Life and career
Riemenschneider led a major sculpture workshop in Würzburg around the turn of the sixteenth century. Altarpieces and devotional figures were made for specific churches and viewing situations. His work belongs to a collaborative craft world: carving, assembly, colouring and gilding could involve different specialists, and surviving fragments may have lost their original setting.
Works across a career
Selected examples, not a complete catalogue. Read date ranges and attributions before inferring a career sequence.
- 01
c. 1495
c. 1495
Saint Jerome and the Lion (From the former Church of St. Peter in Erfurt)
- Material / technique
- alabaster, traces of polychromy
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
This statue shows an important moment from a story about Saint Jerome. One day Jerome encountered a hurt lion. He removed a thorn from its paw, and the grateful animal became Jerome’s lifelong companion. This sculpture is made of alabaster, a soft stone suited for carving fine detail. Look closely! You can see flecks of paint and gold from when it was originally painted. Conservators looked at this sculpture under a microscope and found that the lion once had a red mouth, yellow fur, and black claws.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 02
1502–8
1502–8
Saint Lawrence
- Material / technique
- lindenwood with polychromy and gilding
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
This sculpture, along with that of Saint Stephen (1959.43), and two female saints preserved in Frankfurt (Historisches Museum), are believed to be the remaining fragments of a large altarpiece carved by Riemenschneider for the Dominican convent in Rothenburg in Franconia (demolished in 1813). Saints Stephen and Lawrence both wear the dalmatic to indicate their status as deacons in the early church. Each holds a symbol of his martyrdom; here, Saint Lawrence holds a grill to indicate his death by burning. Late Gothic Style Art in Germany through the early 1500s remained firmly anchored in the late Gothic style with its associated interests in realism. Riemenschneider was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of this style, a recognized master in both stone and wood. His flourishing workshop employed as many as 40 apprentices in sculpting, woodcarving, and painting. His sculptures are noted for the dreamy, melancholy, and introspective quality in their expressions, as well as their remarkable attention to detail.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 - 03
1502–8
1502–8
Saint Stephen
- Material / technique
- lindenwood with polychromy and gilding
- Attribution / role
- Museum attribution
- Collection / source
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
Museum catalogue note
This sculpture, along with that of Saint Lawrence (1959.42) and two others in Germany, are believed to be the remaining fragments of a large altarpiece carved by Riemenschneider for the Dominican convent in Rothenburg in Franconia (demolished in 1813). Saints Stephen and Lawrence both wear the dalmatic to indicate their status as deacons in the early church. Each holds a symbol of his martyrdom; here, Saint Stephen cradles some stones to indicate his death by stoning. Art in Germany through the early 1500s remained firmly anchored in the late Gothic style with its associated interests in realism. Riemenschneider was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of this style, a recognized master in both stone and wood. His flourishing workshop employed as many as 40 apprentices in sculpting, woodcarving, and painting. His sculptures are noted for the dreamy, melancholy, and introspective quality in their expressions, as well as their remarkable attention to detail.
Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0
Materials, marks and colour
Media and surface
Carved alabaster and wood retain different textures; colour and gilding also belong to object history.
Marks and structure
Carved folds and restrained facial or hand gestures animate otherwise compact devotional figures.
Palette and light
Pale stone, surviving polychromy and gilding must be distinguished from later loss or surface alteration.
Sources and further reading
Original educational interpretation; catalogue descriptions are separately credited. Each study links to its source. Reference entries without images are not added to the comparison timeline.