Master Paul of Levoca
Encyclopedia
was a medieval carver
Carver
-People:*Bob Carver, American physicist and audio equipment designer*Caroline Carver , thriller writer, award winner and adventurer*Dante Carver , American actor*George Washington Carver , American botanist and inventor...
and sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
of the
15th and 16th century, active mostly in the town of Levoča
Levoca
Levoča is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia with a population of 14,600. The town has a historic center with a well preserved town wall, a Renaissance church with the highest wooden altar in Europe, carved by Master Paul of Levoča, and many other Renaissance buildings.On 28 June 2009,...
(Hungarian: Löcse), in the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
, in what is today eastern Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
.
Most documents about him vanished at the Levoča fire in 1550. So, neither his surname, nor dates or places of birth and death are known. It is assumed that he was born between 1470 and 1480. He must have died between 1537 (when he is still mentioned on record) and 1542 (when his widow is mentioned).
He probably started working in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
(from the connections of this city with Levoča at that time and from similarity of styles he could be a student of Veit Stoss
Veit Stoss
Veit Stoss was a leading Bavarian sculptor, mostly in wood, whose career covered the transition between the late Gothic and the Northern Renaissance. His style emphasized pathos and emotion, helped by his virtuoso carving of billowing drapery; it has been called "late Gothic Baroque"...
), Sabinov
Sabinov
Sabinov is a small town located in the Prešov Region , approximately 20 km from Prešov and 55 km from Košice. The population of Sabinov is 12,378.- History :...
, Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...
until he settled in Levoča around 1500 and married a daughter of an influential citizen. In 1506 he established a carving workshop. A list of some of his works includes an altar of St. Barbara in Banská Bystrica from 1509, an altar of St. George in Spišská Sobota (today a part of Poprad
Poprad
Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia with a population of approximately 55,000.The Poprad-Tatry Airport is...
) from 1516, and his most famous work, completed in 1517, an altar in the St. James church in Levoča. This late Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
altar is the highest in Europe, with 18.62 meters of height. It is carved in wood and decorated with gold. The Madonna from this altar was also depicted in the former issue of 100 SKK
Slovak koruna
In 1993, coins were introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 haliers, 1, 2, 5 and 10 korunas. The 10 and 20 halier coins were taken out of circulation on 31 December 2003....
banknotes (before Slovakia's adoption of the Euro on 1 January 2009).
In 1527 he became a member of the Levoča town council, but he became famous only after his death. Even art historians started to mention his name only in the 1870s in discussions about the creator of the altar in Levoča.