Master Paul of Levoča (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Paul von Leutschau'', hu, Lőcsei Pál mester; sk, Majster Pavol z Levoče) was a medieval carver and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of the 15th and 16th century, active mostly in then Carpathian-German town of

Levoča Levoča (; hu, Lőcse; rue, Левоча) is a town in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,700. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Gothic church with the highest wooden altar in the wo ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

( hu, Lőcse, german: Leutschau). Banska Bystrica 030

History

Most documents about him seem to have perished in the Levoča fire of 1550. Thus neither his surname, nor dates or places of birth and death, are known. It is assumed that he was born between 1470 and 1480. He must have died between 1537 (when he is still mentioned on record) and 1542 (when his widow is mentioned). His origin is unknown. Theories of his origin include being a native of Levoča, theories of

origin link him to

Passau Passau (; bar, label= Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's po ...

Wittenberg Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north of ...

and

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. He was also linked with origins from northern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

. He probably started working in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, judged by the connections of this city with Levoča at that time and, based on the artistic similarities, he may have been a student of

Veit Stoss Veit Stoss (also: ''Veit Stoß'' and ''Stuoss''; pl, Wit Stwosz; before 1450about 20 September 1533) was a leading German sculptor, mostly working with wood, whose career covered the transition between the late Gothic and the Northern Renaiss ...

. He worked in

Sabinov Sabinov ( la, Сibinium, hu, Kisszeben, german: Zeben, russian: Сабинов) is a small town located in the Prešov Region (north-eastern Slovakia), approximately 20 km from Prešov and 55 km from Košice. The population of Sabinov i ...

and

Banská Bystrica Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica ...

before settling in

in 1500, marrying a daughter of an influential citizen. In 1506 he established a carving workshop. A list of some of his works includes an Altar of St. Barbara in Banská Bystrica dated to 1509, an Altar of St. George in Spišská Sobota of 1516, and his most famous work, completed in 1517, an altar in the Basilica of St. James in Levoča. This late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

altar is the tallest in Europe, measured at 18.62 meters. It is carved in wood and decorated with gold. The

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

from this altar was depicted in the former issue of 100 SKK banknotes (before Slovakia's adoption of the Euro in 2009). In 1527 he became a member of the Levoča town council, but he gained most of his fame and recognition after his death. He began to be recognised by

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

s in 1870s in debates concerning the Levoča altar.

References

* Hleb, E.: Levoča in history. Prešov 1995. * CHALUPECKÝ, I.: St. James' Church. Martin 1991. * CHALUPECKÝ, I.: Contribution to the biography of Master Paul. In: Writings - homeland Proceedings I. Ves, 1967, pp. 181–187 * Kluber, Š.: Master Paul in Szepes towns. In: Levoča - provincial seat of Szepes (1271-1971). Levoča 1971 pp. 23–25 * Master Paul of Levoča - life, work time. Proceedings of seminar. Levoča 1991.

External links

Spectacular Slovakia

Panorama.sk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paul of Levoca, Master Gothic sculptors Hungarian sculptors 15th-century Hungarian people 16th-century Hungarian people People from Levoča