MASTER H.L.
(active c. 1515-1526 in Upper Rhine)

Coronation of the Virgin

1525
Polychromed wood, height 213 cm
Parish church, Niederrotweil (Kaiserstuhl)

The picture shows the central part of an altarpiece in the church at Niederrotweil.

This sculptor, whose activity can be followed between 1515 and 1526, would appear to have come from the upper Rhine valley. It has been conjectured that he is the same person as the engraver who hides behind these initials. Here natural gesture is sacrificed to decorative concerns. From the profusion of twisting locks and turning draperies, matched in density by the foliage, and from the breeze rustling the angels' wings and the coiling clouds, arises an overall sense of agitated mobility almost Baroque in character.