Konrad
Witz is a German painter of the first half of the 15th century. He was
born in Rottweil, an important center of trade, which was independent
of any feudal or ecclesiastical authority. We do not know anything about
the artist’s training. Historical records provide only a few very scarce
bits of information about his life and work. In 1434 ‘Master Konrad of
Rottweil’ was admitted to the Basle Guild of Painters, and the same year
he was granted citizenship of Basle. The last we hear of him is in the
inscription on
The Miraculous Draught of Fishes,
in which Witz gives his name and date of 1444. The Miraculous Draught
of Fishes is the left wing of an altarpiece dedicated to St. Peter,
it ranks amongst the milestones of Early Renaissance painting.
Witz boldly dealt with the problems of transforming three-dimensional reality
into two-dimensional painting, and of portraying interior and exterior
spaces in correct perspective. Although in his interiors perspective is
not mathematically correct, they suggest remarkable depth, e.g. Madonna
and the Saints in a Church. Whether the panel was executed
by Witz himself or by his apprentices, its lighting effects and sense of
realism make it one of the most exciting inventions of the 15th century.
The idea of portraying the family of Christ, together with additional saints,
in a church interior is equally striking. Mary’s female companions are
St. Barbara, identified by her tower, and St. Catherine, to whom Infant
Jesus was betrothed.
Witz tried
to capture landscape and architecture with the greatest possible faithfulness
to life. His significance can be compared in various respects with that
of Masaccio in Italy and Jan
van Eyck in Netherlands. Konrad Witz died in 1445 in Basle or Geneva.
Note
Abishai Kneeling before David. Sabobai
and Benaiah. These panels originally formed part of an altarpiece,
which Witz executed for the St. Leonard’s church in Basle. The altarpiece,
which comprised several such panels, has not survived intact. The subjects
are drawn from a medieval devotional, the Speculum humanae salvationis
(Mirror of Salvation), in which scenes from the Old Testament thereby prefigure
those in the New. The panel with King David and the knight Abishai, kneeling
before him, must be read in conjunction with the panel immediately to its
right, which shows the two knights Sabobai and Benaiah. Together, Sabobai,
Benaiah and Abishai are bringing David water from the Bethlehem cistern.
The scene was considered the Old Testament counterpart to the Adoration
of the Magi.
Bibliography: Konrad Witz by Lippold-Heissig. Dresden. 1955.
Painting of Europe. XIII-XX centuries. Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Moscow. Iskusstvo. 1999.
