Artistic Exchange between the North and the South in Trento, Bishop’s Seat, in Northern Italy: Altarpiece Commissions

• In Event: Artistic Exchange in Unexpected Quarters: Art, Travel, and Geography in the Renaissance I

Abstract

Around 1500, the region of Trentino in Northern Italy with its bishop’s seat in Trento marked a transitional zone between the north and south. The small but wealthy German community of Trento lived among a predominantly Italian-speaking population. This unusual social network included economic interests as well as intellectual ones, the latter ranging, from the earliest printings to musical practices. The influence of German art can be witnessed in the commissioning of altarpieces made by German artists. Two painters will be presented: the first, Michael Tanner, came from Tittmoning, near Salzburg, and was inscribed in Trento’s German fraternity in 1468. A panel attributed to him and commissioned by Bishop Johannes Hinderbach (born in Germany), shows both northern and southern influences. So, too, does the painting of a second anonymous artist we will present, who painted an epitaph for Bishop Ulrich von Liechtenstein (born in South Tyrol).

Authors

• Hannes Obermair, Civic Archives, Bozen-Bolzano

• Michaela Schedl, Independent Scholar