Bernhard Strigel

Background

Bernhard Strigel was born in 1461 in Memmingen, Germany, into a family of artists. His grandfather, Hans Strigel the Elder, was a painter and the head of a workshop.

Education

It is most likely that Bernhard Strigel was trained as a painter in the family shop. Besides, he was probably a pupil of Zeitblom at Ulm, Germany.

Career

The earliest work that can be associated with Bernhard Strigel is the left wing of an altarpiece with Saints Vinzentius, Sebastian, and Michael, orginally located in the church in Splügen (Graubünden). The carved center portion by Ivo Strigel and the other wing are no longer extant.

In addition to some Netherlandish influence that may indicate a journey to the Lowlands in the 1480s, Strigel's early work reflects the influence of the late Gothic style of the Ulm painter Bartholomäus Zeitblom. Strigel assisted Zeitblom with the predella and six panels in 1493-1494, that form the high altar of the cloister church in Blaubeuren.

In the course of the 1490s Strigel became an independent master in Memmingen and began to produce both religious paintings and portraits. Strigel attracted the attention of Maximilian I and the portrait dated 1504 is one of the earliest of numerous portraits of the emperor produced by Strigel. In 1515 Strigel left Memmingen to work in Vienna as court painter to Maximilian. Here, in the same year, he produced one of the earliest group portraits in Germany, the depiction of Maximilian I and his family.

Strigel must have returned to Memmingen almost immediately, for in 1515 he collaborated with the sculptor Hans Thoman on an altarpiece (now lost), and between 1516 and 1518 he is recorded as holding significant positions in the Memmingen city government and the trade guild. His depiction on two panels of Konrad Rehlinger the Elder and his children, dated 1517, is at once a superb portrayal and one of the earliest large-scale, full-length independent portraits.

Strigel returned to Vienna in 1520. Then he was back in Memmingen by 1521-1522 and working on a "Holy Tomb" for the Church of our Lady.

Strigel was sent between 1523 and 1525 to represent Memmingen at the court in Innsbruck and in Ulm, Augsburg, and other cities. Moreover, in his last years he seems to have abandoned religious works and devoted himself almost exclusively to portraiture.

Bernhard Stridel died on May 4, 1528 in Memmingen, Germany.

Achievements

• Bernhard Strigel was one of the most important masters of the transitional period between the Gothic and the Renaissance. His notable works are those of Conrad Rehlinger, lord of Hainhofen (1517), Alte Pinakothek, Munich; "Councilor Cuspinian and Family", (1520), Berlin Museum; "Count John of Montfort", at Donaueschingen; "An Unknown Lady", Metropolitan Museum, New York; and portraits of Emperor Maximilian in the Strasbourg, Munich, and Vienna galleries.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519)

  • Holy Family

  • Lamentation of Christ

  • Triptych: Inner left Wing St. Philip, St. James the Great Right

  • St. Mary Salome and Zebedee with John the Evangelist and James the Great

  • Disrobing of Christ

  • Mary and Joseph with Jesus

  • Margaret of Antioch

  • Portrait of Georg Tannstetter (Collimitius)

  • The Annunciation

  • St. Ladislas Presents Wladislav II and His Sons to the Virgin

  • John the Baptist

  • Portrait of the Cuspinian Family

  • Portrait of Conrad Rehlinger and his Children

  • Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519)

  • Sleeping Grave Guards with Mace and Sword

  • Portrait of Emperor Maximilian and His Family

  • The Announcement to Anne and Joachim

  • Twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple

  • Maximilian I (1459-1519)

  • Barbara of Nicomedia

  • Portrait of Sibylla (or Sybilla) von Freyberg (born Gossenbrot)

  • Portrait of Maximilian I (1459-1519)

  • Sacrifice of Isaac, and Transfiguration

  • The eight children Konrad Rehlinger

  • Portrait of Louis II of Hungary

  • Hans Caspar von Laubberg

  • Portrait of Count Johann II, Count of Montfort and Rothenfels

  • Christ Taking Leave of His Mother

  • John the Evangelist

  • Portrait of the Emperor Maximilian I

  • Portrait of a Gentleman

Politics

As the Reformation engulfed Memmingen in the mid-1520s, Strigel acted as a mediator between the various factions. He was apparently sympathetic to the new ideas.

Connections

Grandfather:

Hans Strigel the Elder

brother-in-law:

Hans Goldschmidt

teacher:

Bartholomeus Zeitblom

patron:

Emperor Maximilian I

colleague:

Hans Thoman

References

• Bernhard Strigel.