Grace Bland

Mystery and Mastery: Tilman Riemenschneider’s Monochromatic Altarpiece of the Holy Blood

This project explores the meaning of monochrome in the work of the early sixteenth century German sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531). The Jakobskirche (St. James Church) in Rothenburg, Germany houses his most famous work; the entirely monochromatic Holy Blood Altarpiece, completed in 1505. Riemenschneider’s Holy Blood Altarpiece functioned as an altarpiece and a reliquary for three drops of sacramental blood from the thirteenth century which made St. James a well-known pilgrimage site for several centuries. While Riemenschneider’s altar stands in the West choir of the church, the high altar of St. James stands in the East, polychromed with rich colors and gilding. Riemenschneider’s divergence from color and traditional altarpiece production is evident in the dichotomy between the two altarpieces of St. James church. While scholars have recognized Riemenschneider’s divergence from color and his mastery of sculpting in limewood, his motivations and ability to do so have not been fully explored. In response, this paper considers the various reasons as to why Riemenschneider was able to make monochrome sculptures and how those factors inform his art production. Among the reasons for monochrome sculpture includes the prolific circulation of black and white prints in Germany, proto-Reformation sentiments, and aesthetic appreciations of the material. Riemenschneider’s work has a strong correlation to the prints of the engraver Martin Schongauer. In addition, most of his work was done during the eve of the Reformation with Martin Luther posting his Ninety Five Theses in 1517. At the same time though, Riemenschneider had interactions with Ulm and Strasbourg, two cities of great sculptural production. Ulm was home to great masters such as Hans Multscher and Michel Erhart, who diverged from previous altarpiece formulas. Whereas Strasbourg cherished the work of the Netherlander Nicolaus Gerhaert, who infused sculpture with a new sense of emotion and movement. Rather than isolate a single source for Riemenschneider’s monochrome one must recognize that there was much artistic diversity and a heightened sense of individuality in the early sixteenth century. I argue that Riemenschneider simply evaluated the many stylistic sources and regional influences around him and expertly synthesized them into his own unique artistic production.