KOERBECKE, JOHANN (c. 1420–1491). German painter from Münster where he is first recorded in 1446. Koerbecke exemplifies the rejection in Germany of the International Style during the first half of the 15th century in favor of greater naturalism and solidity of forms. His most important masterpiece is the Marienfeld Altarpiece, painted for the high altar of the Cistercian Abbey Church of Marienfeld, Münster (1457). Now dismantled and its pieces scattered through various museums, the work includes scenes of the life of the Virgin and Christ’s Passion. Christ before Pilate, now in the Landesmuseum in Münster, is one of those scenes and shows the figures in contemporary garb against a German cityscape to appeal to local 15th-century viewers. Others are the Road to Calvary, also in Münster, and the Crucifixion in the Berlin Staatliche Museen. These works reveal Koerbecke’s dependence on Flemish prototypes, particularly in the treatment of drapery, the vibrancy of colors, and deep emotionalism. His figures, however, are not as voluminous as the Flemish prototypes.
KULMBACH, HANS VON (HANS SÜSS; c. 1480–1522). German painter from Albrecht Dürer’s workshop where he was active in c. 1500. Kulmbach became a citizen of Nuremberg in 1511 and in 1514–1516 he is documented in Krakow, Poland, where he painted several altarpieces. His Tucher Altarpiece (1513; Nuremberg, Church of Sebald) shows Dürer’s influence in the solidity and monumentality of the figures. The work is a sacra conversazione type with the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints. Venetian influence, learned through Dürer, is clearly discerned in the work, particularly in the inclusion of the landscape as backdrop, the isolation of the Virgin and Child from the other figures through architecture, and the Bellini-like musical angels at their feet. A versatile master, Kulmbach also rendered landscapes and portraits. An example of the former is the Calling of St. Peter in the Florence Uffizi (1514–1516), an evocative work filled with atmospheric effects. An example of his portraiture is the Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg (1511; Munich, Alte Pinakothek), with the sitter’s heraldic devices prominently displayed to articulate clearly his social standing.