Standing Bishop

Artist: Hans von Reutlingen (German, Aachen, 1465–1547) or Workshop

Date: ca. 1510

Geography: Made in Aachen, Germany

Culture: German

Medium: Silver and silver gilt

Dimensions: Overall (without pin): 4 1/16 x 1 7/16 x 1 3/16 in. (10.3 x 3.6 x 3 cm)
with pin: 5 1/4in. (13.3cm)

Classification: Metalwork-Silver

Credit Line: Purchase, Desmond Gerald Fitzgerald Charitable Fund Gift, 1987

Accession Number: 1987.217

Description

This repoussé figure was made from hammered sheets of silver with attached cast elements, including the hands and book. The bishop is nearly identical to six figures on the base of the reliquary bust of Saint Lambert commissioned by Prince-Bishop Erard de la Marck for the Cathedral of Saint Lambert, Liège (destroyed), now in the treasury of Cathedral of Saint Paul in that city. The reliquary was begun in the workshop of Hans von Reutlingen in 1508 and delivered in time for the translation of the relics on April 28, 1512. The largest and most elaborate surviving example of late Gothic goldsmith work, the reliquary had been dismantled, vandalized, and restored many times since the late sixteenth century. It is thought that this figure was removed on one of these occasions and replaced with the corresponding cast now on the reliquary. The image probably represents one of the local bishop saints, such as Hubert, Materne, or Servais.

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