the stages of the love of God and the transformation of
the self by love in the mystical quest. Richard also wrote
a commentary on the Book of Revelation, a treatise on
the Trinity, mystical comments on various Psalms, a
handbook for the Liberal Arts and the study of history
(Liber exceptionum; digested primarily from works by
Hugh of Saint-Victor), a collection of allegorical ser-
mons, and treatises on biblical and mystical topics.
See also Bonaventure, Saint; Hugh of Saint-Victor
Further Reading
Richard of Saint-Victor. Opera omnia. PL 196.
——. De Trinitate, ed. Jean Ribaillier. Paris: Vrin, 1958.
——. Liber exceptionum, ed. Jean Châtillon. Paris: Vrin, 1958.
——. Selected Writings on Contemplation, trans. Claire Kirch-
berger. London: Faber, 1957.
——. The Twelve Patriarchs, The Mystical Ark, and Book Three
on the Trinity, trans. Grover A. Zinn. New York: Paulist,
1979.
——. Les quatre degrés de la violente charité, ed. Gervais Du-
meige. Paris: Vrin, 1955.
Dumeige, Gervais. Richard de Saint-Victor et l’idée chrétienne de
l’amour. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1952.
Zinn, Grover A. “Personifi cation Allegory and Visions of Light
in Richard of St. Victor’s Teaching on Contemplation.” Uni-
versity of Toronto Quarterly 46 (1977): 190–214.
Grover A. Zinn
RIEMENSCHNEIDER, TILLMANN
(ca. 1460–1531)
Tillmann Riemenschneider is, perhaps, the best known
of all German sculptors active during the years around
- His father, also Tillmann, was the mint master in
Osterrode in Lower Saxony, but by 1483 the younger
Riemenschneider was a journeyman carver in southern
Germany. Documents place him in the guild of St. Luke
in Würzburg, where he was a master by 1485. His work-
shop was large and successful, with twelve apprentices
registered between 1501 and 1517.
Riemenschneider’s two sons were also sculptors.
From 1505 Riemenschneider served on the Würzburg
Council, and he was burgomaster (mayor) in 1520–1521.
In 1525 he was fi ned for refusing to support the bishop
against a peasant revolt.
Riemenschneider’s sculpture reveals familiarity
with German and Netherlandish styles from a broad
area. None of his travel is documented, however, and
at least some of these regional styles could have been
assimilated through the study of exported sculptures. In
addition to his carefully worked surfaces, Riemensch-
neider is known for his excellence in wood, especially
linden wood, as well as stone, primarily alabaster and
sandstone. His training as a stone carver is usually at-
tributed to his North German origins.
Riemenschneider was an innovative wood carver,
experimenting with unpainted surfaces in such early
works as the Münnerstadt altarpiece of 1490–1492,
the artist’s fi rst dated work. This winged altarpiece,
dedicated to Mary Magdalene, is currently divided be-
tween the Münnerstadt parish church and the museums
in Munich (Bayersiches Nationalmuseum) and Berlin
(Staatliche Museen Preussicher Kulturbesitz). Recent
conservation has removed later gilding and polychromy
(painting) to reveal Riemenschneider’s extraordinarily
careful attention to surface detail and nuance, akin to
sculptures on a smaller scale, such as ivory carving. The
success of Riemenschneider’s unpolychromed sculpture
is seen in such works as the great altarpiece of the Holy
Blood (ca. 1499–1505) still in situ in the Jakobskirche
in Rothenburg, and the lindenwood sculpture of Saints
Christopher, Eustace, and Erasmus (1494), a fragmentRIEMENSCHNEIDER, TILLMANNTilmann Riemenschneider. The alter of the Holy Blood, St.
Jacob’s Church, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germay.
© Erich Lessing/Art Resource, New York.