MEDIEVAL SCULPTOR, German
(active 1150-1175 in Lower Saxony)

Capital with mask and dragons

1150-75
Stone
Church of Sts Simon and Jude, Goslar

With a few exceptions, there are no counterparts to the extensive visual narratives on the capitals in Spain, southern France and Burgundy, in German churches. Most of the capitals only have geometric shapes, animals and plant decorations, masks, or monsters. The picture shows an example from the Hartmann column in the former collegiate church of Sts Simon and Jude in Goslar (Lower Saxony). There is a signature on this column: "HARMANNUS STATUAM FECIT BASISQUE FIGURAM" - "Hartmann made the column and the figure on the base".