Founder Relief
Antonius Berthold
Munich, ca 1324
Sandstone
86,0 x 157,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. MA 957
Acquired before 1868
Gallery 2
In the relief, Emperor Louis the Bavarian and his wife Margaret are presenting the model of the Laurentius Chapel to the Mother of God. It originated from the Lorenz Chapel at the Alte Hof (Old Court) in Munich. The chapel was built for the imperial residence of Emperor Louis of Bavaria – the only medieval emperor of the house of Wittelsbach and the first to break the tradition of itinerant emperorship by making Munich his sole residence. To this end, he converted his ancestral 12th century castle into a palace. Several of the palace compound’s remaining buildings can be found half way between National Theatre and the Town Hall. However, the Lorenz Chapel was demolished in 1816 due to the era’s lack of understanding for historical and artistic significance. Emperor Louis determined that the chapel becomes the repository of his imperial insignia and had it magnificently decorated. When the Bayerisches Nationalmusuem was founded in 1855, the still existing remains entered the museum’s collection. On the founder relief, Louis’ second wife, Margaret of Holland, presents the model of the church to the Mother of God. The depiction of the church on the relief is greatly simplified; however, the depiction of Emperor Louis of Bavaria on the right is astonishingly portrait-like and realistic for its time, but, at the same time, it is also subject to the strict notion of how sovereigns were supposed be depicted.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
