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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#0061
founder to save his soul from eternal damnation. Thus the founder was moved
by both religious and worldly motives.3 The work of art commissioned by them
was an expression of affiliation with their community, but at the same time
a manifestation of their particular interests.
Art foundations were, of course, closely related to financial effort, which
was sometimes out of the reach even of very rich patrons. Some ventures, such
as huge retables, could be very expensive for the broader community as well.
Sometimes it was a one-off cost, but in other cases, such as retables, the expense
was sustained over time and additional outgoings were needed. If a retable was
to serve its purpose, for instance, the founder also had to hire a priest to serve
at the altar. They then had to purchase liturgical vestments and vasa sacra,
and ensure a regular supply of wine for the mass, and candle wax.4 Sacral art
foundations were a type of investment calculated to benefit a patron in reli-
gious (bringing them salvation), prestigious, representative and aesthetic terms
simultaneously.
The above issues will be analysed in this paper on the basis of examples
from Gdańsk (Danzig). The formula “Bidden barmhertzigen got vor...” (“Take
into thy care, O merciful God...”) quoted in its title recurs on three Late Gothic
sacral artworks in Gdańsk. It is followed by the name of the work’s founder,
who is asking the Lord for protection. This formula intimates the aim of the
foundation, but it does not explain all the reasons behind this kind of venture.
Below, I set out to demonstrate these reasons, and to show what, and in what
manner, a work of art said about its founder. I shall also elaborate on the costs
of such commissions.
Almost all social groups were involved in sacral art foundations in Gdańsk.
In late medieval Europe, retables of high altars were usually founded by the
whole community.5 Gdańsk was no exception to this rule. The high altar retable
in the Church of Our Lady was created in 1510-1517 by Michel of Augsburg
(fig. I).6 This polyptych has three openings. The most ceremonial of them is
3 Piotr Gliński, Fundacje mieszczańskie w miastach pruskich w okresie średniowiecza
i na progu czasów nowożytnych (Chełmno, Toruń, Elbląg, Gdańsk, Królewiec, Braniewo), Toruń
2008, pp. 19-27.
4 See e.g. data from the 15th century concerning the cost of endowing the side chapel of
the family von Diesbach in Bern collegiate church. The total cost was ca. 2,500 florins. The largest
part of that figure was the prebend, at 1,000 fl., then items including the chapel’s construction -
800 fl., a stone house for the priest - 240 fl.; the retable and liturgical vestments cost ca. 100-200 fl.,
while stalls, chalice, antependium, tablecloths and books came to ca. 110-280 fl. The total cost
was equivalent to that of 10 houses in Bern; Peter Jezler, La fondation d’une chap eile privee et
les oeuvres d’art quelle implique [in:] Iconoclasme. Vie et mart de I’image medievale, edit. Cecile
Dupeux et al., Zurich 2001, pp. 210-211.
5 Michael Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, New Haven-London
1980, p. 86.
6 There is an abundance of literature on the retable of the high altar in the Church of
Our Lady in Gdańsk. For this reason I mention only some of the most recent studies concern-
ing this Gdańsk work, where the reader will find a full list of previous publications: Andrzej
“Bidden barm-
hertzigen got
vor...”
59
by both religious and worldly motives.3 The work of art commissioned by them
was an expression of affiliation with their community, but at the same time
a manifestation of their particular interests.
Art foundations were, of course, closely related to financial effort, which
was sometimes out of the reach even of very rich patrons. Some ventures, such
as huge retables, could be very expensive for the broader community as well.
Sometimes it was a one-off cost, but in other cases, such as retables, the expense
was sustained over time and additional outgoings were needed. If a retable was
to serve its purpose, for instance, the founder also had to hire a priest to serve
at the altar. They then had to purchase liturgical vestments and vasa sacra,
and ensure a regular supply of wine for the mass, and candle wax.4 Sacral art
foundations were a type of investment calculated to benefit a patron in reli-
gious (bringing them salvation), prestigious, representative and aesthetic terms
simultaneously.
The above issues will be analysed in this paper on the basis of examples
from Gdańsk (Danzig). The formula “Bidden barmhertzigen got vor...” (“Take
into thy care, O merciful God...”) quoted in its title recurs on three Late Gothic
sacral artworks in Gdańsk. It is followed by the name of the work’s founder,
who is asking the Lord for protection. This formula intimates the aim of the
foundation, but it does not explain all the reasons behind this kind of venture.
Below, I set out to demonstrate these reasons, and to show what, and in what
manner, a work of art said about its founder. I shall also elaborate on the costs
of such commissions.
Almost all social groups were involved in sacral art foundations in Gdańsk.
In late medieval Europe, retables of high altars were usually founded by the
whole community.5 Gdańsk was no exception to this rule. The high altar retable
in the Church of Our Lady was created in 1510-1517 by Michel of Augsburg
(fig. I).6 This polyptych has three openings. The most ceremonial of them is
3 Piotr Gliński, Fundacje mieszczańskie w miastach pruskich w okresie średniowiecza
i na progu czasów nowożytnych (Chełmno, Toruń, Elbląg, Gdańsk, Królewiec, Braniewo), Toruń
2008, pp. 19-27.
4 See e.g. data from the 15th century concerning the cost of endowing the side chapel of
the family von Diesbach in Bern collegiate church. The total cost was ca. 2,500 florins. The largest
part of that figure was the prebend, at 1,000 fl., then items including the chapel’s construction -
800 fl., a stone house for the priest - 240 fl.; the retable and liturgical vestments cost ca. 100-200 fl.,
while stalls, chalice, antependium, tablecloths and books came to ca. 110-280 fl. The total cost
was equivalent to that of 10 houses in Bern; Peter Jezler, La fondation d’une chap eile privee et
les oeuvres d’art quelle implique [in:] Iconoclasme. Vie et mart de I’image medievale, edit. Cecile
Dupeux et al., Zurich 2001, pp. 210-211.
5 Michael Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, New Haven-London
1980, p. 86.
6 There is an abundance of literature on the retable of the high altar in the Church of
Our Lady in Gdańsk. For this reason I mention only some of the most recent studies concern-
ing this Gdańsk work, where the reader will find a full list of previous publications: Andrzej
“Bidden barm-
hertzigen got
vor...”
59