Attributed to Tilman Riemenschneider (1460-1531) and workshop German, Fraconian, circa 1510-1515

Otto Wertheimer Collection, Paris;
Sold, ("Property of a Private Collector"), London, Sotheby's, 5 December 2007, lot 23;
Where purchased by the present collector.

Two slots in back of shoulders for attachment of wings (now lacking). Losses include hands and portion of large drapery fold on his property left side/back. Smaller chips, losses and surface abrasions throughout (nearly all visible in catalogue image) including curl on his forehead and smaller areas of hair, some edges of drapery such as lower folds and one chip at his waist. Losses on lower far right (where feet would be). Some worming. Remainders of a wash on surface. Abrasion to tip of nose. Beautifully carved.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This superbly carved limewood angel by the master sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider and his workshop was commissioned for a now-lost retable that was probably centered by a figure of the Virgin or a group of the Virgin and Child. The angel is depicted in flight, his arms elevated in order to crown or celebrate the central figure.  The lost ensemble would have been similar to the magnificent Assumption of the Virgin altarpiece (c. 1505-10) in the Herrgottskirche, Creglingen and the equally impressive Virgin of the Rosary (c. 1521-1522) in the Wallfahrtskirche, Volkach.  Prof Dr Helmut Krohm has proposed that the affinities between the present angel and these two commissions lead to a date of circa 1510-15. The dynamic drapery with deeply carved folds coupled with the present angel's serene demeanor is indicative of Riemenschneider's work from this period. 

This angel was carved during the years Riemenschneider was working on the Creglingen altarpiece. Centered by the figure of the Virgin, the upper section of the altar incorporates four angels, comparable to the present sculpture, that flank Mary (fig. 1). The similarities are numerous and are hallmarks of the master’s unique sculptural vocabulary, including the precisely carved ringlets of windswept hair, the face with almond-shaped, downturned eyes, the dimpled chin and distinct brow. The position of the angels' arms, the lively diagonal folds of drapery and the knee emerging from the slit in the fabric are nearly identical to the present sculpture. The same compositional features and details are seen in the angels that surround the Virgin and Child on the altar in Volkach (fig. 2). Furthermore, the deftly carved fringe on the angel’s clothing is echoed here.

Tilman Riemenschneider was born in Heiligenstadt in 1460.  Little is known of the sculptor's early career; although it is likely he was an apprentice to a stone mason in Erfurt, where he developed his skill carving alabaster.  It has been suggested he also trained under the direction of Michel Erhart in Ulm.  Riemenschneider married a wealthy woman in 1483 and settled in Würzburg.  His wife's resources afforded him a workshop and a bevy of studio assistants, a luxury for a newly appointed 'Meister' of the Academy of Saint Luke.  The German sculptor's skill and talent, however, won him many commissions from local councils, churches, and private patrons in Saxony and Franconia.  

As the master sculptor of a large workshop, Riemenschneider divided the work according to area of expertise (wood-carvers, stone-carvers, painters and gilders). The surfaces of his sculpture reveal an obsessive attention to detail, in fact the present relief incorporates a variety of detailed tooling in the fringe of the robe, the curls of his hair, and in his skillfully modelled face.  Although it has long been assumed that Riemenschneider left his figures entirely uncoloured, he, in fact, worked with limewood glazes as well as pigmented varnishes highlighting the lips and eyes to infuse his surfaces with even-greater sense of vitality. 

During his lifetime, Riemenschneider's popularity increased both politically and with women (he was married four times).  He was elected to the Würzburg city council in 1504, the upper council in 1509 and mayor of the city in 1520.  During the peasant revolt in 1525, Riemenschneider allied himself with the lower classes against the Prince-Bishop, Conrad von Thürgen.  As a result of his actions, he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured.  Riemenschneider's steadfast empathy during the revolt is particularly manifest in the soulfulness of the sculpture produced in this period.

After his death in 1531, interest in Riemenschneider's work waned considerably due to changing tastes as well as reverberations of the Reformation.  Most of his sculpture was destroyed or modified, and works of art attributed to him and his atelier are extremely rare.  Since the 19^th century, however, appreciation of Riemenschneider's work has been rejuvenated.  In 1977 Prof Dr Krohm (who has authenticated the present work), began a research project examining Riemenschnieder's sculpture. His revaluation, together with Michael Baxandall's The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany and Julien Chapuis's groundbreaking exhibition in New York and Washington, DC in 1999-2000, Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages, has restored Riemenschneider to his rightful place as one of the great masters of European sculpture.  

RELATED LITERATURE
R. Schmidt, Der Marienaltar in Creglingen von Tilman Riemenschneider, Munich, 1951
M. Baxandall, The Limewood Sculptors of Renaissance Germany, New Haven and London, 1980, pp. 172-90, 259-65
H. Krohm and E. Oellermann, 'Der ehemalige Münnerstädter Magdalenenaltar von Tilman Riemenschneider und seine Geschichte, Forschungsergebnisse zur monochromen Oberflächengestalt', Z. Dt. Ver. Kstwiss., xxxiv, 1980, pp. 16-99
J. Chapuis, Tilman Riemenschneider: Master Sculptor of the Late Middle Ages, New Haven and London 1999