Small Christmas present - angel artist to get to know (part 2)

Part 2 - 1476 to 2013

Hugo van der Goes

was born in Ghent around 1440 and died in 1482 in the Rood Klooster near Brussels.

The Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes performed great, although his life did not last much for more than four decades - he is considered one of the main champions of Old Dutch painting in the second half of the 15th century.

Hugo van der Goes can be grasped for historians for the first time on May 4, 1467. That day he was admitted to the Genter "Malergilde Lucas" as a master, Justus van Ghent has been handed down as his witness and guarantor.

Lukasgilden were the guild -like brotherhoods of the artistic professions, which developed primarily in the 15th century in the Netherlands. If you wanted to become a master there, you had to prove the civil rights of the relevant city, sometimes property and usually also his marriage, but there is never any talk of a woman van der Goes.

At that time, the painter may have already been so committed in a sacred brotherhood that the demand for a marriage became obsolete, but maybe at the time he also had a woman who did not get a customer to today. In any case, enrollment as a master was a high honor and also a prerequisite for being able to prove higher political and economic guild offices.

Hugo van der Goes therefore worked as a painter before this admission to the guild guild, but any testimonies of previous works by the new master have not been handed down.

Membership in the guild paid off quickly, in 1468 Hugo van der Goes received the order for the festival decoration of the city of Bruges for the wedding celebration of Karls the Kühnen with Margareta of York, he worked with guild master Jacques Daret from Tornai and other artists of the guild.

From 1474 to autumn 1476, Hugo van der Goes took the office of dean in the painting soil. Already in 1475 he also entered the Rood Klooster of the Augustiner near Brussels, but did not give up working as a painter as a Augustinian brother , so a visit to the later emperor Maximilian is occupied in the monastery, who ordered paintings.

As knowledge from such traditions that Hugo van der Goes has already become famous during his lifetime and his work was highly valued. All received work was orders from wealthy citizens or relatives of the nobility.

From the high era of the master's career, the 1970s, we remained several great work: the "Monforte-Altar" , the "Hippolytus-Altar" , a "Marient death" and a "Marien-Altärchen" , the "Portinari Triptych" , the "Wiener Diptychon" and an "worship of the shepherds" .

Nevertheless, the master withdrew from the middle of society to the monastery, from a trip to Cologne in 1481, a seizure with suicide intentions is occupied, after returning to the monastery he waived all privileges and advantages and died in 1482 from unknown cause, he is suspected that he had gotten insane through his artistic success.

The angels of December 24th are a detailed picture of the Portinari altar , detail, created between 1475 and 1478, the triptych can be visited today in the Uffizia in Florence.

Pietro Perugino

was born in Città della Pieve (Perugia) in 1446 to 1452 and died in Fontignano near Città della Pieve in 1523.

"Il Perugino" ("The" from Perugia ") was actually called Pietro Vannucci , his father Cristoforo Vannucci was one of the richest men in the area.

Pietro Perugino probably started studying painting in local workshops, perhaps at Bartolomeo Caporali or Fiorenzo di Lorenzo. At some point between 1466/1470 and 1479 he went to the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio , where he was trained Leonardo da Vinci , Domenico Ghirlandaio , Lorenzo di Credi , Filippino Lippi

This can be found (without more precise times) of the report of his biographer Giorgio Vasari, and according to Vasari, he is said to have studied the art of perspective presentation Piero della Francesca In 1492 his apprenticeship is said to have ended at Verrocchio, from this year he has been handed down as a member of the guild guild of the painters.

Perugino became known for his contemporaries long, in 1481 "Consegna delle Chiavi a Pietro" ("Christ hands on Petrus"), a powerful 3.35 × 5.50 m large part of the wall frescoes cycle in the Sistine chapel of the Vatican.

The painters of Italy at the time participated at the time, the “Christ” on this fresco cycle . The perspective depth of the painting impressed Perugino's contemporaries, he became the most famous painter in the country with this picture.

As a result, Pietro Perugino is said to have entertained Atelier in Perugia and Florence, in which he is said to have started a kind of mass production, mainly the popular Mary portraits. However, this did not prevent him from creating unforgettable works of art:

In 1485 the "crucifixion of Jesus" above the inner entrance of the Portiuncula chapel (officially Santa Maria Degli Angeli) in Assisi. A famous chapel because Francesco Bernardone (better known as Heiliger Franziskus or Franz von Assisi) died there on October 3, 1226, his left-wing companions then founded the Franciscan Order.

Between 1489 and 1493, Perugino created the "Vision of Saint Bernhard" , from 1493 to 1497 he worked on a "crucifixion" in Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi in Florence, between 1496 and 1500 he made a polyptych in San Pietro in Perugia and (now the parts are divided into museums in the French cities of Nantes, Rouon and Lyon Vatican to see), from 1497 to 1500 frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia.

Perugino is the most important champion of the Umbrish school of Renaissance painting . An even greater merit is that he passed on his skills to the legendary Raffael , which was considered the greatest painter until well into the 19th century.

Perugino's influence can be clearly felt in the early work of young Raffael. The angel of December 20 is the Archangel Michael from "Maria Himmelfahrt with four saints" , created in 1500 for the monastery church of Vallombrosa, today in the Uffizia Florence.

Master of the Cologne Ursula legend

(or Cologne champion of Ursula legend) is only an emergency name.

