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DOI article:Woziński, Andrzej: "Bidden barmhertzigen got vor...": some remarks on art foundations and their prices in late medieval Gdańsk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66965#0076
Andrzej
Woziński
Fig. 9. Candle holder on the retable of the main altar, 1517, Church of Our Lady in Gdańsk,
photo: Andrzej Woziński
Marcus Schulte, Dirck Falcke and Gerlach Kemerer - first of all addressed Mary,
emphasizing her virtue and stressing that the work was made for her glory.
They asked for her protection, praised God the Father, petitioned St Anne for
help, and mentioned Jesus Christ. They stated the date of the completion of
the work: 1517. All four founders were churchwardens in the Church of Our
Lady, appointed to their posts in 1515. The content of the inscription portrays
the founders as humble, pious people - one of them is indicated as the servant
of Mary. In this case, as elsewhere, the location of these inscriptions within the
church should be taken into account. The founders’ names were not visible
to all believers as they were in the cases discussed above. Only a small group of
worshippers - the priests and servers, who had access to the choir - could see
these inscriptions. The foundation brought the four churchwardens immense
religious and prestigious benefit: their names were immortalized in the most
significant place in the church - on the high altar.
In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, some Netherlandish retables found
their way to Gdańsk. Undoubtedly, their commissioners had decided to spend the
“Gerlach kemerer ad Christi parem I Sis mihi presidio morienti maxima virgo 1517 / Structure
famulus sum tuus assiduous” (outer side). All inscriptions are quoted with German translations
in: Drost, Die Marienkirche in Danzig..., p. 144.
74
Woziński
Fig. 9. Candle holder on the retable of the main altar, 1517, Church of Our Lady in Gdańsk,
photo: Andrzej Woziński
Marcus Schulte, Dirck Falcke and Gerlach Kemerer - first of all addressed Mary,
emphasizing her virtue and stressing that the work was made for her glory.
They asked for her protection, praised God the Father, petitioned St Anne for
help, and mentioned Jesus Christ. They stated the date of the completion of
the work: 1517. All four founders were churchwardens in the Church of Our
Lady, appointed to their posts in 1515. The content of the inscription portrays
the founders as humble, pious people - one of them is indicated as the servant
of Mary. In this case, as elsewhere, the location of these inscriptions within the
church should be taken into account. The founders’ names were not visible
to all believers as they were in the cases discussed above. Only a small group of
worshippers - the priests and servers, who had access to the choir - could see
these inscriptions. The foundation brought the four churchwardens immense
religious and prestigious benefit: their names were immortalized in the most
significant place in the church - on the high altar.
In the first quarter of the sixteenth century, some Netherlandish retables found
their way to Gdańsk. Undoubtedly, their commissioners had decided to spend the
“Gerlach kemerer ad Christi parem I Sis mihi presidio morienti maxima virgo 1517 / Structure
famulus sum tuus assiduous” (outer side). All inscriptions are quoted with German translations
in: Drost, Die Marienkirche in Danzig..., p. 144.
74