Editing Veit Stoss

{{Short description|German sculptor (1447–1533)}}
{{Infobox artist 
| name = Veit Stoss
| image = Veit Stoß.jpg
| birth_date = Before 1450
| birth_place = [[Horb am Neckar]], [[Further Austria]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 20 September 1533 (aged 83 or older)
| death_place = [[Nuremberg]], [[Free Imperial City of Nuremberg]], Holy Roman Empire
| resting_place = St. Johannis Cemetery, Nuremberg
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| field = [[Sculpture]]
| movement = [[International Gothic|Late Gothic]], [[Northern Renaissance]]
}}
[[File:St. Mary's Church, Krakow 2014-08-12-475.jpg|thumb|upright=2|Wooden [[Altar of Veit Stoss]] at [[St. Mary's Church, Kraków|St Mary's Church]] in [[Kraków]]]]
[[File:Jan Matejko - Ociemniały Wit Stwosz z wnuczką.jpg|thumb|right|150px|''Blind Veit Stoss with granddaughter'' by [[Jan Matejko]] (1865), [[National Museum in Warsaw]]]]

'''Veit Stoss''' ({{IPA|de|faɪt ˈʃtoːs|lang|small=no}}, also spelled '''Stoß''' and '''Stuoss'''; {{langx|pl|Wit Stwosz}}; {{langx|la|Vitus Stoss}}; before 1450{{snd}}about 20 September 1533) was a leading [[German language|German]] sculptor, mostly working with wood, whose career covered the transition between the late [[Gothic art|Gothic]] and the [[Northern Renaissance]]. His style emphasized pathos and emotion, helped by his virtuoso carving of billowing drapery; it has been called "late Gothic [[Baroque]]".<ref name="Snyder">{{Harvsp|Snyder|1985|p=309}}</ref>  He had a large workshop, and in addition to his own works there are a number by pupils. He is best known for the [[Altarpiece of Veit Stoss|altarpiece]] in [[St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków|St. Mary's Basilica]] in [[Kraków]], [[Poland]].

==Life==
According to the contracts and other official documents written in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Stoss was born in a place pronounced as Horb or Horbn. Most researchers identify this place with [[Horb am Neckar]] near [[Stuttgart]] in Germany. However, there are artistic traces indicating that Stoss's early education could have taken place in the modern Switzerland. Moreover, his brother was certainly born in [[Aarau]] in northern Switzerland, which suggests that the artist's family lived in the region and that Stoss was rather born in the town of Horben, located 30 km southeast of Aarau<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kępiński|first=Zbigniew|title=Wit Stwosz|publisher=Auriga|year=1981|pages=7–9}}</ref>
His exact date of birth is unknown though it must have been shortly before 1450. Nothing about his life is known for certain before 1473 when he moved to [[Nuremberg]] in [[Franconia]] and married Barbara Hertz. Their eldest son Andreas was born there before 1477, when Stoss moved to Kraków, the royal capital of Poland, where he was commissioned to produce the enormous [[polychrome]] wooden [[Altar of Veit Stoss]] (Ołtarz Wita Stwosza) at [[St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków|St Mary's Church]] in Kraków. His son [[Stanisław Stwosz|Stanisław]] who was born in Kraków the next year was also a sculptor.

==In Kraków==
Veit lived and worked in Kraków for almost twenty years, from 1477–1496. His name is usually [[Polish language|polonized]] as Wit Stwosz.<ref name="wzks">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070629055204/http://www.wzks.uj.edu.pl/epi/2003/lux17/index/wit.html Życie i twórczość Wita Stwosza (Life and Art of Wit Stwosz.)] [[Jagiellonian University]] &nbsp;{{in lang|pl}}</ref> The altar in Kraków was completed in 1489, and was the largest [[triptych]] of its time. Like Stoss' other large works, it required a large workshop including specialized painters and gilders.<ref>Snyder, 308–309</ref>  Other important works from Stoss' period in Poland were the [[tomb of Casimir IV Jagiellon|tomb of Casimir IV]] in [[Wawel Cathedral]], the marble tomb of [[Zbigniew Oleśnicki (primate of Poland)|Zbigniew Oleśnicki]] in [[Gniezno]], and the altar of [[Stanislaus of Szczepanów|Saint Stanislaus]].  The Polish court was more aware of Italian styles than Nuremberg patrons of that time, and some of Stoss' Polish work used Renaissance classical ornament.<ref name="staropolska">{{Cite web|url=http://www.staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/konteksty/sztuka/Janusz_Keblowski_01.html|title=Janusz Kębłowski, Wit Stwosz w Krakowie (Wit Stwosz in Krakow).}}</ref>

