18 Facts About Tilman Riemenschneider

Tilman Riemenschneider was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between the Late Gothic, to which he essentially belonged, and Northern Renaissance art, a master in limewood and stone.

Tilman Riemenschneider was a local politician in the council of Wurzburg.

Tilman Riemenschneider was largely forgotten soon after his death, but rediscoved by art historians in the 19th century.

Tilman Riemenschneider was born around the year 1460 at Heiligenstadt im Eichsfeld in present-day Thuringia.

When Riemenschneider was about five years old, his father was involved in a violent political conflict, the Mainzer Stiftsfehde, so the family had to leave Heiligenstadt and all their possessions.

Tilman Riemenschneider's uncle served as notary and financial advisor to the bishop there, but he did not stay for long.

Also in 1485, Tilman Riemenschneider became a citizen of Wurzburg, which made it possible to attain the status of master craftsman, and opened a workshop in Franziskanergasse, in the home of his wife.

Tilman Riemenschneider's earliest confirmed work is the gravestone of Eberhard von Grumbach in the parish church at Rimpar.

Tilman Riemenschneider then received numerous orders from the town councils of Wurzburg and neighboring towns.

Tilman Riemenschneider's flourishing workshop is estimated to have provided work for as many as 40 employees.

Tilman Riemenschneider married again, in 1520, a woman of whom only the first name, Margarethe, is known.

Tilman Riemenschneider's increasing engagement in local politics at a time of heavy order volume meant that his employees and apprentices took a more prominent role in the creation of the workshop's output.

Together with the rest of the council, Tilman Riemenschneider was set free after two months, with loss of most of his property.

Unlike Albrecht Durer or Veit Stoss, Tilman Riemenschneider acquired true fame only posthumously.

The sculptures and woodcarvings of Tilman Riemenschneider are in the late Gothic style.

Tilman Riemenschneider's work is equally characterized by the expressiveness of the figurines' faces.

Tilman Riemenschneider is seen today as one of the first sculptors of the 15th century who did not have all his figures painted.

Tilman Riemenschneider serves both as an artistic inspiration for Goldmund and as a foil for the less restrained temperament of Goldmund.