Berthold Kress | School of Advanced Study, University of London (original) (raw)

Papers by Berthold Kress

Research paper thumbnail of Die digitale Erschließung von Buchillustrationen für die kunsthistorische Forschung. Bestandsaufnahme und Zukunftsperspektiven

Kunstchronik, 2024

This article deals with online databases cataloguing the illustrations of illuminated manuscripts... more This article deals with online databases cataloguing the illustrations of illuminated manuscripts and early printed books. After presenting the material and the challenges it brings, several databases (e.g., Gallica, Index of Medieval Art, Warburg Institute Iconographic Database) are described. Then, a new model for an image database is proposed, focussing on the description of the iconography (using a 'network' of terms rather than a traditional tree structure) and an ingest process that automatically crops illustrations from digitised books and saves them with bibliographic data imported from catalogue records.

Research paper thumbnail of Index of Names and Places

Research paper thumbnail of Illustrations

Research paper thumbnail of Divine Diagrams: The Manuscripts and Drawings of Paul Lautensack (1477/78-1558)

Research paper thumbnail of Index of Subjects

Research paper thumbnail of Some darwings by Paul Lautensack and their printed sources

Research paper thumbnail of Appendix: Catalogue of Drawings, Manuscripts and Printed Editions

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This appendix presents a catalogue of autograph drawings, manuscripts and printed editions of Pau... more This appendix presents a catalogue of autograph drawings, manuscripts and printed editions of Paul Lautensack's work. Lautensack who did not try to spread Luther's doctrine but rather to propagate his own revelations, had a greater need than other lay authors to underline his authority, and he did so in three different ways, invoking divine inspiration, the endorsement of the foremost Reformation theologians and, most surprisingly, his professional expertise as a painter. Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in Bible and Nature and so for the first time showed their true contents, came purely from divine inspiration and had nothing to do with him. Whilst Lautensack believed that his revelation would immediately convince everyone, he must have realize that his diagrams were only met with perplexity, especially from scholars.Keywords: autograph drawings; autograph manuscripts; Paul Lautensack's drawings; Reformation theologians

Research paper thumbnail of The Reception of Lautensack’s Works

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Despite Paul Lautensack's attempts to spread his revelations he remained isolated during much... more Despite Paul Lautensack's attempts to spread his revelations he remained isolated during much of his Nuremberg period. Patrons like the Gundelfingerin soon walked away bewildered, and the association with Oswald Ruland probably lasted only a few years. No document suggests that the painter ever succeeded in attracting long-term followers. Its sculptor, Peter Dell the Elder, a pupil of Tilman Riemenschneider and Hans Leinberger, had produced complex reliefs explaining Reformation doctrine when he was working at the Freiberg court of Henry the Pious in the late 1520s. Although Pseudo-Weigel's explanations of Lautensack's concepts are less systematic and harder to comprehend than those by Abraham Meffert and Paul Kaym (v.i.), by virtue of being printed and bound together with the only two authentic tracts by Lautensack published in the 17th century, they dominated his reception in the following decades.Keywords: Abraham Meffert; Freiberg court of Henry; Hans Leinberger; Nuremberg; Oswald Ruland; Paul Kaym; Paul Lautensack; Peter Dell; Tilman Riemenschneider

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Diagrams: An Introduction

Divine Diagrams, 2014

In the early 1530s Paul Lautensack began to express his unconventional theological views in highl... more In the early 1530s Paul Lautensack began to express his unconventional theological views in highly complex drawings, which by 1535 were integrated into diagrams. The small fields give names of biblical Books and Ancestors of Christ, whereas the larger sections present biblical quotations, which break off in mid-sentence, with a letter in a circle and an isolated noun written in bold as the heading. Drawings show single stars and candlesticks as well as two scenes from Revelation. This diagram shows that Lautensack handled his grids very freely. Each page is divided into three horizontal blocks, and each of these blocks has two halves with similar structures. Lautensack regarded writing his tracts as 'unlocking' the Bible, as revealing its hidden meaning through a restructuring of the text but without adding human comments. This chapter explains Lautensack's groups of single words.Keywords: Ancestors of Christ; biblical Books; biblical quotations; Paul Lautensack's diagrams; Paul Lautensack's single words

