Jan Polack. Master of the late Gothic period

Jan Polack, whose name is also recorded in other versions, as well as in the Latin form, “Polonus”,[1] is first mentioned in 1482 in the tax ledger of the City of Munich, where he is listed as a taxpayer. The tax ledgers from earlier years have been lost. During this time, Polack lived in the “innere Stadt Petri” (a district in Munich – translator’s note) where he ran his studio. The first work attributed to him, the poorly preserved Passion frescoes in the choir of St. Wolfgang in Munich-Pipping, dates back to 1479. If one calculates the number of years he spent before as an apprentice, as a youth and as a child, he is likely to have been born in around 1450. He probably married a daughter of the Munich glassmaker Martin before 1484; he supplied Martin with designs until 1515. The Munich guild regulations required members to be married before they were awarded the title of “master” and granted civic rights. In 1485, he became a “Vierer”, the leader or chairman of the Munich painter’s guild, a position to which he was elected fourteen times for two, three or five-yearly periods until the year of his death in 1519. This also testifies to the important role he played in Munich painting during the late Gothic period around 1500. 

From 1485 onwards, Jan Polack completed numerous commissions for the City of Munich, such as the painting of the city gates (including Neuhausertor, Sendlingertor, Angertor and Schiffertor gates), as well as the city hall and fortress towers. Some of these paintings showed scenes from the crucifixion. He carried out gilding work, created decorations for festivals and painted coats of arms, flags and signs. After the altarpieces – the high altarpiece (Figs. 2–7 . ) and the Achatius altarpiece, now lost – were completed for the Benedictine abbey at Weihenstephan between 1483 and 1489, Albert IV of Wittelsbach (1447–1508), Duke of Bavaria-Munich, commissioned him with the production of the high altar retables for the Munich city parish church of St. Peter (Fig. 9 . ), the Franciscan abbey church of St. Anthony (Figs. 20–24 . ) and possibly also for the parish church of St. Arsatius in Ilmmünster (Fig. 26 . ). Albert’s brother, Duke Sigismund (1439–1501), commissioned Polack with the paintings for the chapel at Blutenburg palace. Polack’s studio created three altar retables, as well as other decorative elements (Figs. 16–19 . ). Only a small number of works can be attributed to Polack in the years following 1500. Evidently, he was focused on his work as head of the Lucas painters’ guild, as well as the running of his studio. The year of his death is recorded in an accounts ledger of the city finance department, in which payments are registered to “Jon Poleckenns säligen erben” (“Jon Poleckenn’s blessed heirs”).[2]

The name “Jan Polack” was first discovered in 1908 by the art historian and theologian Michael Hartig (1878–1960) in the Main Bavarian State Archive (Bayerischer Hauptstaatsarchiv) in the accounts ledger of Weihenstephan Abbey. The following year, the Bavarian National Museum (Bayerisches Nationalmuseum) in Munich showed an exhibition of “Old Munich Panel Paintings from the XV Century”. In the catalogue, Hans Buchheit made a first attempt at piecing together a catalogue of possible works by Polack.[3] Since then, nearly all the preserved paintings and frescoes from the period between 1480 and 1519 have been attributed to the newly discovered painter, including over two hundred panel paintings, some of which are double-sided, and 30 frescoes.[4] In 1921, Ernst Buchner (1892–1962) wrote his doctoral thesis on Polack, the “City painter of Munich” under the supervision of the famous Swiss art historian Heinrich Wölfflin (1864–1945) at the University of Munich. His thesis included the first ever presentation of a complete catalogue of the painter’s works, but remained unpublished.[5] Nevertheless, in 1933, Buchner, who was by then Director General of the Bavarian State Painting Collections (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen), published a long article about Polack for the current volume of the Thieme-Becker art encyclopaedia, along with a full catalogue of his works. Since then – not least due to the high regard in which the author is held – this article has unequivocally remained the most important written work on Polack.[6]

Buchner saw a “stylistic relationship” between Polack’s Munich works and important sacred works in Kraków, specifically the “wing panels of the high altarpiece from the former Dominican church in Kraków and other altarpiece panels in the city (the cathedral, the church of St. Catherine)”, and concluded that Polack must therefore have come from Poland: “Comes from Kraków.” In his view, “Polack” was not the artist’s surname (“P’s surname is not known”), but rather a reference to his family history and origins.[7] Buchner included the eleven wing panels of the Passion of Christ and the life of Mary from the Dominican church, which at that time were already housed in the Kraków National Museum (Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie), in his catalogue of works by the artist. He added, however, that there was: “a close stylistic relationship to Polack, but almost no direct involvement by the artist himself”.[8] Today, all these assumptions are being called into question. For many years now, Polish art historians have attributed the panels in Kraków to an unknown artist from the period around 1465.[9] In 2017, Matthias Weniger, who is head of the relevant department at the Bavarian National Museum, and who is responsible for sculpture and painting up to 1550, wrote in the new edition of the “Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon” (General Encyclopaedia of Artists), that to date, there is no evidence that links Polack’s painting to art from Lesser Poland. In his view, it is more likely that the painter followed the tradition of earlier Munich painting and that he referenced art from the Netherlands for his image formulae. There was furthermore no evidence to prove whether his name indicated his country of origin, or whether it had already become a family surname.[10]

