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DOI Artikel:Woziński, Andrzej: "Bidden barmhertzigen got vor...": Some remarks on art foundations and their prices in late medieval Gdańsk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66965#0060
Andrzej Woziński
Instytut Historii Sztuki, Uniwersytet Gdański
ORCID: 0000-0002-3584-1489
“Bidden barmhertzigen got vor..
Some Remarks on Art Foundations
and Their Prices in Late Medieval Gdańsk
https://doi.org/10.26881/porta.2022.21.03
Słowa kluczowe: Fundacje artystyczne, późnośredniowieczny Gdańsk, fundatorzy, cele
fundacji, fundator w swoim dziele, ceny dzieł sztuki, rynek sztuki
Keywords: Art foundations, Late medieval Gdańsk, commissioners, goals of art foundations,
commissioner in his work, art prices, art market
In the Middle Ages, regardless of whether a work of art was a serial product
or a commission, it was a collective creation. The subject, form and content of
cheap prints, panel paintings and sculptures intended for private use were all
determined to a significant extent by the market of anonymous potential pur-
chasers and their financial resources, religious needs, and aesthetic sensitivities.1
Complex structures such as retables or large-size Passion groups that had to be
adapted to a particular context, or epitaphs or tombstones that had to have
individual features - all these works of art tended to be commissioned.2 The role
of founder very often went far beyond the financial aspect. The founder usually
specified the iconographic program of a work, and sometimes also its form,
by indicating a model. They required that their foundation should contain some
information about them in the form of an inscription, coat of arms, motif, or
portrait. All of these elements fulfilled certain functions. First of all, they iden-
tified the owner of the work. Secondly, they commemorated its commissioner,
not only in a historical dimension, but also in an eschatological sense - they
were intended to move beholders to say prayers in the intention of the deceased
1 Berit Wagner, Bilder ohne Auftraggeber. Der deutsche Kunsthandel im 15. und frühen
16. Jahrhundert. Mit Überlegungen zum Kulturtransfer, Petersberg 2014.
2 Corine Schleif, Donatio et memoria. Stifter, Stiftungen und Motivationen an Beispielen aus
Lorenzkirche in Nürnberg, München 1990; Daniela Gräfin von Pfeil, Gerhard Weilandt, Auftrag-
geber und Stifter in der Ulmer Kunst [in:] Meisterwerke massenhaft. Die Bildhauerwerkstatt des
Niklaus Weckmann und die Malerei in Ulm um 1500, Hg. Württembergischen Landesmuseum
Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1993, pp. 339-405; Hans-Rudolf Meier, Carola Jäggi, Philippe Büttner, Für
irdischen Ruhm und himmlichen Lohn. Stifter und Auftraggeber in mittelalterlichen Kunst. Beate
Brenk zum 60. Geburtstag, Berlin 1995.
58
Instytut Historii Sztuki, Uniwersytet Gdański
ORCID: 0000-0002-3584-1489
“Bidden barmhertzigen got vor..
Some Remarks on Art Foundations
and Their Prices in Late Medieval Gdańsk
https://doi.org/10.26881/porta.2022.21.03
Słowa kluczowe: Fundacje artystyczne, późnośredniowieczny Gdańsk, fundatorzy, cele
fundacji, fundator w swoim dziele, ceny dzieł sztuki, rynek sztuki
Keywords: Art foundations, Late medieval Gdańsk, commissioners, goals of art foundations,
commissioner in his work, art prices, art market
In the Middle Ages, regardless of whether a work of art was a serial product
or a commission, it was a collective creation. The subject, form and content of
cheap prints, panel paintings and sculptures intended for private use were all
determined to a significant extent by the market of anonymous potential pur-
chasers and their financial resources, religious needs, and aesthetic sensitivities.1
Complex structures such as retables or large-size Passion groups that had to be
adapted to a particular context, or epitaphs or tombstones that had to have
individual features - all these works of art tended to be commissioned.2 The role
of founder very often went far beyond the financial aspect. The founder usually
specified the iconographic program of a work, and sometimes also its form,
by indicating a model. They required that their foundation should contain some
information about them in the form of an inscription, coat of arms, motif, or
portrait. All of these elements fulfilled certain functions. First of all, they iden-
tified the owner of the work. Secondly, they commemorated its commissioner,
not only in a historical dimension, but also in an eschatological sense - they
were intended to move beholders to say prayers in the intention of the deceased
1 Berit Wagner, Bilder ohne Auftraggeber. Der deutsche Kunsthandel im 15. und frühen
16. Jahrhundert. Mit Überlegungen zum Kulturtransfer, Petersberg 2014.
2 Corine Schleif, Donatio et memoria. Stifter, Stiftungen und Motivationen an Beispielen aus
Lorenzkirche in Nürnberg, München 1990; Daniela Gräfin von Pfeil, Gerhard Weilandt, Auftrag-
geber und Stifter in der Ulmer Kunst [in:] Meisterwerke massenhaft. Die Bildhauerwerkstatt des
Niklaus Weckmann und die Malerei in Ulm um 1500, Hg. Württembergischen Landesmuseum
Stuttgart, Stuttgart 1993, pp. 339-405; Hans-Rudolf Meier, Carola Jäggi, Philippe Büttner, Für
irdischen Ruhm und himmlichen Lohn. Stifter und Auftraggeber in mittelalterlichen Kunst. Beate
Brenk zum 60. Geburtstag, Berlin 1995.
58