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack as Theological Author

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in... more Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in Bible and Nature and so for the first time showed their true contents, came purely from divine inspiration and had nothing to do with him. Whilst Lautensack believed that his revelation would immediately convince everyone, he must have realized that his diagrams were only met with perplexity, especially from scholars. He wasted little time in refuting the criticism and attributed it to theologians who were both too arrogant to admit defeat through the writings of an unlearned man and too trusting in their own human wisdom. This chapter focuses on Lautensack's position in the debate on the legitimacy of religious images, one of the controversial topics of the Reformation. It follows the development of scholarly opinion and popular reaction to images during the period of iconoclasm, and then describes the reactions of artists and the situation in Nuremberg.Keywords: Bible; god; iconoclasm; Nuremberg; Paul Lautensack; reformation

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Later Diagrams

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This chapter covers over twenty years of Paul Lautensack's activity, from 1535 to his death i... more This chapter covers over twenty years of Paul Lautensack's activity, from 1535 to his death in 1558. This is possible because the Pater noster and Credo cycles are the richest and complex speculative works produced by the Nuremberg painter. The chapter shows how Lautensack there developed new ways, beside the standard grid, to present his material. It discusses extensions of familiar series of names or signs and new ways of quoting the Bible that appear very occasionally in these two manuscripts but gain greater importance in his later works. After a discussion of Lautensack's interest in celestial prodigies, which play an important role in his tracts from his last autograph onward. The chapter explores how Lautensack increasingly compartmentalized large pictorial compositions, as in his 'Evangelists', and so created the format of the rectangular grid, which covers the entire page and displays headings, quotations, lists, letters and images of different sizes.Keywords: Bible; celestial prodigies; Credo cycles; Evangelists; Nuremberg; Pater noster; Paul Lautensack's diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Early Diagrams

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This chapter analyzes Paul Lautensack's first surviving drawings in detail. It begins with si... more This chapter analyzes Paul Lautensack's first surviving drawings in detail. It begins with single-leaf drawings by Lautensack, which can be dated to the years 1531-351 and which are now kept in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. Although the exact chronology of Lautensack's drawings is unclear, four leaves depicting the Evangelists reflect the most primitive stage of his speculative imagery. Lautensack's other two series of single-leaf drawings, consist of twelve parts each. They illustrate two of the principal prayers of Christendom, the Pater noster and the Credo. Besides the Father Lautensack illustrated the Apostles' Creed, a profession of faith that, despite not coming from the Bible, was highly respected by virtually all Reformers. The layout of Lautensack's Creed drawings is similar to that of block-books that show beneath the illustration of each article the Apostle who was its author and a Prophet who had foretold it.Keywords: Apostles' Creed; Berlin Kupferstichkabinett; Bible; Christendom; Credo; Evangelists; Paul Lautensack's drawings; Reformers

Research paper thumbnail of Paul Lautensack’s Life and Work

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Paul Lautensack was born in 1477 or 1478, and he must have received the usual schooling for craft... more Paul Lautensack was born in 1477 or 1478, and he must have received the usual schooling for craftsmen, writing and basic mathematics, but no Latin. In addition, between 1506 and 1521 he received regular payments for works (in most cases small-scale decorative painting) done for the Prince Bishops of Bamberg. As a wealthy and respected citizen he lived in one of the most prosperous parts of Bamberg, and by 1520 he had become both Gassenhauptmann (alderman) and churchwarden. Lautensack may have first encountered the new ideas of the Reformation through his friend Johannes Schwanhauser (or Schwanhausen/Schwanhauser), Custos of St Gangolf in Bamberg, who tried in vain to introduce the new faith in his city and was banished in 1524. Nuremberg was where Lautensack spent most of the three last decades of his life, and here he compiled the speculative tracts that are the focus of this chapter.Keywords: Bamberg; Custos of St Gangolf; Johannes Schwanhauser; Nuremberg; Paul Lautensack; Prince Bishops' painting

Research paper thumbnail of Nutzungsstatistik Der Warburg Institute Iconographic Database 2019