 

Sabine Rosthal, who published her dissertation on Jan Polack at the Freie Universität Berlin in 2001, considered the possibility that Polack might have come from Munich or the surrounding area, and also saw iconographic links between the scenes portrayed in his works and French and Upper-Rhenish painting.[11] She pointed out that according to the sources published by Otto Hartig (1876–1945), a “Hanns Polack” from the Lower Bavarian town of Kötzting, an army supplier to Albert IV, is already mentioned in the mid-15th century,[12] although this could of course also have been a reference to his country of origin. She added that the name “Polonus” in the Latin sources[13] is also not a reliable indicator, since it could either mean “the Pole” – the copperplate engraver Jeremias Falck (ca. 1620–1664) from Gdańsk/Danzig added “Polonus” to his signature around 150 years later[14] – or simply be the surname “Polack” rendered into Latin. According to Hanna Bösl, the frequently cited theory that Polack had come to Bavaria as part of the entourage of the Polish princess Jadwiga Jagiellonka (1457–1502) on her marriage in 1475 to Duke George the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut (1455–1503)[15] is contradicted by the fact that there was rivalry between the Munich and Landshut lines of the Wittelsbach dynasty.[16]

The paintings by Polack and his studio are scattered not only around the area near Munich, but throughout Bavaria as far away as the Germanic National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum) in Nuremberg, Amberg in the Upper Palatinate region (basilica of St. Martin) and the border region with Austria (Burghausen, Schliersee). Thanks to the systematic cataloguing and research work conducted by Bösl from the start, characteristic features with regard to the creation of the figures, the image backgrounds, the composition and colours have emerged. These stylistic congruences set them apart from other late Gothic paintings and provide grounds for asserting that there is a connection between the works. Ernst Buchner discovered a decorative, powerful composition and colour distribution. He saw traces of Polack’s work as a fresco painter in his often summary, “strand-like” method of painting. During the 1490s, however, Polack developed a “richer, fuller style”. “Dramatic intensification of the action” and “sudden, restless spread of movement” could be observed. The “over-focused, wild, often grimacing characterisation” could, Buchner claimed, be traced back to a significant influence of Franconian art, particularly the sculptor Veit Stoss (1447–1533). Polack’s “hard-hitting impact and tumultuous, drastic expression” may have been related to the Munich painting style of previous years, such as of Gabriel Mälesskircher (ca. 1425/30–ca. 1495), but it did not represent the “crowning glory of the late Gothic painting of Old Bavaria”.[17]

Matthias Weniger notes the limitation to a small number of colours, in which red and white tones as well as bright yellow dominate. In general, it can be observed, he says, that “the dramatic nature of the portrayal and the easy comprehensibility of the scenes were clearly more important to the artist than a refined painting technique or the correct drawing of figures and spaces”. In the faces, “attention is centred on the emotional moment, the enemies of Christ and the saints are overdrawn in a grotesque manner”. He writes that the way in which individual details are rendered, such as the beards and shaggy hairstyles, set the group of paintings apart from other contemporary portrayals. For common scenes from the Passion of Christ, the painter repeatedly uses similar models for the composition and figures, while for less frequently represented themes, he “often [finds] very powerful, original image formulae”. From the 1480s until around 1500, he says, the figures became “increasingly space-consuming and heavier”. At the same time, there was a tendency “towards more angular forms, also towards harder breaks in the draperies, which were now modelled in a more vivid way at the same time. [...] The vigorous movements often appear awkward; spaces are reduced to background scenery.” Despite this, “a great deal of care has been taken on the highly detailed portrayal of the landscapes and urban vistas that form the backdrop of the painting”.[18]

Scientific studies and imaging techniques have provided additional knowledge about the production processes used in Jan Polack’s studio. During the early 1980s, as preparation for an exhibition on the history of Blutenburg palace, infrared reflectographs were produced of the underdrawings – the preliminary charcoal drawings that were made before the layers of paint were applied – of the Blutenburg altarpiece panels. Together with detailed photographs of the coloured surfaces, they disclosed significant differences with regard to the artistic rendition of the figures.[19] In 2002 and 2003, with the support of the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne (Fachhochschule Köln), the House of Bavarian History (Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte) in Augsburg and the department of painting restoration at the Dresden University of Fine Arts (Hochschule für bildende Künste Dresden), digital infrared reflectographic studies were made of the paintings in the Freising Diocese Museum (Diözesanmuseum Freising), the Bavarian National Museum, the parish church of St. Peter, the cathedral church in Munich and the chapel of Blutenburg palace. In one exhibition, the infrared photographs were displayed next to the original paintings.[20]

