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Tilman Riemenschneider and Medieval Alabaster Sculpture at the Cleveland Museum of Art
From March 26 to July 23, 2023, the Cleveland Museum of Art presents “Tilman Riemenschneider’s Saint Jerome and Late Medieval Alabaster Sculpture”
Source: Cleveland Museum of Art · Image: “Saint Jerome and the Lion” (from the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt),c. 1495. Tilman Riemenschneider (German, c. 1460–1531). Alabaster; 37.8 x 28.1 x 15.9 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund,1946.82
Alabaster was prized for its luster and capacity for fine details from the 14th to the 16th century particularly in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain. The gleaming stone was used for altarpieces and small sculptures, as well as for the tombs of wealthy princes. Despite the rich corpus of surviving works, medieval alabaster sculpture from continental Europe has not yet been highlighted by museums in Europe and North America. This exhibition seeks to shed light on this important yet under-studied topic by gathering some of the most extraordinary surviving examples of alabaster works made in Europe during the late Middle Ages. The majority of objects on view are from the CMA’s collection and allow insight into the production of alabaster sculptures in this period. Loans from North American museums complement the exhibition.
The centerpiece of the show is the CMA’s masterpiece by Tilman Riemenschneider, “Saint Jerome and the Lion”, produced for the Benedictine abbey church of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany, depicting a legend in which Jerome gently removes a thorn from a lion’s paw. The CMA’s exhibition reunites Saint Jerome with another Riemenschneider work from the same church in Erfurt, an alabaster statuette titled “Virgin Mary of the Annunciation”, in the collection of the Musée du Louvre. These works are exceptionally rare, as they are two of only a few extant alabaster sculptures produced by Riemenschneider; Saint Jerome is the only work in alabaster by Riemenschneider in an American museum. One of the most prolific late Gothic sculptors, Riemenschneider is renowned for his technical virtuosity and ability to convincingly portray human emotion in his elegant sculptures of religious figures. Saint Jerome and the Lion and the Louvre’s Virgin Mary exemplify Riemenschneider’s artistic ability, as well as the refinement that can be achieved with alabaster by virtue of the medium’s softness.
All exhibitions at the Cleveland Museum of Art are underwritten by the CMA Fund for Exhibitions. Principal annual support is provided by Michael Frank in memory of Patricia Snyder. Major annual support is provided by the Womens Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Generous annual support is provided by Cynthia and Dale Brogan, Dr. Ben and Julia Brouhard, Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Chapman Jr., Janice Hammond and Edward Hemmelgarn, Carl T. Jagatich, Eva and Rudolf Linnebach, Carl and Lu Anne Morrison, Henry Ott-Hansen, Mr. and Mrs. Michael F. Resch, Margaret and Loyal Wilson, and Claudia C. Woods and David A. Osage.