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Nov 15, 2021

Die hier vorgestellten Daten wurden im Rahmen der Masterarbeit "Buchillustrationen im digita... more Die hier vorgestellten Daten wurden im Rahmen der Masterarbeit "Buchillustrationen im digitalen Zeitalter: Konzept für ein Datenmodell" im berufsbegleitenden Masterstudiengang in Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin im Jahr 2020 erhoben. Eine erweiterte Fassung dieser Arbeit wurde 2021 in den Berliner Handreichungen zur Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft veröffentlicht (http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/23601). Es handelt sich um sämtliche mit Google Analytics gewonnene Daten zu Seitenaufrufen in der Warburg Institute Iconographic Database aus dem Jahr 2019. Sie wurden dazu verwendet, Aspekte des tatsächlichen Gebrauchs einer wissenschaftlichen Bilddatenbank nachzuvollziehen. Diese 2010 begonnene Datenbank enthielt in diesem Jahr etwa 102.000 Bilddatensätze, die thematisch etwa 60.000 ineinander geschachtelten 'Mappen' zugeordnet waren. Die Datenbank wird gegen Ende des Jahres 2021 konzeptuell und technisch völlig erneuert werden. Die Daten von Google Analytics enthalten etwa 111.000 URLs von aufgerufenen Seiten in der Datenbank, zusammen mit statistischen Angaben, wie etwa der Häufigkeit der Aufrufe, oder der Häufigkeit der Aufrufe als erste oder letzte Seite in der Datenbank. Basierend auf dieses Material wurden verschiedene Aspekte des Gebrauchs der Datenbank untersucht, etwa, welche Seiten als Einstiegsseiten dienten, wie die Einfache und die Erweiterte Suche verwendet wurden, und wie in der hierarchischen Ordnerstruktur geblättert wurde.

Research paper thumbnail of Buchillustrationen im digitalen Zeitalter

Research paper thumbnail of MS Marlay 9 in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Research paper thumbnail of Contrasting images of the Book of Revelation in late medieval and early modern art. A case study in visual exegesis. By Natasha F. H. O'Hear. (Oxford Theological Monographs.) Pp. xvii+287 + 43 black-and-white and colour plates. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. £75. 978 0 19 959010 0

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Divine Diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Passeri, Rubens, and Reynolds—A Neglected Source for the Antwerp "Descent from the Cross

Source: Notes in the History of Art, 2013

Much research has been done in the last decades on Rubens s composition4 and on its place within ... more Much research has been done in the last decades on Rubens s composition4 and on its place within the tradition of monumental Italian Depositions,5 but the print mentioned by Michel has played no role in this debate. Although it was included by Harry Mount in his edition of the Journey as the image that Reynolds had probably read about in Michel's book, Mount remained skeptical about its significance for Rubens's compo sition.6 However, closer analysis indicates that this print, despite its mediocrity, indeed provided an important source

Research paper thumbnail of Early Medieval Sources for Late Gothic miniatures? The illuminations on the Book of Daniel in the Duke of Alba's Bible

Research paper thumbnail of Die digitale Erschließung von Buchillustrationen für die kunsthistorische Forschung. Bestandsaufnahme und Zukunftsperspektiven

Kunstchronik, 2024

This article deals with online databases cataloguing the illustrations of illuminated manuscripts... more This article deals with online databases cataloguing the illustrations of illuminated manuscripts and early printed books. After presenting the material and the challenges it brings, several databases (e.g., Gallica, Index of Medieval Art, Warburg Institute Iconographic Database) are described. Then, a new model for an image database is proposed, focussing on the description of the iconography (using a 'network' of terms rather than a traditional tree structure) and an ingest process that automatically crops illustrations from digitised books and saves them with bibliographic data imported from catalogue records.

Research paper thumbnail of Index of Names and Places

Research paper thumbnail of Illustrations

Research paper thumbnail of Divine Diagrams: The Manuscripts and Drawings of Paul Lautensack (1477/78-1558)

Research paper thumbnail of Index of Subjects

Research paper thumbnail of Some darwings by Paul Lautensack and their printed sources

Research paper thumbnail of Appendix: Catalogue of Drawings, Manuscripts and Printed Editions

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This appendix presents a catalogue of autograph drawings, manuscripts and printed editions of Pau... more This appendix presents a catalogue of autograph drawings, manuscripts and printed editions of Paul Lautensack's work. Lautensack who did not try to spread Luther's doctrine but rather to propagate his own revelations, had a greater need than other lay authors to underline his authority, and he did so in three different ways, invoking divine inspiration, the endorsement of the foremost Reformation theologians and, most surprisingly, his professional expertise as a painter. Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in Bible and Nature and so for the first time showed their true contents, came purely from divine inspiration and had nothing to do with him. Whilst Lautensack believed that his revelation would immediately convince everyone, he must have realize that his diagrams were only met with perplexity, especially from scholars.Keywords: autograph drawings; autograph manuscripts; Paul Lautensack's drawings; Reformation theologians