 

In all the series of studies conducted, at least five different hands were discernible in the underdrawings, in other words, differences were found as to the unique style employed by each individual artist. According to Peter B. Steiner, Director of the Freising Diocese Museum from 1979 to 2007, the layers of painting appear to be more uniform.[21] In the artists’ studios of the late Middle Ages, the sole authorship of any one single master was not yet known as a phenomenon. The feast day side of the altarpieces, which could be unfolded multiple times and were therefore adaptable, were the main focus of attention at the studio. There, the master took the opportunity to contribute, while his apprentices took care of the panel sides for everyday use. According to Ingo Sandner, former professor for painting restoration at the Dresden University of Fine Arts, one particular type of underdrawing, probably the hand of Jan Polack, is therefore to be found on the outer wings of the altarpiece at Weihenstephan (Figs. 2–6 . ), on the wings of the high altarpiece in Blutenburg palace (Fig. 17 . ) and on the wing paintings of the altarpiece in the Franciscan church of St. Anthony in Munich (Figs. 23, 24 . , . ). However, in the Blutenburg retable, it can also be seen on the folded-in everyday sides of the wings, probably because the sponsor, Duke Sigismund, is represented there.[22]

In 1983, the art historian Claus Grimm, who was director of the House of Bavarian History from 1983 to 2007, already noticed the unusually fine, anatomically adapted shading in the facial contours of the saint in the underdrawing of the closed wing in Blutenburg. The modelling of the body and the strong shading in the folds of the clothing indicate that the master himself was at work here. He also asserts that in the image of the sponsor, who is shown kneeling before Saint Bartholomew and praying to Saint Sigismund, the physiognomy of the duke is so finely depicted, and in such detail, that the underdrawing of the painting could have been completed in free hand on the basis of a previous draft made on paper. Grimm continues that if one compares the underdrawing with the few recognisable rough underdrawing strokes on the much smaller portrait panel made of Duke Sigismund at the same time, which is shown in the Alte Pinakothek (Fig. 1 . ), it is then almost impossible to continue to ascribe it to Jan Polack as the direct author.[23]

Sandner writes that for all the commissions, Master Polack was “the determining force. However, he also delegated parts of the work entirely to his assistants. This related to the draft of the composition, the underdrawing and the painting. If one starts with the Weihenstephan altarpiece, the earliest work attributed to Jan Polack, at least the outer wings, from the draft design through to completion, could well have been completed mainly by the master himself [Fig. 2–6 . ]. [...] A second hand can already be detected in the underdrawing for the panels of the preserved central wing [Fig. 7 . ]. This direct approach to running the studio must have eased off in around 1490 at the latest, when several large commissions needed to be fulfilled at the same time. As well as Polack, at least four other workers played an important role in the completion of the orders. They may not only have included an assistant from the studio who adopted Polack’s way of working to a relatively large extent, from the type of figure to the type of underdrawing, but also partners who demonstrated skills from a different school, or who must at least have absorbed important ideas from other studios.” However, Sandner continues, this was different from the manufacture-like operation such as that run by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553): “Polack took care of the large number of commissions in a rational way and with the workers he had available. While they were limited with regard to the share of work they took on, they could still be accounted for.”[24]

Jan Polack received the orders for the altarpieces in the abbey church at Weihenstephan from Abbot Leonard II Nagel (abbot from 1481–1484) in 1482/83. They were completed in Polack’s studio. The master received payments for the work as early as 1484, initially for the Achatius altarpiece, now lost, and later for the high altarpiece. The final bills, which also included the transportation of the paintings to Weihenstephan, were paid in 1489. The high altarpiece was designed as a wall altarpiece to be unfolded twice. It was three meters high, and when opened was five meters wide. If the two inner folding panels was opened after the first conversion of the altarpiece, a carved figure of the Mother of God with child was revealed, flanked by saints. It can clearly be seen that relief panels had been added on the now opened inner wings to the right and left of the carved figures. These panels have now been lost. In 1690, the retable was replaced by a baroque altarpiece made of stucco marble. The painted panels and carved figures remained in the abbey, however. When the abbey was secularised in 1803, these works were auctioned off. The painted panels were taken as individual “secularisation goods” to what later became the Bavarian State Painting Collections. Three panels were lost. Our concept of how the altarpiece must have looked is therefore based on a reconstruction.[25]

 

