Jerg Ratgeb

Infobox Artist
bgcolour = #EEDD82
name = Jerg (Jörg) Ratgeb


imagesize =
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birthname = Jerg Ratgeb
birthdate = "circa" 1480
location = Schwäbisch Gmünd, Holy Roman Empire
(now Germany)
deathdate = executed 1526 (aged "ca." 46)
deathplace = prob. Pforzheim, Baden, Holy Roman Empire
(now Germany)
nationality = German
field = Painting
training =
movement =
works = (1521) (1517)
patrons =
awards =

Jerg Ratgeb (also Jörg) (born "circa" 1480 in Schwäbisch Gmünd; died 1526 in Pforzheim) was a German painter and contemporary of Dürer.

Life and works

Around the turn of the 15th to 16th century, Ratgeb appears to have spent time in Italy, where he came in contact with Italian Renaissance art and with the recently developed use of perspective in painting. After returning to Germany, he settled in Heilbronn. In 1510, he painted the altar of Saint Barbara in the church of nearby Schwaigern.

From 1514 to 1517 he was in Frankfurt am Main, where he painted the walls of the refectory and cloister of the "Karmeliterkloster" (Carmelite Monastery). The paintings, of which only fragments survive, are the largest wall paintings known to the north of the Alps from that period. His most famous work is the Herrenberg Altarpiece, completed in 1521. It was originally painted for the "Stiftskirche" (abbey church) of Herrenberg. Today, it is on display in the Staatgalerie at Stuttgart. Ratgeb had developed a distinctive personal expressive style, visibly influenced by artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald and Hieronymus Bosch.

Because of his marriage with a serf of the Duke of Württemberg he lost most of his rights as a citizen of Heilbronn. He moved to Stuttgart, where he became a member of the city council. In that position, he negotiated with the rebelling farmers during the Peasants' War in 1525. He became part of the military contingent requested by the rebels and was elected councillor and chancellor by the peasants. After the suppression of the rebellion, he was arrested, accused of high treason ("because of the Peasant War and on behalf of Duke Ulrich") and finally executed in Pforzheim in 1526, by being torn apart by four horses.

Reception

In the late 19th century, his work was rediscovered by Donner von Richter. Since then, it has been subject to controversial interpretations. His tragic death has repeatedly tempted art historians, especially Wilhelm Fraenger, to read his surviving work as a political manifesto. Currently, such views are mostly rejected by scholarship.

In the 20th century, several historical novels were written about his life: "Jörg Ratgeb" by Georg Schwarz. Munich, 1937; "Die Spur des namenlosen Malers" ("The trace of the nameless painter") by Marianne Bruns. Berlin, 1975; Anton Monzer: "Die Spur der Bilder: ein biographischer Roman um den Maler Jörg Ratgeb". Bietigheim, 1999.

Since 1990, Ratgeb's life was the subject of a play called "Jerg Ratgeb, Maler – Ein Künstlerdrama", performed at the open-air theatre of the Theater Lindenhof on the Ammerhof near Tübingen. The play has also been broadcast on TV.

In 2004, the artist Hans Kloss painted a large four-part altarpiece depicting Ratgeb's life and death. Originally on display at the Johanniskirche of Schwäbisch Gmünd, is has since been acquired by the Würth collection.

Bibliography

*Otto Donner von Richter: "Jerg Ratgeb, Maler von Schwäbisch Gemünd,seine Wandmalereien im Karmeliterkloster zu Frankfurt und seine Altarwand in der Stiftskirche zu Herrenberg". Frankfurt/Main 1892
*Wilhelm Fraenger: "Jörg Ratgeb, ein Maler und Märtyrer aus dem Bauernkrieg". Dresden 1972
*Ute-Nortrud Kaiser: "Jörg Ratgeb – Spurensicherung", Ausstellungskatalog. Frankfurt/Main & Pforzheim 1982
*Lisa Farber: "Jerg Ratgeb and the Herrenberg Altarpiece", Diss. Princeton 1989
*Sabine Oth: "Das Wort in den Bildern von Jerg Ratgeb", Diss. Frankfurt/Main 2005

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20010302055022/www.artentity.de/ratgeb/Rat_mat.html web.archive.org archive of remains of a defunct web-based project on Ratgeb]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/ratgeb_jorg.html Internet images at Artcyclopedia]
* [http://www.hans-kloss.de/hkratgeb.htm The Kloss altar]

Persondata
NAME=Ratgeb, Jerg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Ratgeb, Jörg
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German painter
DATE OF BIRTH=circa 1480
PLACE OF BIRTH=Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany
DATE OF DEATH=1526
PLACE OF DEATH=Pforzheim, Germany