Research paper thumbnail of The Reception of Lautensack’s Works

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Despite Paul Lautensack's attempts to spread his revelations he remained isolated during much... more Despite Paul Lautensack's attempts to spread his revelations he remained isolated during much of his Nuremberg period. Patrons like the Gundelfingerin soon walked away bewildered, and the association with Oswald Ruland probably lasted only a few years. No document suggests that the painter ever succeeded in attracting long-term followers. Its sculptor, Peter Dell the Elder, a pupil of Tilman Riemenschneider and Hans Leinberger, had produced complex reliefs explaining Reformation doctrine when he was working at the Freiberg court of Henry the Pious in the late 1520s. Although Pseudo-Weigel's explanations of Lautensack's concepts are less systematic and harder to comprehend than those by Abraham Meffert and Paul Kaym (v.i.), by virtue of being printed and bound together with the only two authentic tracts by Lautensack published in the 17th century, they dominated his reception in the following decades.Keywords: Abraham Meffert; Freiberg court of Henry; Hans Leinberger; Nuremberg; Oswald Ruland; Paul Kaym; Paul Lautensack; Peter Dell; Tilman Riemenschneider

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Diagrams: An Introduction

Divine Diagrams, 2014

In the early 1530s Paul Lautensack began to express his unconventional theological views in highl... more In the early 1530s Paul Lautensack began to express his unconventional theological views in highly complex drawings, which by 1535 were integrated into diagrams. The small fields give names of biblical Books and Ancestors of Christ, whereas the larger sections present biblical quotations, which break off in mid-sentence, with a letter in a circle and an isolated noun written in bold as the heading. Drawings show single stars and candlesticks as well as two scenes from Revelation. This diagram shows that Lautensack handled his grids very freely. Each page is divided into three horizontal blocks, and each of these blocks has two halves with similar structures. Lautensack regarded writing his tracts as 'unlocking' the Bible, as revealing its hidden meaning through a restructuring of the text but without adding human comments. This chapter explains Lautensack's groups of single words.Keywords: Ancestors of Christ; biblical Books; biblical quotations; Paul Lautensack's diagrams; Paul Lautensack's single words

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack as Theological Author

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in... more Apparently Paul Lautensack believed that his diagrams, which re-arranged God's revelations in Bible and Nature and so for the first time showed their true contents, came purely from divine inspiration and had nothing to do with him. Whilst Lautensack believed that his revelation would immediately convince everyone, he must have realized that his diagrams were only met with perplexity, especially from scholars. He wasted little time in refuting the criticism and attributed it to theologians who were both too arrogant to admit defeat through the writings of an unlearned man and too trusting in their own human wisdom. This chapter focuses on Lautensack's position in the debate on the legitimacy of religious images, one of the controversial topics of the Reformation. It follows the development of scholarly opinion and popular reaction to images during the period of iconoclasm, and then describes the reactions of artists and the situation in Nuremberg.Keywords: Bible; god; iconoclasm; Nuremberg; Paul Lautensack; reformation

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Later Diagrams

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This chapter covers over twenty years of Paul Lautensack's activity, from 1535 to his death i... more This chapter covers over twenty years of Paul Lautensack's activity, from 1535 to his death in 1558. This is possible because the Pater noster and Credo cycles are the richest and complex speculative works produced by the Nuremberg painter. The chapter shows how Lautensack there developed new ways, beside the standard grid, to present his material. It discusses extensions of familiar series of names or signs and new ways of quoting the Bible that appear very occasionally in these two manuscripts but gain greater importance in his later works. After a discussion of Lautensack's interest in celestial prodigies, which play an important role in his tracts from his last autograph onward. The chapter explores how Lautensack increasingly compartmentalized large pictorial compositions, as in his 'Evangelists', and so created the format of the rectangular grid, which covers the entire page and displays headings, quotations, lists, letters and images of different sizes.Keywords: Bible; celestial prodigies; Credo cycles; Evangelists; Nuremberg; Pater noster; Paul Lautensack's diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Lautensack’s Early Diagrams

Divine Diagrams, 2014

This chapter analyzes Paul Lautensack's first surviving drawings in detail. It begins with si... more This chapter analyzes Paul Lautensack's first surviving drawings in detail. It begins with single-leaf drawings by Lautensack, which can be dated to the years 1531-351 and which are now kept in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. Although the exact chronology of Lautensack's drawings is unclear, four leaves depicting the Evangelists reflect the most primitive stage of his speculative imagery. Lautensack's other two series of single-leaf drawings, consist of twelve parts each. They illustrate two of the principal prayers of Christendom, the Pater noster and the Credo. Besides the Father Lautensack illustrated the Apostles' Creed, a profession of faith that, despite not coming from the Bible, was highly respected by virtually all Reformers. The layout of Lautensack's Creed drawings is similar to that of block-books that show beneath the illustration of each article the Apostle who was its author and a Prophet who had foretold it.Keywords: Apostles' Creed; Berlin Kupferstichkabinett; Bible; Christendom; Credo; Evangelists; Paul Lautensack's drawings; Reformers