The everyday side probably showed the Passion of Christ in four scenes on the closed wings: Christ on the Mount of Olives (Fig. 2 . ), next to it on the right, the nailing of Christ to the cross (Fig. 4 . ), on the lower left-hand side, Christ bearing the cross, and to the right of this, probably a crucifixion scene that has now been lost. On Sundays and feast days, scenes from the life of the saints who were important for the abbey were revealed on eight panels in four vertical rows. On the left-hand side, the death of Saint Corbinian was shown, who is said to have been the first Bishop of Freising. The background shows views of Freising and Weihenstephan (Fig. 3 . ). Below, the legend of the miracle of the bear is mounted, according to which the saint saddled a bear, who had just killed his mule, with his baggage and went with the animal on a pilgrimage to Rome (Fig. 6 . ). The panels attached to the right of these have been lost. On the right-hand half of the altarpiece, two scenes were shown one above the other from the life of St. Stephen. Above is the disputation, the speech he gave in his defence during the court proceedings before the High Council (Fig. 7 . ). Below, the stoning of St. Stephen is depicted. On the outer right-hand side, St. Benedict, the father of monasticism and master of the church (Fig. 5 . ) can be seen. The lower painting has been lost, however. Horizontally, the connecting elements took the form of buildings in the upper row (Fig. 3, 5, 7 . , . , . ) and landscapes in the lower row (Fig. 6 . ).

The portrait of a Benedictine abbot, now in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, was produced during the same period (Fig. 8 . ). The subject of the portrait holds attributes of the founder of the order, Benedict of Nursia: a book with the order rules and a chalice, which according to legend contained poison intended to kill Benedict, but which escaped in the form of a snake when he struck the chalice with a cross. The man’s individualised facial features make it likely that he was the ruling abbot in the year 1484, the date noted on the upper edge of the portrait. The subject could therefore be either Leonard II or Christoph I Schleicher (abbot from 1484–1494).[26]

Polack had only just completed the work on the Weihenstephan altarpiece when in 1489, it appears likely that he began a commission for side altarpieces for the newly-built Church of the Holy Spirit in Pullach in the Isar valley. The altarpieces were probably dedicated to the auxiliary patron saints of the church, St. Stephen and St. Vitus. Today, only two of these wings have been preserved, which in simultaneous depictions show scenes from the martyrdom of the saints to which the altarpiece was dedicated and which are hung as individual paintings in the Old Church of the Holy Spirit there. In addition, Polack was also busy painting the interior and exterior of the Neuhauser Tor gate in Munich.[27] This western gate into the old city centre, known since 1791 as the “Karlstor”, was altered during the 19th century and later destroyed during the war. Today, only a reconstruction of the gate survives.

According to the official records, in 1490, Polack worked on the painting of the interior and exterior of the Sendlinger Tor gate at the southern exit of the city, which was altered multiple times during the 19th century, and on the exterior painting of the Angertor gate, which was demolished in 1807. In particular, however, he was responsible for the new high altarpiece for the church of St. Peter in Munich. All information about the origin of the commission for the altarpiece, as well as the circumstances under which it was created, have been lost, and various authors estimate the date of completion of the painted panels, nearly all of which have been preserved, to be anything between 1490 and 1502. However, it has been claimed that a panel available for purchase during the 19th century from an art dealer, and which has now been lost, bore the date 1490. Steiner assumes that the commission for the new altarpiece for the St. Peter’s church arose from a tacit, if not open, competition with the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche), in which a high altarpiece by the Munich painter Gabriel Angler (ca. 1404–1483) showing dramatic scenes from the Passion of Christ had been installed in 1437. After Duke Albert assumed the right of patronage from the Bishop of Freising, in other words, the patronage of St. Peter’s church, in 1478, and installed his alleged half-brother Johann Neuhauser (†1516)[28], who later became Chancellor of Upper Bavaria, as the city priest, he was keen for St. Peter to outdo the Church of Our Lady in importance with a new high altarpiece.[29]

Studies conducted on the underdrawing types on the altarpiece, which was painted in Jan Polack’s studio, indicate that it was essentially completed by his assistants. They may have used cardboard panels rendered in advance by the master – more or less carefully executed draft drawings on solid paper – as the basis for their work. Of these, eleven painting panels have been preserved. The retable was removed and taken apart in favour of a baroque altarpiece that was consecrated in 1643. It was then stored in the church until the 19th century. They show stations from the Passion of Christ and from the legend of Paul and Peter, and after being temporarily moved to the Bavarian National Museum are now the property of the Catholic Parish Church Foundation of St. Peter (Katholische Pfarrkirchenstiftung St. Peter).[30]

 

It has not been possible to create more than an approximate reconstruction of the structure and series of images. The structure was similar to that of the Weihenstephan altarpiece, the only difference being that on the everyday side, three picture panels were arranged one on top of the other on the closed wings. They probably showed scenes from the Passion: the prayer on the Mount of Olives, the Taking of Christ (now lost), Christ before Pilate, the scourging of Christ, the crucifixion and the entombment of Christ. If, therefore, the wings for the sacred holy day side were opened, 12 picture panels were revealed in four vertical and horizontal rows, the arrangement of which is the subject of disagreement. The images shown include St. Peter walking on water, visiting and healing the sick (Fig. 9 . ), St. Peter in prison and his crucifixion, the Conversion of St. Paul, the sermon in Damascus and the scourging and beheading of the saint. 

