Stephan Lochner:Altar of the Cologne City Patrons (middle panel), c. 1450
TheCologne school of painting is the set ofmedieval German painters generally. This term, first applied in the 19th century, subsequently came to refer specifically to painters who had their workshops in medievalCologne and the lower-Rhine region from about 1300 to 1550.[1][2]
Inner left and right panels of theSaint Bartholomew Altarpiece (c.1510)
Initially, smaller altarpieces such as the Klaren Altar inCologne Cathedral (c. 1360–1370) were created, based on book paintings from around the year 1300.[3] The mid-15th century is the high-point of this school, whenStefan Lochner (active 1442–1451) created the Altar of the City Patrons, which is considered to be the greatest masterpiece of the Cologne school.[4] A third creative period followed, under the influence of Netherlandish painters such asRogier van der Weyden.[5] Rogier's influence is especially notable in the work of the outstanding representative of this final phase, the anonymous painter known as theMaster of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece. For example, the latter's largeDeposition of Christ resembles the same theme represented in the former's Escorial altarpiece, and the Master's heightened naturalism and emphasis on tear-stained features reflect Rogier's emotionalism.[6]
The artists of the Cologne school includeStefan Lochner andWilliam of Cologne, as well as a number of artists identified only by the works they created:
^Richards, John C. 2001. "Master of the S. Bartholomew Altarpiece". InThe Oxford Companion to Western Art, edited by Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-866203-7.
^Schnorrenberg, Jakob. 1898. "Wilhelm von Herle". InAllgemeine Deutsche Biographie 43, 224–26. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.
Bloch, Peter, and Hermann Schitzler. 1967–70:Die Ottonische Kölner Malerschule, 2 vols. Düsseldorf: Verlag L. Schwann.
Brockmann, Harald. 1932.Die Spätzeit der Kölner Malerschule. Der Meister von St. Severin und der Meister der Ursulalegende. Jahresgabe des Kreises der Rheinischen Heimatfreunde. Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichte Westeuropas 6. Bonn and Leipzig: Schröder.
Budde, Rainer. 1986.Köln und seine Maler 1300–1500. DuMont Dokumente. Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag.ISBN9783770118922.
Budde, Rainer, and Roland Krischel (eds). 2001.Genie ohne Namen. Der Meister des Bartholomäus-Altars. Cologne: DuMont Buchverlag.ISBN978-3-7701-5299-5 (trade book edition);ISBN978-3-7701-5300-8 (exhibition catalog edition).
Corley, Brigitte. 2009:Maler und Stifter des Spätmittelalters in Köln 1300–1500. Kiel: Verlag Ludwig.ISBN9783937719788.
Förster, Otto H. 1927.Die Meisterwerke der alten Kölner Malerschule im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Cologne: Kölner Verlagsanstalt.
Merlo, Johann Jacob. 1852.Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken Kölnischer Künstler, vol. 2:Die Meister der altkölnischen Malerschule. Cologne: J. M. Heberle.
Reiners, Heribert. 1925.Die Kölner Malerschule. Monographien zur Geschichte der christlichen Kunst 5. Gladbach: B. Kühlen Kunst- und Verlagsanstalt.
Scheibler, Ludwig Adolf, andAldenhoven, Carl. 1902.Geschichte der Kölner Malerschule. Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Rheinische Geschichtskunde 13. Lübeck: J. Nöhring.
Stange, A. 1967.Kritisches Verzeichnis der deutschen Tafelbilder vor Dürer, vol. 1:Köln, Niederrhein, Westfalen, Hamburg, Lübeck und Niedersachsen. Bruckmanns Beiträge zur Kunstwissenschaft. Munich: Bruckmann.
