Rediscovered Treasures from the Nuremberg Artist’ Workshops
Exhibition at the University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB), Conference Room of the Old University Library in Erlangen
May 21–28, 2017
The Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg Graphic Arts Collection is the envy of many museums. It boasts a collection of nearly 7,000 hand drawings, copperplate engravings, etchings, and woodcuts from the 14th to 18th centuries that were formerly owned by the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach. The collection primarily consists of working materials from Nuremberg artists’ workshops preserved since the late Middle Ages, including pattern sheets, sketches, compositional drafts, backup copies, and independent works in color. These materials soon attracted the interest of art-loving merchants.
In 1929, Elfried Bock, the director of the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Engravings) in Berlin, undertook a comprehensive cataloging of the drawings in the Erlangen collection. However, over 150 sheets were set aside at that time. Erlangen art historians, led by Prof. Dr. Hans Dickel, rediscovered these drawings during the recataloging of the Graphic Arts Collection. Among them are two works in the hand of the Nuremberg polymath Peter Flötner.
Additionally, school drawings from Michael Wolgemut’s workshop offered insights into late medieval training practices for painters’ apprentices. The exhibition also featured copies of prints by renowned Italian Renaissance artists, such as Andrea Mantegna and Marcantonio Raimondi, which are similar to those produced by the young Dürer.
In addition, there are school drawings from Michael Wolgemut’s workshop, which offer revealing insights into the late-medieval training practices for painter’s apprentices. Finally, there are copies of prints by great Italian Renaissance masters, including Andrea Mantegna and Marcantonio Raimondi—copies of the kind that the young Dürer is known to have produced as well.
FAU University Press has published a richly illustrated catalog, edited by Dr. Manuel Teget-Welz of the Institute of Art History at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, to accompany the exhibition. The catalog is available for €17. An online edition is available on OPEN FAU.