The buildings shown in these panels, which are depicted from a central perspective, including those shown in the healing of the sick, can be associated with a master who was clearly based in Munich every so often, since in 1490 he paid taxes there, and who at times worked for Polack: the copperplate engraver and painter Hans Mair von Landshut. Furthermore, the evenly drawn, mechanical-like shadings in the underdrawings that are also to be found on other paintings from Polack’s studio bear striking parallels with Mair’s copperplate engravings and paintings.[31] When the inner wings were opened on high feast days, a cabinet with a series of sculptures was revealed, of which only St. Peter on his throne remains. This cabinet is attributed to the sculptor Erasmus Grasse (ca. 1450–1518), who worked for the same contractor as Polack, and who collaborated with him in the church of St. Peter, in Pipping, in Munich City Hall, in Schliersee and in Ilmmünster.[32]

A painting of the Finding of the Cross by St. Helena in the church of St. Martin in Amberg dates from the period around 1490 (Fig. 10 . ). It is installed in a side altarpiece in the basilica after being purchased from an art dealer during the second half of the 19th century by the dean at the time. It shows Helena (248/50–330), mother of the Roman emperor Constantine (270/88–337), in a sumptuous gold brocade coat depicted in detail, who according to the legend ordered excavation work to be conducted below a temple to Venus in Jerusalem in 326, during which parts of the cross of Christ and Christ’s grave were discovered. 

Two altarpiece wings showing the infanticide of Bethlehem (Figs. 11, 12 . , . ), which are housed in the Freising Diocese Museum, probably originate from the same period. In the Church of Our Lady in Munich, an altarpiece that possibly contained the two wings was consecrated in honour of the innocent children who were murdered, and the Catholic Church dedicated a day of remembrance to them on 28 December. On the top right-hand side of the folded-in everyday side, King Herod was depicted in rich clothing (Fig. 12 . ). According to the New Testament (Matthew 2, 16–18), Herod decreed that “all the baby boys in Bethlehem” under two years of age were to be killed to ensure that the heralded “King of the Jews” did not survive. The painting opposite him shows two women mourning the death of their children (Fig. 11 . ). Under each of the panels, dramatic scenes are shown, as was usual in church painting at that time, depicting the soldiers murdering the children. What stands out here is the interrelated composition of the four panels, with alternating blue and gold backgrounds, alternating complementary colours and the uniformly tiled floors in the lower images. On the rear side, the wings that are opened out for holy feast days each show two enthroned church teachers in alternating red and green vestments before an embossed gold background, who on the basis of their attributes can be identified as the holy Pope Clemens with the anchor and the holy Bishop Ambrosius with the scourge. The free style of the underdrawing, without a previous charcoal sketch, and the generous way in which the brush has been applied, suggest that the master who completed this work was Jan Polack.[33]

Two dramatic scenes from the Passion of Christ, a scourging (Fig. 13 . ) and the bearing of the cross (Fig. 14 . ), are stored in the Munich City Museum (Münchner Stadtmuseum) and are attributed to Jan Polack and his studio by both Buchner (1933) and Weniger (2017). In terms of the subject and the size of the paintings, they could be related to a panel that is currently on loan from the National Museum of Warsaw (Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie) to the Regional Museum in Toruń (Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu).[34] This panel shows Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, while in the background, soldiers of the high priest are storming the Mount of Olives in order to arrest him (Fig. 15 . ). In 1927, the panel was purchased at an auction from Hugo Benario (†1937), a Berlin enterpreneur, textile dealer and major art collector,[35] by the Silesian Museum of Fine Art (Schlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste) in Breslau/Wrocław. In 1942, it was placed into storage in the Lower Silesian town of Kamenz/Kamieniec Ząbkowicki. It was later transferred to Warsaw in 1946. 

 

The only place where works by Jan Polack have remained unaltered and in their original location is the chapel at Blutenburg palace in the idyllically situated district of Obermenzing in the west of Munich. After Duke Sigismund settled in the palace in 1467 in order to spend the final years of his life there, he had a new palace chapel of the Holy Trinity built there from 1488 onwards. The church masons’ guild of the Church of Our Lady in Munich added the chapel to the palace buildings, probably according to plans by Jörg von Halspach (†1488).[36] The building, which was probably completed in 1497 with the installation of the windows, together with the interior furnishings, has remained largely unchanged since that time. In 1491 at the latest, Sigismund commissioned the best studio in Munich, that of Jan Polack, to furnish the chapel with one main altarpiece and two side altarpieces (Fig. 16 . ). The southern side altarpiece, located to the right from the viewer’s perspective, dates from this year (Fig. 19 . ).