Research paper thumbnail of Paul Lautensack’s Life and Work

Divine Diagrams, 2014

Paul Lautensack was born in 1477 or 1478, and he must have received the usual schooling for craft... more Paul Lautensack was born in 1477 or 1478, and he must have received the usual schooling for craftsmen, writing and basic mathematics, but no Latin. In addition, between 1506 and 1521 he received regular payments for works (in most cases small-scale decorative painting) done for the Prince Bishops of Bamberg. As a wealthy and respected citizen he lived in one of the most prosperous parts of Bamberg, and by 1520 he had become both Gassenhauptmann (alderman) and churchwarden. Lautensack may have first encountered the new ideas of the Reformation through his friend Johannes Schwanhauser (or Schwanhausen/Schwanhauser), Custos of St Gangolf in Bamberg, who tried in vain to introduce the new faith in his city and was banished in 1524. Nuremberg was where Lautensack spent most of the three last decades of his life, and here he compiled the speculative tracts that are the focus of this chapter.Keywords: Bamberg; Custos of St Gangolf; Johannes Schwanhauser; Nuremberg; Paul Lautensack; Prince Bishops' painting

Research paper thumbnail of Nutzungsstatistik Der Warburg Institute Iconographic Database 2019

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Nov 15, 2021

Die hier vorgestellten Daten wurden im Rahmen der Masterarbeit "Buchillustrationen im digita... more Die hier vorgestellten Daten wurden im Rahmen der Masterarbeit "Buchillustrationen im digitalen Zeitalter: Konzept für ein Datenmodell" im berufsbegleitenden Masterstudiengang in Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft an der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin im Jahr 2020 erhoben. Eine erweiterte Fassung dieser Arbeit wurde 2021 in den Berliner Handreichungen zur Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft veröffentlicht (http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/23601). Es handelt sich um sämtliche mit Google Analytics gewonnene Daten zu Seitenaufrufen in der Warburg Institute Iconographic Database aus dem Jahr 2019. Sie wurden dazu verwendet, Aspekte des tatsächlichen Gebrauchs einer wissenschaftlichen Bilddatenbank nachzuvollziehen. Diese 2010 begonnene Datenbank enthielt in diesem Jahr etwa 102.000 Bilddatensätze, die thematisch etwa 60.000 ineinander geschachtelten 'Mappen' zugeordnet waren. Die Datenbank wird gegen Ende des Jahres 2021 konzeptuell und technisch völlig erneuert werden. Die Daten von Google Analytics enthalten etwa 111.000 URLs von aufgerufenen Seiten in der Datenbank, zusammen mit statistischen Angaben, wie etwa der Häufigkeit der Aufrufe, oder der Häufigkeit der Aufrufe als erste oder letzte Seite in der Datenbank. Basierend auf dieses Material wurden verschiedene Aspekte des Gebrauchs der Datenbank untersucht, etwa, welche Seiten als Einstiegsseiten dienten, wie die Einfache und die Erweiterte Suche verwendet wurden, und wie in der hierarchischen Ordnerstruktur geblättert wurde.

Research paper thumbnail of Buchillustrationen im digitalen Zeitalter

Research paper thumbnail of MS Marlay 9 in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

Research paper thumbnail of Contrasting images of the Book of Revelation in late medieval and early modern art. A case study in visual exegesis. By Natasha F. H. O'Hear. (Oxford Theological Monographs.) Pp. xvii+287 + 43 black-and-white and colour plates. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. £75. 978 0 19 959010 0

The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Divine Diagrams

Research paper thumbnail of Passeri, Rubens, and Reynolds—A Neglected Source for the Antwerp "Descent from the Cross

Source: Notes in the History of Art, 2013

Much research has been done in the last decades on Rubens s composition4 and on its place within ... more Much research has been done in the last decades on Rubens s composition4 and on its place within the tradition of monumental Italian Depositions,5 but the print mentioned by Michel has played no role in this debate. Although it was included by Harry Mount in his edition of the Journey as the image that Reynolds had probably read about in Michel's book, Mount remained skeptical about its significance for Rubens's compo sition.6 However, closer analysis indicates that this print, despite its mediocrity, indeed provided an important source

Research paper thumbnail of Early Medieval Sources for Late Gothic miniatures? The illuminations on the Book of Daniel in the Duke of Alba's Bible