During World War II, on the order of [[Hans Frank]]{{snd}}the Governor-General of [[General Government|that region]] of [[Occupation of Poland (1939–1945)|occupied Poland]]{{snd}}the dismantled Altar was shipped to [[Nazi Germany]] around 1941. It was rediscovered in 1945 in [[Bavaria]], hidden in the basement of the heavily bombed [[Nuremberg Castle]].<ref>Kirkpatrick</ref> The High Altar underwent major restoration work in Poland and was put back in its place at [[St. Mary's Basilica, Kraków|the Basilica]] ten years later.<ref name="wzks" />

==Nuremberg==
[[File:Nürnberg St Lorenz Veit Stoß Engelsgruß.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.0|''[[Angelic Salutation (Stoss)|Angelic Salutation]]'' (1517–1518) in the [[St. Lorenz (Nürnberg)|St. Lorenz Kirche]], Nuremberg]]

In 1496, Stoss returned to Nuremberg with his wife and eight children. He reacquired his citizenship for three [[Rhenish guilder|gulden]] and resumed his work there as a sculptor. Between 1500 and 1503 he carved an altar, now lost, for the parish church of [[Schwaz]], [[Tyrol (state)|Tyrol]] of the "[[Assumption of Mary]]".  In 1503, he was arrested for forging the seal and signature of a fraudulent contractor and was sentenced to be branded on both of his cheeks and prohibited from leaving Nuremberg without the explicit permission of the city council. He was pardoned in 1506 by [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]] and his civil rights reinstated.<ref>Durant, Will (1957). ''The Reformation''. Simon and Schuster: New York. p. 307.</ref>

[[File:GNM-Veit-Stoss-Raphael-Tobias.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|The Angel Raphael and the young Tobias. Limewood. {{convert|97|cm|abbr=on}}, (Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg)]]

Despite the prohibition he went to [[Münnerstadt]] in 1504, to paint and gild the altarpiece that [[Tilman Riemenschneider]] had left in plain wood ten years earlier, presumably according to his contract (unlike Stoss, his workshop did not include painters and gilders).  Leaving wood sculpture unpainted was a new taste at the time, and "perhaps the tastes of the city council were somewhat provincial."<ref>Snyder, 305</ref> He also created the altar for [[Bamberg Cathedral]] and various other sculptures in Nuremberg, including the ''Annunciation'' and ''[[Tobias and the Angel (sculpture)|Tobias and the Angel]]''. In 1506 he was arrested a second time. In 1507, [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian]] wrote a letter of pardon. The sole argument was made on the account of his genius. The council of the [[Imperial free city]] Nuremberg refused to give him a public notice. But Maximilian's intervention saved him from the dungeons and having his hands chopped off.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grössing |first1=Sigrid-Maria |title=Maximilian I.: Kaiser, Künstler, Kämpfer |date=2002 |publisher=Amalthea |isbn=978-3-85002-485-3 |page=233 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjVoAAAAMAAJ |access-date=25 February 2022 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Weilandt |first1=Gerhard |title=Stoß, Veit - Deutsche Biographie |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz81621.html |access-date=25 February 2022 |language=de}}</ref> He was able to resettle in Nuremberg from 1506, but was shunned by the council and received few large commissions from that time onwards.<ref name="Snyder" /> In 1512, the Emperor asked Stoss to help with the planning of his tomb monument, which was eventually placed in the [[Hofkirche, Innsbruck|Hofkirche]], [[Innsbruck]]; it seems Stoss's attempts to cast in [[brass]] were unsuccessful.