The altarpieces accordingly interpret the dedication of the chapel, “the enigma of the Holiest Trinity in the mysteries of the incarnation, salvation and eternity” (Chris Loos).[37] In the central panel, the main altarpiece (Fig. 17 . ) shows a traditional representation of the “Mercy Seat”, an elderly God the Father sitting on his throne holding the dead body of Christ, with a dove on his shoulder: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Possibly, the panel was inspired by a composition that was frequently used in the late Middle Ages of a grisaille painting created in 1428 by the Master of Flémalle.[38] The side wings show the baptism of Christ (left) and the coronation of Mary (right). When closed, the wings (left) reveal Sigismund, the holy King of Burgundy (†523/24), whose mortal remains were brought to Freising in the 14th century, above a magnificent coat of arms of the Dukes of Bavaria, and (right), as mentioned above, the kneeling sponsor of the chapel, Duke Sigismund, before the holy apostle Bartholemew. On the predella, the busts of the four evangelists can be seen. 

Following studies of the underdrawings, the mercy seat, the baptism of Christ and the working day sides of the wings with the sponsor and patron saints have all been attributed to Master Jan Polack, while it is clear that two assistants worked on the side altarpieces. The northern (left-hand) side altarpiece (Fig. 18 . ) shows Christ as ruler of the world among the retinue of saints and on the predella, the Fourteen Auxiliary Saints. In their centre stands Saint Wolfgang of Regensburg, who was particularly revered by the duke’s family, with a bishop’s crozier and church as his attributes. The southern (right-hand) side altarpiece (Fig. 19 . ) bears a depiction of the Annunciation of Mary, while the predella shows the Holy Kinship, the extended family of Jesus. Recently, the predellae of all three altarpieces were attributed to Hans Mair von Landshut,[39] who worked in Freising for a time.

Even while the Blutenburg altarpieces were being produced, Polack received an order from Duke Albert for a new high altarpiece in the Franciscan church of St. Anthony in Munich (Figs. 20–24 . ). The year of completion, 1492, is written on the altarpiece panel showing the scourging of Christ, on which the kneeling sponsor is also depicted with the coat of arms of the Bavarian dukes. Opposite him, below a bearing of the cross, kneels the wife of the duke, Kunigunde of Austria (1465–1520). The same year is also noted on the stone balustrade in the Ecce Homo painting (Fig. 22 . ). According to Weniger,[40] the Franciscans were closely associated with the Wittelsbach dynasty. Their abbey was situated immediately next door to their Munich residence, although during the course of the secularisation of 1802/03, it was torn down together with the church to make way for the National Theatre on the square that later became Max-Joseph-Platz. Two of the altarpiece wings that were painted on both sides were cut into a semicircular shape when the altarpiece was refurbished in the baroque style, and were shortened along their lower edge (Figs. 21–24 . ). Descriptions of the altarpiece from the 18th century, from ca. 1740 by the Franciscan father Narziß Vogl and in 1782 by the theologian and historian Lorenz von Westenrieder (1748–1829) make it possible to create a “highly reliable reconstruction” today (Weniger).[41] When the church was demolished, a library assistant purchased the altarpiece at an auction and resold it to the Central Picture Gallery Administration (Centralgemäldegaleriedirektion) in Munich in 1810. All the panels have been reunited in the Bavarian National Museum since 1910, after taking detours via Landshut and Burghausen. Today’s installation in the church room in the museum shows a compilation from before 1906, with incorrectly mounted side wings (Fig. 20 . ) The error could not be rectified due to the cutting of the original wings.[42]

The altarpiece, which can be converted twice, shows only scenes from the Passion. When closed, Jesus praying on the Mount of Olives and his arrest with the Judas kiss were revealed. Today, these panels are mounted as inner sides on the outer wings (Fig. 20 . ). After the first conversion, the scourging and bearing of the cross could be seen, with images of the sponsor couple; inside, the crowning with thorns (Fig. 21 . ) and the Ecce Homo (Fig. 22 . ) were shown. Recently, the hand of Hans Mair von Landshut has been detected in the imaginative portrayal and precise perspective of the buildings shown, as well as in the moving figures of the soldiers in the Ecce Homo painting.[43] After the second conversion, when the wings were fully opened, there was no cabinet, but instead a monumental crucifixion (Fig. 20 . ), while on the outer wings (left), the nailing of Christ to the cross (Fig. 23 . ) and (right) the entombment of Christ (Fig. 24 . ) were shown. On the basis of the underdrawings, parts of the crucifixion, namely the crucified Christ and the group of female mourners, can be attributed to Master Jan Polack. In addition, the associated wings, the nailing to the cross and the entombment, are also likely to have been provided by him. 

 

Aside from the large altarpieces, numerous individual works, fragments and smaller altarpieces have also been attributed to Jan Polack and his studio. This has been possible largely due to stylistic congruences with works that have been securely traced to Polack, such as the creation of the figures and clothing, or the lifelike way in which the faces of the people have been drawn. In particular, the physiognomies of saints Landfried, Waldram and Eliland, who are shown on the fragment of a predella, appear to have been modelled on real people (Fig. 25 . ). In 1804, the panel, which had been cut on all sides, was transferred as a secularisation item from the Benedictine abbey at Benediktbeuern to the Central Picture Gallery Administration, and from there to its successor institution, the Bavarian State Painting Collections.[44] According to the legend, the three saints were nephews of the Franconian palace mayor Karl Martell (688/91–741) and the founder of the abbey at Benediktbeuern. In 740, it was said that “in a wilderness on Kochelsee lake [...they built] a house and a church dedicated to the Holy Benedict”.[45] Evidently, Karl Martell did in fact employ Landfried, who came from an ancient Bavarian noble family, as a vassal at the abbey, which was founded in 725/28. In 739/40, Archbishop Bonifatius (ca. 673–754) appointed him as a Benedictine abbot. The year in which the panel was created, 1494, is noted on the ledge between the first two figures.

