THE FIGURE OF ANTON PILGRAM IN BRNO : BETWEEN CZECH AND GERMAN(-AUSTRIAN) HISTORIOGRAPHY
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| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The architect and sculptor Anton Pilgram (Brno 1460 ? – Vienna 1515 ?) is well known for his works at the St. Stephan church in Vienna in the years 1512–1515. However, Pilgram was also active in Brno, where he was most likely born, and where he participated to the construction of different monuments. Scholars trace him back to various works inside the church of St. Jacob (kostel Sv. Jakuba), the so-called “Jewish gate” (židovská brána) and the portal of the old Town Hall of the city. Both the dating and sometimes the attribution of these works are disputed among the Czech and German(-Austrian) historiography, thus creating an on-going debate and a real cleavage between the two sides of the tradition. Instead of sharing the ideas on a common ground, scholars of the two backgrounds are following the established historiographical traditions, sometimes not even considering each other.On the Czech part, the focus is mainly situated on the “profile of author”, for example the questions of the professional formation travels of Pilgram, to construct an idea of a network of “influences” and “styles”, linking the artist and the region with the European-wide radiance and stressing the excellence of his works. Important points are therefore the chronology of his life and travels and the defining of his place inside the “style genesis”. The idea thus created by this approach is to construct a figure that can become the lead-artist of the region, considering his works as masterpieces of the late middle ages in Moravia. The German and Austrian bibliographic tradition is also interested in the spread of Pilgram’s style or ideas throughout the Moravian and Schwabian regions, but focusing on the Viennese St. Stephan church as main point of the development of the master’s style. In this perception, the works of art in Brno are considered as “youth-works”, while his real excellence is linked with later works of art executed in Vienna or surrounding Austrian cities. |