Cologne (Roman. Colonia) is the oldest city in Germany, originally settled in
38 B.C. as a city rather than as an army camp. It was the capital of the Roman
province of "Lower Germany" ("lower" meaning northern). The Empress Agrippina
was born there (A.D. 15), and the Batavian revolutionary Claudius Civilis failed
to reconvert the city to barbarianism in 70 A.D. It had a bishop as early as
the 4th century, and was raised to an archbishopric by Charlemagne in 800. Its
10th century archbishop was Bruno (953-965), the younger brother of the Holy
Roman Emperor Otto II. Bruno, together with Otto's wife, the Byzantine princess
Theophanu, spent a great deal of money on Cologne's Romanesque churches, as
did subsequent 11th century archbishops Heribert and Anno. The acquisition of
the relics of the Three Magi (1164) made the city still more popular as a place
of pilgrimage, becoming a Dominican stronghold by 1248, and by the early 1300's
the mysticism of the Dominican preachers Tauler, Suso, and Meister Eckhardt became
influential. Cologne's university, founded in 1388, is the third oldest in the
Empire (after Prague and Vienna). The city had 80 charitable brotherhoods and
confraternities, and with a population of 40,000, was the largest city in Germany.
By the late 1300's the local painters' guild register contained 14 names (unfortunately,
none can be connected with certainty to any of the many anonymous paintings
made in the city.) The painters all lived in their own street–-the Schildergasse.
St. Veronica with the Sudarium
(Munich, Alte Pinakothek). Ca. 1410?
This small painting, which originally came from the church of St. Severin in
Cologne, was much admired by Goethe, who saw it in 1814 in the Boisseree collection.
St. Veronica holds her veil, on which the features of Christ were imprinted
when she handed it to Him to wipe His face.. THE actual alleged veil itself
had been indulgenced, and had been kept in St. Peter's (Rome) since the 8th
century. Typical of Cologne is the large amount of gold leaf, and the pastel
colors chosen for their beauty rather than for their symbolism. The small cherubs
with golden curls and snubbed noses are also a frequent feature of art from
this city.
The Small Calvary (Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz
Museum)
1'8" x 1' 2 3/4"
Reminiscent of the contemporary art of Conrad von Soest, in Dortmund (q.v.)
The Calvarienberg ("crowded" Calvary) is replete with the two thieves, Longinus
and the Centurion, the dicing soldiers, the Holy Women, and the typically Cologne-style
blue angels with tadpole-like drapery tails, who collect Christ's blood in gold
chalices. The Centurion's scroll is inscribed with the words "Vere filius Dei
erat iste" (Truly this was the Son of God).
Crucifixion with Mary, John and
a Carthusian Donor (Washington, National Gallery)
A smaller and simpler Crucifixion of the basic canon-page type. Note the changeable
colors of John's drapery, totally without symbolic meaning but very sophisticated
as to color choice and application.
The Madonna and Child with the Flowering Bean (Pea?) (Cologne, W-R. Museum)
This famous Madonna has been attributed variously to "Meister Wilhelm" (one of the names from the painters' guild register); the Master of the Golden Panel (Cuttler); and the Veronica Master (W.-R. Museum) It is a house-altar, allegedly from the former rectory of St. Mary's church. On the two wings are full-length depictions of Sts. Catherine and Barbara. The center panel is a half-length Madonna and Child of the basic Byzantine Eleousa (embracing)type. The bean blossom held by the Madonna has two seed pods attached, which seem to refer to Mary's motherhood (Strieder), to the material human body as a "hull" for the soul (early commercial product). Note also the Christ Child's string of prayer beads (Lippert), and, or more probably, to the portion of the Ave Maria prayer which says. "Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus" (fructus ventris tui, Jesu). The image of Mary as a flower is highly appropriate for Cologne, where "cologne" (light perfume) was a major product, and where Roman glass to bottle it in had been an the silk purse in which He normally keeps them when not in use.