Around 1460-1531

The works of Tilman Riemenschneider like no other sculptor represents the transition from the Middle Ages to Renaissance. With outstanding craftsmanship genius, he breathed new life into the old traditions. As the first artist he often renounced on a painting of his works and discovered the play of light and shadow as a design element. He created magnificent compositions full of emotional tension, in which he raised his characters to life with expressive faces, weighted gestures and a dramatic draping.

The sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider was born around 1460 in the Harz region, and died in 1531 at Wurzburg. Peregrinations led him to Swabia and the upper Rhine. He finally settled in Wurzburg, where he arrived at such standing and he was elected as mayor.

Riemenschneider's works tie in the Swabian and Upper Rhine art in the tradition Gerhaerts van Leyden. The figures also show that the graphics of the contemporary Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Durer must have been known. A two-dimensional shapes entwine Riemenschneider to larger premises, his multiple-figure compositions are always clearer in the building. His preferred materials were Basswood, Franconian sandstone, marble and alabaster. He became famous through his altars, of which is the most famous preserved the Creglinger Marienaltar. Especially in the carved altars, Riemenschneider was an innovator: one of the first sculptors he renounced a colour paint. His characters differ from the contemporary Gothic lyrical delicacy and introspection.

Collective term for all casting processes that ars mundi carries out with the help of specialized art foundries.

Cast stone
Equivalent of artificial marble, with the difference that the substitute stone in powder form is used instead of marble powder.

Cold cast bronze
Bronze powder bound by a polymer. By special polishing and patination techniques the surface of the casting gets a look that corresponds to the bronze.

ARA wooden copy
In order to guarantee absolute fidelity to the original, an artificially manufactured imitation wood is used as a base material which has typical wood characteristics: density, workability, color and surface structure.

Ceramic casting
As a rule castable clay is used in ceramic casting, which then is fired and possibly glazed. Plaster molds are often used instead of the usual rubber molds in ceramic casting and in porcelain production.

Bronze casting
In this case, the thousand-year-old lost-wax technique is used. It's the best, but also the most complex method of producing sculptures.

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Bronze casting
Lost-wax casting technique

A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.

While sculptures from wood, ivory or stone are made directly from the block of material, for bronze casting a working model is prepared at first. Usually it is made of clay or other easily shaped materials.

The prime time of sculpture after the Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Also the contemporary artists, such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz enriched the sculpture with outstanding works.

The mold is usually taken directly from the original, so that the replica reproduces even the finest details. After casting the replica, using the most appropriate method, the surface is polished, patinated, gilded or painted according to the original.

A replica of ars mundi is a recognizable image of the original.