Katherine M. Boivin - Riemenschneider in Rothenburg: Sacred Space and Civic Identity in the Late Medieval City

RIEMENSCHNEIDER IN ROTHENBURG

Riemenschneider in Rothenburg

Sacred Space and Civic Identity in the Late Medieval City

KATHERINE M . BOIVIN

The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are by the author.

Frontispiece: Detail from the Holy Blood Altarpiece showing Judas and Jesus. Photo: author.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Boivin, Katherine M. (Katherine Morris), 1984 author.

Title: Riemenschneider in Rothenburg : sacred space and civic identity in the late medieval city / Katherine M. Boivin.

Description: University Park, Pennsylvania : The Pennsylvania State University Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary: Investigates how medieval urban planning and artistic programming worked together to form dynamic environments, demonstrating the agency of objects, styles, and spaces in mapping the late medieval cityProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020051776 | ISBN 9780271087788 (cloth)

Subjects: LCSH: Riemenschneider, Tilman, approximately 14601531. | ArtCommissioningGermanyRothenburg ob der TauberHistory16th century. | AltarpiecesGermanyRothenburg ob der TauberHistory16th century. | Sacred spaceGermanyRothenburg ob der TauberHistory16th century. | City planningGermanyRothenburg ob der TauberHistory16th century.

Classification: LCC N5205.7.G3 B65 2021 | DDC 726.5/29109433dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020051776

Copyright 2021 Katherine M. Boivin
All rights reserved
Printed in Lithuania
Published by The Pennsylvania State University Press,
University Park, PA 168021003

The Pennsylvania State University Press is a member of the Association of University Presses.

It is the policy of The Pennsylvania State University Press to use acid-free paper. Publications on uncoated stock satisfy the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Material, ANSI Z 39.481992.

For Benoit, Brielle, and Kellan

CONTENTS

It is fitting that a book about the sustained and collaborative artistic programs of the Middle Ages begin with an acknowledgment of the many people who contributed to the current project. Some of their contributions are visible in the notes, figures, and captions, but many are invisible, despite the tremendous impact they had on this book. They are the modern-day equivalents of the unsung masons, glaziers, carpenters, and donors without whom the medieval city would never have existed.

The support and advocacy of my editor Eleanor Goodmancharming, sharp, and ever dressed to the ninesand her team at the Pennsylvania State University Press have been invaluable in transforming the following pages into a beautiful book. I am grateful, too, for the close and insightful feedback of two anonymous reviewers who strengthened the flow of my manuscript.

The publication of this book was supported by generous grants from Bard College. At various stages I received support for my research from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the International Center of Medieval Art, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Fulbright Program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), and Bard College. Particularly at this time of cutbacks in humanities and research funding, the support of these organizations and of the many individuals who contribute to their funds, serve on their boards, or otherwise support their mission makes the work of academics possible.

Those who have read my June 2017 Art Bulletinarticle, Holy Blood, Holy Cross: Dynamic Interactions in the Parochial Complex of Rothenburg, will recognize its passages distributed throughout this books two central chapters. The feedback of two anonymous reviewers and of the editorial team headed by Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer was vital in shaping this core, on which Riemenschneider in Rothenburgexpands. While researching this study, I also prepared two articles on subjects tangentially related to the current text: one, on chancel passageways, appeared in 2015 in the British Archaeological Associations volume on Norwich; the other, on two-story charnel houses, is forthcoming in an edited volume titled Picturing Death, 12001600.