Oeuvre

Danse Macabre of St Mary’s Church, Lübeck

Bernt Notke produced two Danse Macabre paintings: one for St Mary’s Church in Lübeck, the other decades later for Tallinn. While the two paintings were very similar to each other, they still had some significant differences. The Lübeck Danse Macabre has not survived. By 1701, it was in such poor condition that the painter Anton Wortmann made a copy of it. This copy was destroyed in a 1942 fire at St Mary’s Church. The copy originally depicted 49 figures, two of which were cut out over time. The painting began with Death playing the flute and ended with a baby. Wortmann did not make an exact copy of the old painting, but added details characteristic of his era. The accompanying verses were also replaced by new ones.

Danse Macabre of St Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn

Only the opening piece with thirteen figures has survived of Tallinn’s Danse Macabre. It is not known how many figures there were originally, how long it was, or who commissioned the painting. Since the work is not mentioned in the medieval account book of St Nicholas’ Church (1465–1520), it can be assumed that it was donated by a wealthy person (most probably a merchant), a guild or a fraternity. It has also been hypothesised that the original location of the work may have been the church at the Dominican friary of St Catherine rather than St Nicholas’ Church, but there is no evidence of this, either.

Bernt Notke’s Danse Macabre is undoubtedly the most famous medieval work of art in Estonia. The painting is of an exceptionally high artistic level, the faces of the Pope and the Emperor being particularly suggestive.

Altarpiece of the Travellers to Scania

The altarpiece was located at the altar of St John the Baptist of St Mary’s Church in Lübeck, which belonged to the Brotherhood of Travellers to Scania (merchants who traded with this Swedish, then Danish province). Only the outer wings of the altarpiece and some carved details remain; the retable and sculptures have been lost. The wings are on display at St Anne’s Museum (St. Annen-Museum) in Lübeck. The God the Father of the Holy Trinity scene resembles the emperor of the Danse Macabre in Tallinn.

The Rood of Lübeck Cathedral

The monumental rood was completed in 1470–77 and inaugurated on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary on 15 August 1477. The cross was commissioned by Bishop Albert Krummedick of Lübeck, who is also depicted in the work. The rood constituted only one part of Krummedick’s donations: under the cross, the altar was located, rebuilt on the initiative of the bishop, dedicated to the Holy Cross and the 24 elders of the Book of Revelations. The bishop probably also foresaw the rood as his own tomb monument, as when he died in 1489, he was buried in front of the altar of the Holy Cross.

The Rood Screen of Lübeck Cathedral

The wooden balustrade of the rood screen adorned with statues of saints comes from Notke’s workshop. The four patron saints of Lübeck Cathedral are depicted under high baldachins: St Nicholas of Myra, the Virgin Mary (here depicted as Madonna on a crescent moon), St John the Baptist, and St Blaise of Sebaste. Some of the small figures of saints on the balustrade were replaced by new ones in the nineteenth century. The clock, with its frame and inscription, dates from the seventeenth century.

The Laymen’s Altarpiece of Lübeck Cathedral

This is not in fact an altarpiece, but rather painted panels on the back wall of the choir bench. However, the two central panels can be opened in the manner of a winged altarpiece. Originally, this bench was located directly behind the rood screen and was connected to the laymen’s altar. The four panels on the front of the bench depicting St Clement, the Virgin Mary, St John the Baptist and St Agnes are weaker in execution and are considered the work of one of Notke’s assistants. St Nicholas and St Blaise on the back are painted more masterfully, which is why some researchers have attributed them to Bernt Notke himself. Parts of older fourteenth-century pews have been used as side supports for the bench.

The Altarpiece of the High Altar of Aarhus Cathedral

The altarpiece was commissioned by Jens Iversen Lange, Bishop of Aarhus (1449–82), on whose initiative the large-scale rebuilding of the cathedral was started. The patron saint of the cathedral is St Clement, who is depicted on the altarpiece as well as elsewhere in the church. A letter from Lübeck Town Council to Bishop Iversen dated 20 December 1478 refers to Bernt Notke as the creator of the altarpiece. The altarpiece was already underway at the time. In 1482, Notke confirmed to the bishop that he had received his fee. In addition to the agreed amount, the bishop gave the master a gratuity, as well as a horse.

The Altarpiece of the High Altar of Tallinn Church of the Holy Spirit

The Lower Town of medieval Tallinn was divided into the Parish of St Nicholas’ and the Parish of St Olaf. The Church of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, was a hospital church, forming a part of the hospital complex. The duties of the priest of the Holy Spirit included pastoral care of the sick and the poor, as well as the other inhabitants of the hospital, such as retired clergy. The Church of the Holy Spirit had one more function: sometimes the Tallinn City Council held its sessions there. Therefore, the church has at times been referred to as the Town Hall Chapel.  It is likely that it was the city council who commissioned a new altarpiece from Lübeck for the main altar in the early 1480s. The altarpiece, which according to the inscription was completed in 1483, is decorated with the coats of arms of the city of Tallinn.

A 1484 letter from Bernt Notke to Tallinn City Council has also survived, in which the master reminds the council that they still owe him money for one “panel” (that is, altarpiece). The letter mentions Bürgermeister Diderick Hagenbeke and his companion, in other words the wardens of the Church of the Holy Spirit, as the contract givers.

St George’s Group in Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan)

This magnificent monument was donated to the Church of St Nicholas in Stockholm (now Storkyrkan) by Regent Sten Sture the Elder and his wife Ingeborg Tott. According to one version, it was commissioned to commemorate the victory over the Danes and the supporters of the Kalmar Union at the Battle of Brunkeberg (10 October 1471). Before the battle, both sides had called for the help of St George, but the saint favoured the power of Sten Sture. The ideological interpretation of the monument would be that just as the brave knight George stopped the dragon from swallowing the beautiful princess, Sten Sture prevented the union from swallowing Sweden. In terms of whether the St George’s group was made in the workshop of Bernt Notke, researchers’ opinions differ: it has also been claimed that the monument was actually created by Dutch masters.

Mass of St Gregory

The Mass of St Gregory was widely depicted in late medieval art, as it exemplified one of the most important teachings of the Catholic Church – the transformation of wine and bread into the blood and body of Christ. According to legend, Christ appeared to Pope Gregory the Great (590–604), while he was saying Mass, to confirm his true presence in the elements used in the Eucharist. Here, too, one can see the suffering Christ standing on the altar, the blood flowing from his wounds into the chalice. Pope Gregory kneels before the altar, while three bishops, three cardinals, three elders, a deacon, a sub-deacon, and others are witnessing the miracle. Many characters are depicted with personal features. The painting in St Mary’s Church in Lübeck was destroyed in 1942.