Model for the Tombstone of the Duke Ludwig the Bearded of Bavaria-Ingolstadt (d. 1447)
Hans Multscher
Ingolstadt (?), 1435
Solnhofen stone
58,0 x 31,0 x 10,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. MA 936
From the Royal Collections of the House of Wittelsbach
Gallery 8
Duke Ludwig VII of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, called the Bearded (1365–1447), set out in the wills drawn up in 1429 and 1438 that his tomb, for which he had already procured a block of red marble, should be erected at Ingolstadt; the model is all that has been preserved since the tombstone itself was never executed. Conceived along pictorial lines, the composition unites magnificent heraldic decoration in the background with a penetrating study of the Duke as an old man and the corporeal presence of Christ on the Cross. The angels' wings and the texture of the armour have been worked out with meticulous attention to detail. The heraldic imagery is as lavish as it could possibly be.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
