Krafft, Adam
Krafft, Adam
Sculptor, b. about 1440 at Nuremberg; d. Jan., 1509 at Schwabach. He carved at Nuremberg the last famous Gothic monuments in stone. The earliest of his extant works are the so-called “Seven Falls of Christ”, that is to say Stations of the Cross representing Christ tottering and falling under the weight of His Cross, as well as the descent from the Cross. They were completed about 1490, and are now in the Gerrnanic Museum at Nuremberg. The memorial bronze monument over the Schreyer and Landauer tomb in the church of St. Sebaldus was completed in 1492; three of its reliefs, highly coloured, represent Christ carrying the Cross, His burial and resurrection, with a landscape for background. Later, Krafft undertook, at the request of Imhoff, the famous marble tabernacle in the church of St. Laurence. Decorated with tall slender turrets, a canopy, carved figures, and finely chiselled ornaments, it tapers gradually to its summit. Four bases and three carved figures, of the master and his two apprentices, support the pedestal, above which rises the rectangular tabernacle, richly decorated with delicate reliefs and with the figures of angels and saints in the numerous surrounding niches. It is universally admired as one of the most beautiful creations of Gothic art, and legend relates that the stone softened at the touch of Krafft’s chisel, to harden again in the new form which he imparted to it. Among the master’s works are also three handsome sepulchral monuments with statues of the Madonna, besides an “Entombment of Christ” and “Christ on Mount Olivet”. Krafft’s technical skill is amazing. His scenes from the Passion show deep feeling, his portrayal of saints is noble and full of expression, though his executioners are vulgar and repulsive. Gothic idealism seems to merge into a native realism, not Italian beauty of form, but native German strength, simplicity, and piety give value to his art.
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WAGNER, Nurnberger Bildhauerwerke des Mittelalters, I: Nurnbergische Kunstler nach ihrem Leben und ihrem Wirhen, pt. XI; particularly DAUN, Adam Krafft (Berlin, 1897); IDEM, Peter Vischer und Adam Krafft (Bielefeld, 1905).
G. GIETMANN Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIIICopyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Krafft, Adam
a celebrated German sculptor and architect, born at Nuremberg about 1430, and supposed to have died about 1507, deserves our notice for his prominent connection with ecclesiology. One of the most remarkable performances of his still extant is the tabernacle in stone, fixed against one of the columns of the choir of the church of St. Lawrence (Lorenzkirche), Nuremberg. It is in the form of a square open Gothic spire, and is 64 feet high; the pinnacle being turned downwards like the crook of the crosier dr an episcopal staff, to avoid the arch of the church. The ciborium is placed immediately upon a low platform, which is supported partly by the kneeling figures of Adam Krafft and his two assistants; the rail or baluster of the platform is richly carved, and is ornamented with the figures of eight saints. The whole tabernacle is also profusely ornamented with small figures in the round and bassi-relievi: immediately above the ciborium, on three sides, are representations in basso relievo of ” Christ taking leave of his Mother,” the “Last Supper,” and “Christ on the Mount of Olives;” high above these are “Christ before Caiaphas,” the ” Crowning with Thorns,” and the ” Scourging;” above these is the “Crucifixion ;” and lastly, above that, is the ” Resurrection,” all in the round. This elaborate work was executed by Krafft for a citizen of the name of Hans Imhof, and for the small sum of 770 florins. There is a print of this tabernacle in Doppelmavr’s listorische Natachricht von den Niirnberqischen Kinsflern. Recent writers have indulged in various conjectures regarding the time and works of Krafft, but the circumstances of both are still involved in their former uncertainty. See Fiissli, Allgemeines Kunstler-Lexikon, s.v.; Nagler, Allgemeines Kiinstler- Lexikcon, s.v.