News Release: September 20, 1999

Virtuoso Examples of Late Gothic Carving by Tilman Riemenschneider on View at National Gallery, 3 October 1999 - 9 January 2000

Washington, DC--The first major survey in almost seventy years of the work of master sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider (active in Würzburg, Germany, 1483-1531) will be on view at the National Gallery of Art from 3 October 1999 through 9 January 2000. More than fifty virtuoso examples of late Gothic carving in a variety of media will be shown, including elements from altarpieces, independent figures, objects for private devotion, and models he created for assistants. The exhibition will travel to its only other venue, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from 7 February to 14 May 2000.

"Riemenschneider's sculptural genius is evident in his inventive manipulation of surfaces and forms based on site, scale, and source of light, resulting in a high sense of drama that immediately engages the viewer," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. "We are pleased to bring to an American audience many of the sculptor's finest works representing his full career, and particularly to reunite here for the first time several figures that once belonged to the same ensembles but were long ago dispersed to different collections."

Many of the figures that Riemenschneider carved from limewood were left unpainted in a sharp departure from the usual practice of polychromy. Among these are: Mary Cleophas and Alphaus (c.1505-1510) from the Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart, and Seated Bishop (c.1495-1500) from The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Examples of polychromed works in the exhibition include four superb figures: Female Saint (without Book) (c.1505-1510) and Female Saint (with Book) (c.1505-1510) lent by the Historisches Museum in Frankfurt am Main, and Saint Lawrence (c.1502) and Saint Stephen (c.1508) lent by the Cleveland Museum of Art. Originally belonging to the same altarpiece, these works of sculpture are being exhibited together for the first time.

Exquisite works in alabaster and sandstone illustrate Riemenschneider's mastery of materials other than wood. His five extant alabasters will also be reunited, including Saint Jerome with the Lion (1490-1495) from the Cleveland Museum of Art; Annunciation (c.1485) from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; and Virgin Annunciate (c.1500) from the Musée du Louvre.

A highlight of the exhibition is the group of twelve works from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, which includes such masterpieces as Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen (Noli me Tangere) and the evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) from Riemenschneider's Münnerstadt altarpiece (1490-1492). The spirituality of these figures is conveyed with delicate gestures and sweeping, sharp-edged drapery that creates a rich contrast of light and dark suggesting the bodies underneath, yet not precisely defining them.

In addition to the survey of Riemenschneider's work, a few particularly fine pieces by his most important predecessors and contemporaries--such as Niclaus Gerhaert von Leiden, Michel Erhart, and Veit Stoss--will allow his achievement to be shown in its proper artistic context.

The exhibition was selected by Julien Chapuis, assistant curator in the department of medieval art and The Cloisters at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The coordinator for the Washington installation is John Hand, curator of northern Renaissance painting, National Gallery of Art. The catalogue, co-published by the National Gallery of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press, is the first English-language book to illustrate Riemenschneider's works in color. The catalogue will be available for $35 (softcover) and $65 (hardcover) in the Gallery Shops. To order by phone, call (301) 322-5900 or (800) 697-9350.

Support for the exhibition is provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. Support for the exhibition and accompanying catalogue has been provided by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Additional support for the catalogue has been provided by The Circle of the National Gallery of Art. The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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