Projekte
Project management:
Marianne Mödlinger
Marianne.Moedlinger@uibk.ac.at
BRASSCARES
This project was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), project no. PAT6888224 (“Renaissance Brass Casting: Innsbruck´s Schwarze Mander”; head of project: Marianne Mödlinger). The project’s duration is from 01/07/2025 to 30/06/2028. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, or decision to publish (online and/or scientific papers). There has been no additional external funding received for this study.
© Innsbruck, Tiroler Landesmuseen, Hofkirche. Foto & editing: M. Mödlinger
About
The project will identify the alloys and different manufacturing techniques used in the production of the 28 Schwarze Mander statues in the Innsbruck Hofkirche, which are among the most magnificent monumental metal statues of the Renaissance. We will learn about the technical skills of the artists and craftsmen involved and the different ways in which such a complex work could be carried out. We will also get to know the artists themselves through their rich exchanges with the Emperor Maximilian I and the local government. The reproduction of two statues using original materials and techniques will also give us a practical insight into casting techniques at the beginning of the Renaissance in Austria.
The main objectives of the project are to
- reconstruct the workshops involved in the production of the statues;
- characterise the materials used in statue production;
- relearn foundry processes from past traditions;
- understand the role of the statues in historical legitimacy; and, finally,
- identify coatings and artificial patination.
These goals will be fulfilled by evaluating historical data and generate new analytical data for the statues by carrying out non-invasive chemical metal analyses, analyses of mould materials, identification of artificial patination and by providing complete, high-resolution photographic and 3D-documentation, which will also include casting simulations. This will enable us to reconstruct casting technologies of the early Renaissance both theoretically and practically , increase our understanding of the metallurgical knowledge of the period and expand the conservation strategies for such objects.
In this way, the project combines natural sciences and art history through a holistic, multidisciplinary research approach. The Schwarze Mander will be subjected to a full chemical characterisation, detailed description and evaluation of their manufacturing techniques from both a materials science and craftsmanship perspective. The information generated will have multiple applications in various fields of research, including art history, historical studies, archaeometry, conservation science and materials science. It will also serve as a basis for further studies on the development of different casting techniques and metallurgical knowledge during the Renaissance and beyond.
Cooperation
Access to the statues is provided by the Tiroler Landesmuseen (Hofkirche) and the Austrian Bundesdenkmalamt. The permission to carry out the proposed analyses of the Schwarze Mander was obtained, as was the access and the permission to analyse 15th century guns from other museums.
- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel (BGU): Yuval Goren (analyses clay: petrography)
- Österreichisches Gießerei-Institut (ÖGI): Andreas Cziegler (casting simulation)
- W. Grillo Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Austria (Grillo): Sigurd Hofer (metal supply for casting)
- Novetus GmbH, Vienna (Novetus): Alexander Stagl (3D-scans)
- Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (KHM): Martina Griesser (coating and patina analyses)
- Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas (CENIM), Madrid, Spain: Blanca Ramirez Barat (coating and patina analyses)
- University of the Basque Country (EHU) Kepa Castro Ortiz de Pinedo (coating and patina analyses)
- Austrian Academy of Science (ÖAW), Institute for Medieval Research: Andreas Zajic, coordinator and PI of the FWF-SFB F9200 ManMAX: Managing Maximilian (1493-1519) (historic documents)
- Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien (KHM), Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer: Stefan Krause, as part of the FWF-SFB F9200 ManMAX: Managing Maximilian (1493-1519) (arms and armour)
Team
Marianne Mödlinger graduated at the University of Vienna in prehistoric and historic archaeology with a focus on bronze manufacturing, technique, and usage. She received her habilitation in archaeology in Italy in April 2017 and a PhD in Material Science from the University of Genoa in 2023. As the project leader and principal investigator for several international and interdisciplinary projects (Funding by FP7, H2020, FWF, and others), she spent a significant amount of time abroad at different research institutions (universities of Bordeaux and Genoa). M. Mödlinger has an outstanding knowledge of copper alloy metallurgy and manufacturing techniques. She has published three books and over 90 book chapters and articles in mainly peer-reviewed, international journals, given over 70 presentations, and is regularly invited as lecturer.
Bastian Asmus received his journeyman's certificate with distinction from the Lenz Foundry in Nuremberg (1996). This foundry has been in existence for 200 years and many traditional tools and techniques have been practised there. He spent another year at the Alfred Zöttl Kunstgiesserei in Vienna, where he cast sculptures for Alfred Hrdlicka and perfected his sand casting skills. He is proficient in all casting methods, including sand, lost wax and clay. He has cast epitaphs, sculptures, kettles, mortars, cannons, bells and many Bronze Age tools. He received his MSc in archaeology from the University of Cape Town in 2002. In 2011 he received his PhD in Archaeometallurgy from the prestigious University College London on the subject of medieval copper smelting in the German Harz region. IN 2011, he founded the Laboratory for Archaeometallurgy, which focuses on the combination of craftsmanship, materials science and archaeology in relation to the metal trades of our ancestors.
Martin Fera obtained his Mag. phil. at the University of Vienna in Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology and will finish his PhD in 2024. He will be responsible for the photographic documentation of the statues and the documentation of the production process of one replica (WP3), as well as the preparation of the photos and their metadata for the online repository. He is experienced in the application of image-based documentation methods in the field of material cultural heritage, medium and close-range photogrammetry and image-based modelling, and was also involved in Marianne Mödlinger’s FWF-funded project GAPAMET [P-34477-G] on medieval bronze doors, where he successfully created 3D-models and high-resolution orthophotos of the 11th-12th century metal doors. As a lecturer at the University of Vienna, he trains students in the use of surveying instruments, historical images and data modelling.