During the period 1515–1520, Veit Stoss received a commission for sculptures by [[Raffaele Torrigiani]], a rich [[Florence|Florentine]] merchant.  In 1516 he made ''[[Tobias and the Angel (Veit Stoss)|Tobias and the Angel]]'' (now in Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg), and a statue of Saint [[Roch]] for the [[Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, Florence|Basilica of Santissima Annunziata]] in Florence. This wooden statue represents the saint in a traditional way: in the garb of a pilgrim, lifting his tunic to demonstrate the [[Plague (disease)|plague]] sore in his thigh. Even [[Giorgio Vasari]], who did not think much of artists north of the Alps, praised it in his ''[[Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects|Le Vite]]'' and called it "a miracle in wood", though misattributing it.<ref>Baxandall</ref>

Veit Stoss was buried at St. Johannis cemetery in Nuremberg.<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Johannisfriedhof > Prominente|url=http://www.st-johannisfriedhof-nuernberg.de/st-johannisfriedhof_prominente.html|website=Evangelisch-Lutherische Friedhofsverwaltung, St.Johannis und St. Rochus|access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref> His artistic legacy was continued by his son Stanisław.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Piltz|editor1-first=Erasmus|title=Poland, her people, history, industries, finance, science, literature, art, and social development|date=1909|publisher=H. Jenkins Limited|location=London|page=360|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006800233|access-date=18 January 2018|language=en|quote=Among the pupils of this great master who became famous were Stanislaw Stwosz the younger...}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Veit Stoss is featured in [[Judith Weir]]'s [[opera]], ''[[The Black Spider (opera)|The Black Spider]]''. He is one of the singing sculptors in Act 3 Scene 2 inside the [[Wawel Cathedral]]. He is shown chiseling at the tomb of King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon|Casimir IV]].
There is a Polish book (1913) and film (1961) ''Historia żółtej ciżemki'' (''The story of a yellow crakow'')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054977/|title=Story of the Golden Boot|via=imdb.com}}</ref> about Veit Stoss in Cracow.

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book|first=Michael |last=Baxandall|author-link=Michael Baxandall|title= The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany|year=1980|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0-300-02829-6}}
* {{BBKL|s/s4/stoss_v|band=11|artikel=Stoss, Veit|spalten=1–5}}
* {{cite book|editor=R. Kahnsitz |title=Veit Stoss in Nürnberg. Werke des Meisters und seiner Schule in Nürnberg und Umgebung (catalogue of the exhibition) |location=Munich |year=1983 |language=de}}
* {{cite book|first=Zdzislaw |language=de|last=Kepinski|title=Veit Stoss|publisher=Verlag der Kunst|year=1981|isbn=83-221-0138-4}}
* {{cite book|first=Sidney|last=Kirkpatrick|title=Hitler's Holy Relics|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4165-9062-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/hitlersholyrelic00kirk}}
* {{cite book| editor=Schultz, Ellen |title=Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg| year=1986 |location=New York |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-466-1}}
* {{cite journal|first=Piotr |last=Skubiszewski|language=de|title=Der Stil des Veit Stoss|publisher=Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte|volume=41|issue=2 |year=1978|pages=93–133}}
* {{cite book| last=Snyder |first=James |title=Northern Renaissance Art: Painting, Sculpture, the Graphic Arts From 1350 to 1575 |year=1985 |publisher=Prentice-Hall / Harry N. Abrams | isbn=0-13-623596-4}}

==Further reading==
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Veit Stoss}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Stoss, Veit}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Veit Stoß}}
*[http://digital.library.temple.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p245801coll10/id/199428/rec/20 Robin Pilch Craren (2012): VEIT STOSS/WIT STWOSZ CONTEXTUALIZED WITHIN THE POLISH TRADITION OF SCULPTURE IN THE LATE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, M A Thesis, fulltext, pictures, 118 pp] 
*[http://vimeo.com/19435332 St. Mary's Altar by Veit Stoss, Cracow 2010, detailed videodocument]
*[http://www.local-life.com/krakow/articles/veit-stoss-wit-stwosz Story of the Cracow altarpiece]
* [http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/s/stoss/index.html Web Gallery of Art: STOSS Veit]
* [http://www.vam.ac.uk/b/blog/news-learning-department/twenty-objects-twenty-years-veit-stoss-virgin-and-child-c1490 Stoss carving in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London]
* [http://culture.pl/en/artist/wit-stwosz Profile of Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz)] at Culture.pl

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoss, Veit}}
[[Category:Gothic sculptors]]
[[Category:15th-century German sculptors]]
[[Category:German male sculptors]]
[[Category:16th-century German sculptors]]
[[Category:German woodcarvers]]
[[Category:15th-century births]]
[[Category:1533 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Horb am Neckar]]
[[Category:Artists from Nuremberg]]
[[Category:German Roman Catholics]]