Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and the Reformation

(Bozica Vekic) #1

St. Martin, Colmar, the so-called Madonna in the Rose
Bower (1473); this shows the attention with which Schon-
gauer must have studied the work of 15th-century Flem-
ish artists, especially Rogier van der WEYDEN. Schongauer’s
main importance resides in his innovative copper engrav-
ings of religious subjects; 113 of them are known, signed
with his initials. These were widely disseminated, spread-
ing Schongauer’s influence far beyond the school for en-
gravers he ran at Colmar; some of the works of the LITTLE
MASTERS(OF NUREMBERG) show a clear debt to him, and
had it not been for Schongauer’s death DÜRERwould have
carried out his intention of studying with him when he
visited Colmar in 1492.


Schuyt, Cornelis (1557–1616) Dutch composer
Schuyt was born in Leyden and trained as a chorister at St.
Pieterskerk, where he succeeded his father as organist
(1601). He was one of the leading Dutch madrigalists and
a contemporary of the organist Jan Pietersz. SWEELINCK.
He published two collections of MADRIGALS, the first in
1600 for five voices and another in 1611 for six voices. He
is known to have traveled to Italy, probably in the 1570s,
and this had a strong influence on his work. His madri-
gals, for instance, include settings of verse by the Italian
poet Torquato TASSO.


Schwabach, Articles of See AUGSBURG, CONFESSION OF


Schwänke Comic anecdotes written in prose or verse,
collections of which were popular reading matter in 15th-
and 16th-century Germany. They often centered on the
exploits of legendary rogues, such as the hero of Till Eu-
lenspiegel (1515), a witty mischief-maker who reveled in
tricking good citizens. Another extremely successful col-
lection was Das Rollwagenbüchlein (1555) by Jörg WICK-
RAM. During the 16th century the Schwank, in the form of
the humorous everyday scene, also served as the basis for
drama in Shrovetide plays (Fastnachtspiele). The Schwank
reflected the shift of emphasis in German literature from
courtly chivalric concerns to the homelier ones of town
and village. It also represented one of the earliest forms of
German prose literature, which scarcely existed before the
13th century. Hans SACHS, the cobbler of Nuremberg, was
a master of the Schwank.
See also: FACETIAE


Schwarz, Hans (c. 1492–post-1532) German medalist
and sculptor
Schwarz was born in Augsburg but traveled extensively in
northern Europe. A talented portraitist, he produced nu-
merous portrait medallions in the Italian style, showing
faces in profile or three-quarters view. As a sculptor, he
worked particularly in low relief, using fine stone, and fol-
lowed the style of paintings of the period by including
effects of perspective and even elements of landscape. His


work includes sculptures for the FUGGER FAMILYchapel
(executed from sketches by DÜRER).

science See NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

Scorel, Jan van (1495–1562) Netherlands painter
He was born at Schoorl, near Alkmaar, and was probably
first trained by Cornelis Buys the Elder in Alkmaar. Scorel
was then apprenticed to Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen
in Amsterdam in 1512. In about 1517/18 he may have vis-
ited Jan GOSSAERTin Utrecht. In 1519 he undertook an ex-
tensive trip to Carinthia via Basle and Nuremberg, where
he may have worked briefly in DÜRER’s shop. In Obervel-
lach, in Carinthia, he executed an altarpiece heavily influ-
enced by Dürer. By 1520 Scorel was in Venice, whence he
took ship for Jerusalem. His Entry of Christ into Jerusalem
(1527; Utrecht) includes a vista of the holy city which re-
veals a personal study of its topography. In 1521 Scorel
was back in Italy, first at Venice and subsequently in
Rome. The following year the Dutch Pope Adrian VI ap-
pointed him curator of the papal collection of antiquities
in the Belvedere. However, Scorel’s tenure was terminated
by the pope’s death (1523) and he returned home. From
1524 he resided in Utrecht, save for short visits to the
southern Netherlands and France and a period in Haarlem
between 1527 and 1529/30.
Scorel was deeply influenced by a range of Italian
artists, including MICHELANGELO, RAPHAEL, GIORGIONE,
and PALMA VECCHIO. His Death of Cleopatra (c. 1522; Am-
sterdam) repeats a formula of reclining female nude pop-
ular in Venice, but with a musculature reminiscent of
Michelangelo’s sculptures. While the composition of his
Baptism of Christ (c. 1528; Haarlem) harks back to Dirk
BOUTSin some respects, it includes figure types derived
from both Raphael and antique art. His Rest on the Flight
(c. 1530; Washington) incorporates a background heavily
indebted to ancient Roman wall paintings, with which the
artist would have become familiar as curator of the
Belvedere. Scorel was also a fine portrait painter of both
individual figures and groups. A key figure in the assimi-
lation of Italian style in northern Europe, Scorel has a sig-
nificance in the development of the 16th-century Dutch
school second only to that of LUCAS VAN LEYDEN. The style
of Scorel’s pupil, Maarten van HEEMSKERCK, is a creative
development of his own, but seems mannered and uneasy
by comparison.

sculpture Like its sister arts, PAINTINGand ARCHITEC-
TURE, sculpture was a medium that gave tangible form to
Renaissance ideals, reflecting the progress of cultural and
intellectual currents. Accordingly, the origins of Renais-
sance sculpture are to be found in those of the period it-
self. The newly matured humanist movement stimulated a
historical self-consciousness which prompted compar-
isons of contemporary culture with that of the ancient

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