The wing altarpiece of the parish and former collegiate church of St. Arsatius in Ilmmünster in the Upper Bavarian district of Pfaffenhofen, which was created in 1495, is the result of a collaboration between the Polack studio and the sculptor Erasmus Grasser. In 1492, Duke Albert IV relocated the Augustinian monastery of Ilmmünster, which had been in existence since 1060, to the Church of Our Lady in Munich, which had been completed four years previously. In 1495, he also ordered the remains of St. Arsatius to be transferred there, bringing to an end the pilgrimages to Ilmmünster that had taken place since the 9th century. St. Arsatius became a parish church. Possibly, Albert provided the funds for the new altarpiece to pacify the angry members of the congregation and as a compensatory measure. However, Weniger (2017) points out that the retable could not have been created before 1510 due to the engraving by Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528). When fully opened, the altarpiece, which was refurbished in the neo-Romanesque style in 1880 (Fig. 26 . ), shows four reliefs attributed to Grasser, with scenes from the legend of St. Arsatius, whose remains were transferred from Rome to the newly founded monastery at Ilmmünster in around 766. Wing pairs are mounted on the outer sides, each of which contains six painted picture panels – thus twelve in total – which have been attributed to Polack’s studio. In correspondence with the reliefs (left), they show the ordination of the saint as bishop and his death (right), the decapitation of one of the Magi, whose relics are said to have been brought by Arsatius as bishop of Milan to his home city from Constantinople, and below this image, the transfer of the remains of Arsatius to Ilmmünster in an open coffin. The eight panels in the first conversion show scenes from the Passion. 

One item that testifies to personal piety is the small house altarpiece of Konrad Zaunhack, a citizen of Munich (Fig. 27–28 . ), who ordered its production by the Polack studio some time after 1494 after a journey to the Holy Land. During the course of his travels, he ordered an image of St. Luke to be produced in Candia, now Iraklio, in Crete by the studio of Andreas Ritzos (1421–1492). This was a copy of the picture of the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus that was said to have been painted by Luke the Evangelist himself. Zaunhack then travelled on to Jerusalem, taking the painting with him. He brought it into contact with the holy sites, including the Holy Tomb and the hole in the ground where the cross on which Jesus was crucified on Calvary was said to have stood. Back in Munich, Polack’s studio set the icons into a small wing altarpiece for use at home. On the closed wings, it showed saints Barbara and Catherine; when opened, saints Andrew and Bartholemew appeared above detailed texts describing the history of the creation of the Virgin Mary image. The frame surrounding the icons contained relics from the Holy Land, including parts of the cross, the tomb of Mary, the scourging pillar and the Golden Gate. The text on the left-hand side bears the year 1499 as the date of completion of the altarpiece.[46]

A Virgin of Mercy painted on wood also testifies to the worship of Mary and to family traditions. It is located in the Main Choir Chapel of the Church of Our Lady in Munich (Fig. 29 . ). Before a golden background, the crowned Mother of God, wearing a gown decorated with ears of corn, spreads out her protective mantle, beneath which people from different estates have sought shelter. The old legal practise of mantle protection, according to which high-ranking figures were able to provide shelter and support to those seeking protection and who had no statutory rights, was adopted by painters of the time when depicting allegorical scenes. The Madonna wearing a protective mantle became a common theme from the 13th century onwards. Below left, the kneeling sponsor of the panel, the canon and dean of the cathedral, Sigismund Sänftl (ca. 1450–1519) is shown, whose family provided the funds for the chapel as their place of rest. Opposite, in the lower right-hand corner, are probably the brother and sister-in-law of the sponsor, Ludwig Sänftl and his wife Ursula Schweindl, with four children and nine grandchildren or deceased descendants. The Latin inscriptions contain prayer formulae in honour of the Virgin Mary. The underdrawings studied do not provide an unequivocal indication of who the painter of the panels was. It is likely that they were completed by assistants who were closely or more broadly associated with the studio, even if the painting is still attributed to Jan Polack alongside other works in the Church of Our Lady, such as the Passion scenes on the St. Andrew altarpiece.[47]

 