Marc Gener-Moret, an archaeometallurgist, graduated in Physics from the University of Barcelona, where he also obtained a PhD in Physical Chemistry. His work has mainly been carried out at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), both at the Institute of History (IH-CCHS) and at his current position at the National Centre for Metallurgical Research (CENIM) in Madrid, with stays at many international institutions, including a recent MSCA fellowship at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge. He has worked with all kinds of metals, but eventually specialised in iron technology, particularly its applications to weaponry and violence. His research on historical metal technology focuses on the study of technical processes and functionality, and the role of technology in shaping human interactions with their environment. He also works in the field of Cultural Heritage, particularly in the area of Heritage and Conservation Sciences applied to metals, technology and weaponry. He has also been involved in historical armed combat for more than 20 years, many of them as a teacher.
Cristina Thieme (2nd from left) graduated in Conservation and Restoration at the Schule für Gestaltung, Bern, Switzerland in 1989 and worked 1997-2014 as a research associate at the Chair of Restoration, Art Technology, and Conservation Science at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, where she obtained her PhD in 2007. Her research is centred on the examination of art-technical methods, focused on the analysis of microsamples that include pigment specifications, paint techniques and paint layers. She collaborated with the Rathgen Research Laboratory at the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, to conduct various art-technological examinations, including those of the Busts of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. Recently, she played a vital role in the 'Human Representation in Panel Painting from 200 to 1250 in the Mediterranean Region' project funded by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung.
Photograph: © Stefan Weis, Schloss Bruck.
Literature
Published by project members
Mödlinger, M., Asmus, B., Ghiara, G. The “Schwarze Mander” of the court church in Innsbruck, Austria: manufacture and production of monumental brass statues in the Renaissance. International Journal of Metalcasting 2024. doi: 10.1007/s40962-024-01299-4
Further Literature
- Agricola G. De Re Metallica Libri XII - Zwölf Bücher vom Berg- und Hüttenwesen (Fourier Verlag GmbH, Berlin, 2003)
- Asmus B. Der Anschnitt 68 (2016).
- Asmus B. Historical Metallurgy (2024), accepted.
- Asmus B. Medieval copper smelting in the Harz Mountains, Germany, Montanregion Harz (Dt. Bergbau-Museum, Bochum 2012).
- Best G., Halekotte T., Asmus B. Schriften aus dem Deutschen Glockenmuseum 15 (2019).
- Biringuccio V., Smith C.S., Teach M. The pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: A classic sixteenth-century treatise on metals and metallurgy (Dover Publications 1990).
- Cellini B. Abhandlungen über die Goldschmiedekunst und die Bildhauerei (Basel 1974).
- Felmayer J. Die profanen Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Innsbruck außerhalb der Altstadt (Anton Schroll & Co, Wien, 1981)
- Knitel O. Die Giesser zum Maximiliangrab (Handwerk und Technik (self-publisher, Innsbruck, 1983)
- Kölderer J. Figuren für das Grabmal Maximilians I. (1522) (access)
- Madersbacher L. In Ruhm und Sinnlichkeit. Innsbrucker Bronzeguß 1500 – 1650, ed. Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum (Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck 1996).
- Oberhammer V. Die Bronzestandbilder des Maximiliangrabmales in der Hofkirche zu Innsbruck (Tyrolia Verlag, Innsbruck, 1935)
- Oettinger K. Die Bildhauer Maximilians am Innsbrucker Kaisergrabmal (Hans Carl, Nürnberg, 1966).
- Petz H. Urkunden und Regesten aus dem königlichen Kreisarchiv zu Nürnberg (1889). (access)
- Scheicher E. Das Grabmal Kaiser Maximilians I. in der Innsbrucker Hofkirche (Anton Schroll & Co, Wien, 1986).
- Schönherr D. v. Urkunden und Regesten aus dem K. K. Statthalterei-Archiv in Innsbruck (Wien 1884) (access)
- Schönherr D. v. Geschichte des Grabmals Kaisers Maximilian I. und der Hofkirche zu Innsbruck (Wien 1890) (access)
- Schönherr D. v. Urkunden und Regesten aus dem K. K. Statthalterei-Archiv in Innsbruck (Wien 1893) (access)
- Seselschreiber C. Von Glocken- und Stuckgiesserei, Büchsenmeisterei, Pulverbereitung, Feuerwerk, Heb- und Brechzeug, Wasser- und Brunnwerken (Munich 1524) (access)
- Stolz O. Deutsche Handelsakten des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit 10 (1955).
- Thaler L. Geschichte und Region/Storia e Regione 29, 2 (2020)
- Theophilus (Presbyter), On Divers Arts: The Foremost Medieval Treatise on Painting, Glassmaking, and Metalwork. Edited by: Hawthorne, J.G., Smith, C.S. (Courier Corporation, 1979).
- Zimerman H. Urkunden und Regesten aus dem K. u. K. Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Wien (Wien 1883) (access)
- Zimerman H. Urkunden und Regesten aus dem K. u. K. Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Wien (Wien 1885) (access)