate drapery and extreme physical
realism, both extraordinarily vivid and unconventional. His specialties were
tombs,
altarpieces and other religious pieces.
Sandstone and
limestone 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, 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[1] in
Wiener Neustadt (present day
Austria) 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[2]
Berlin,
Bode museum: Madonna with child, circa 1460/1470
Frankfurt,
Liebieghaus: Two heads, a prophet and a sibylle, fragments from the portal of the Strasbourg chancellery
^Renate Kohn, 'Eine bisher unbekannte Grabinschrift des Niclas Gerhaert von Leyden', Wiener Geschichtsblätter 48 (Vienna 1993), pp. 164–70.
^(in German) Mechtild Ohnmacht, Das Kruzifix des Niclaus Gerhaert von Leyden in Baden-Baden von 1467 : Typus, Stil, Herkunft, Nachfolge, P. Lang, Francfort, Berlin, Berne, 1973, 157 p.
ISBN3-261-00868-7 (texte remanié d'une thèse, Munich, 1971).
^(in French) Philippe Lorentz, « Nicolas Gerhaert de Leyde et le chanoine Conrad de Bussnang : au cœur d'un réseau de commanditaires », in Fabienne Joubert (dir.), L'artiste et le clerc : commandes artistiques des grands ecclésiastiques à la fin du Moyen Âge (XIVe-XVIe siècles), Presses Paris Sorbonne, 2006, p. 305-328,
ISBN9782840504382