One altarpiece wing depicting the stigmatisation of St. Francis (Fig. 30 . ) is on loan to the Bavarian State Painting Collections in the Historisches Museum in Regensburg. On the opposite side, John the Evangelist is shown writing on Patmos, to whom Mary appears as Queen of Heaven, while below, the crucifixion of Peter is shown (Fig. 31 . ). A retable from 1510 depicting the death of Mary is also stored in Regensburg. In 1988, the art historian James Marrow at Princeton University attributed four altarpiece wings in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to Jan Polack and his studio.[48] They show Adam and Eve in Paradise (Fig. 32 . ), the patriarch Abraham, providing sustenance to God who takes the form of three angels (Fig. 33 . ), the baptism of Jesus (Fig. 34 . ) and Christ the teacher (Fig. 35 . ). An Annunciation of Mary, mentioned by Buchner (1933) in private ownership in Hamburg, appeared at an auction in 2008 (Fig. 36 . ). It originated from the descendants of the Hamburg tobacco industrialist August Neuerburg (1884–1944).[49] The image of a young man, which has been stored in the City Gallery in the Lenbach House (Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus) since being purchased in 1927 (Fig. 37 . ) was catalogued by Buchner as being a work by Jan Polack from 1477, and was later dated by Stange (1960) as being from around 1490/95. Although there is no written record to prove it, the work is regarded as being a self-portrait of the painter,[50] probably because at the time at which it was produced, there would have been no other reason, outside of a wider context, for portraying an individual whose clothing and bearing indicate that they come from a modest background.

As Steiner pointed out, the longer and more intensively art historians examine the work of Jan Polack, the less clear our understanding of the personality and individual artistic achievement of the painter becomes.[51] When Polack’s work first began to be studied at the start of the last century, traces of work by various different assistants could already be seen by the naked eye. However, today, modern technology has made it possible to conduct a more detailed examination of the paintings, and other individuals working in the studio have come to light. This is not a loss to art historians, however, but rather a gain, since it proves that our traditional view of the artist as a divine genius is not much more than a romantic illusion. 

The master of the late Gothic period ran his own studio and was a skilled organiser and businessman who was required to issue instructions to his assistants, painters and carpenters, as well as being in a position to successfully negotiate with his clients from the church and the nobility. At the same time, however, he was also an outstandingly well-trained painter whose artistic skills were required as a model for his studio and whose style of painting was such that it was perceived by the public as being modern, pioneering and of a high quality. Furthermore, creativity and knowledge were needed, since the works produced by Jan Polack’s studio not only contain a dramatic narrative, but also correspond to the theological requirements of the time in terms of their content. While his origins and personality will probably always remain a mystery, the master is revealed to us through the records and sources that remain, and not least through his chairmanship of the painter’s guild of St. Luke, as an outstanding figure in Munich, a prospering middle-class city and state capital of an influential ducal family.

 

Axel Feuß, April 2021

 

Bibliography:

Matthias Weniger: Polack, Jan, in: De Gruyter Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Vol. 96, Berlin/Boston 2017, page 229 f.

Jakub Adamski: O znaczeniu dzieł Jana Polacka dla motywów architektonicznych w dekoracji Pontyfikału Erazma Ciołka (Ms. Czart. 1212 IV), in: Rozprawy Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie, New Series (Seria nowa), Vol. 8, Kraków 2015, page 263–279

Stephanie Wallner: Studien zur Maltechnik des Jan Polack und seiner Werkstatt am Beispiel der Altartafeln der Franziskanerklosterkirche und der Peterskirche in München (Studies on the painting technique of Jan Polack and his studio, taking the altarpiece panels of the Franciscan abbey church and St. Peter’s Church in Munich as an example), diploma thesis, Technische Universität München, 2005, accessible online at: https://www.ar.tum.de/fileadmin/w00bfl/rkk/media_rkk/downloads/Diplom-_und_BA-Arbeiten/Wallner_Diplomarbeit_Endfassung.pdf

Peter B. Steiner / Claus Grimm (editors): Jan Polack. Von der Zeichnung zum Bild. Malerei und Maltechnik in München um 1500, exhibition catalogue, Freising Diocese Museum and Bavarian National Museum Munich, House of Bavarian History, Augsburg 2004 

Sabine Rosthal: Jan Polack. Studien zu Werk und Wirkung (Studies on work and impact), dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin (1998), Mikrofiche, Berlin 2001

Claus Grimm: Der handwerkliche Hintergrund der Blutenburger Altäre, in: Blutenburg, edited by Johannes Erichsen (Veröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur, 1), München 1983, page 183–201

Alfred Stange: Deutsche Malerei der Gotik, Vol. 10: Salzburg, Bayern und Tirol in der Zeit von 1400 bis 1500, München et al, 1960 (reprint: Nendeln 1969), page 81–95

Ernst Buchner: Polack, Jan, in: Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, produced by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, edited by Hans Vollmer, Vol. 27, Leipzig 1933, page 200–202

 

Online: 

Andrea Langer: Polack, Jan, in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 20 (2001), page 593 f. [online version], https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118831860.html#ndbcontent

(All links provided here and in the notes last accessed in April 2021.)