So we don't even know his name from this late Gothic painter Also of the Ursula cycle, which he designed for the Cologne Severinskirche, are not all representations of the legend of St. Ursula received. The Master devoted to the Ursula legend at least 19 paintings, some of which were destroyed in World War II and a part was lost. What has survived is now distributed to various museums in Europe.

Since his work shows a close relationship with the Dutch painting of that time, the master might come there or at least worked in the Netherlands for a long time. However, his work in Cologne is safe through the works in the Severinskirche, which is why eight of his works are today in the Cologne Wallraf-Richartz Museum. A winged tea is also assigned to this master, part of a Mary altar that is now in the old masters of the Dresden State Art Collections in the Gemäldegalerie .

The master of the Cologne Ursula legend is called that because he is not the only master who has received and worth preserved scenes from the Ursula legend Malte and remained unknown by name. In Bruges too, a master of St. Ursula, who is now listed as Brügger's master of Ursulaing, champions of Brügger Ursula-Legend or Flemish masters of Ursula legend.

This late Gothic painter from Flanders painted altarpieces with representations of the Ursula legend for the monastery of the Black Sisters in Bruges around 1485 (dated by pictures of the then city of Bruges in the background).

Although St. Ursula in Cologne has a closer connection than Bruges: the Britan king's daughter had ordained its life Christ and was still to be married by a pagan king. Before that, she asked for a three -year period, went on a boat trip and had a phenomenon in Cologne in which an angel proves to pilgrimage to Rome (and predicted the martyr death).

Ursula obeys and comes back in Cologne on the way back, which is now besieged by the Huns. Ursula's companions are murdered, Ursula himself should become the wife of the Hunnen prince when she refuses, he kills her. A gross mistake: Elevely thousand angels now appear and the Huns flee, the citizens of Cologne then build St. Ursula as a thank you and make them the patron saint of the city .

The angel of December 22, the "Appearance of the Angel" belongs to the Ursula cycle of the Cologne master, created around 1500 and can be visited in the Cologne Wallraf-Richartz Museum .

Domenico Beccafumi

was born near Siena around 1486, probably in Montaperti (belonging to Castelnuovo Berardenga today), he died on May 18, 1551 in Siena.

Another artist with several names, Domenico was called the son of the farmer Giacomo di Pace Domenico di Pace. The farmer worked for Lorenzo Beccafumi, and his son also served in his service. Beccafumi recognized the artistic talent of the young, adopted Domenico early on and sent him to Siena for training.

There he learned from the regionally known artist Mechero, which is why he was said to have been called by his contemporaries "Il Mecherino" , the little mechero (others are of the opinion that this nickname is derived from his small stature).

In 1509/1510, Domenico Beccafumi went to Rome to study the latest developments in painting - in Siena they were rather conservative and worked according to traditional principles.

Domenico was able to study the revolutionary innovations in Rome: Raffael and his students started in 1508 with the "punching" (Italian Stanza = Zimmer), which was continued by Pope Julius II.

At the same time, Michelangelo with the ceiling frescoes in the Sistine chapel , the series of topics along the vault center was completed September 1510, Beccafumi was most likely visited the work. have studied ancient works and pictures of Florentine Renaissance painters

Beccafumi came back to Siena quite quickly, where he received a number of public orders, in 1513 he painted z. B. frescoes for the chapel of the municipal hospital of Siena, Santa Maria della Scala, the "Encounter Joachim with Anna" .

A number of works for private clients are also documented, such as frescoes on the facade of the Palazzo Borghesi. However, only the design drawings are preserved from both orders, other early works by Beccafumi from the beginning in Siena or his time in Rome are not preserved.

Only towards the end of this decade were Beccafumi's orders better documented: In 1519, Beccafumi received "the order of his life", the design of the marble floor in the cathedral of Siena, with which he was busy until his death.

Since then, Beccafumi has continued to work for the municipality of Siena and for private clients, also mainly in Siena, sought-after "prominent painter" (court painter at one of the Italian Fürstenhöfe), he never became rare for order work from other parts of Italy like 1540 at Admiral Andrea Doria in Genoa.

Most of the works preserved by Beccafumi can therefore also be admired in Siena, an altarpiece ( "Moses smashes the boards" ) from 1537 is located in the cathedral in Pisa, two of his "Holy families" can be admired in Florence, in the Uffizi and in the Palazzo Pitti, the "Madonna with the Jesuskind and the John's Boy" adorned the palazzo Barberini in Rome.

Beccafumi is accused of not taking much with him in contrast to other Sienese artists from his stay in Rome. While IL Sodoma and Baldassare Peruzzi, for example, had taken up all the nuances of the leading artists of the time from their stay in Rome, Beccafumi had remained provincial in his painting style.

Beccafumi was perhaps connected to home, but definitely an artist who developed an independent and sometimes idiosyncratic creativity. Perhaps he has had little influence from the prevailing mannerist trend out of conscious decision if his work is awarded his work very own eccentricity with sometimes fantastic, emotional details.

His representations also differ in the tonality from the often rather colorful works of classic Roman masters. Beccafumi prefers rather delicate, very natural -looking colors, leads you not necessarily linear, but like to be slightly "jagged", like to wrap his pictures in light fog and paint gentle transitions, in contrast to the firm clarity of the images of the trendy masters of his time.

He was also very diverse, he not only painted, but experimented with various woodcut techniques, worked as a sculptor (equestrian statue of Emperor Karl V., angel sculptures in the cathedral of Siena) and worked as an illustrator of manuscripts .

The angel of December 17th belongs to the "proclamation" that Domenico Beccafumi created in Siena in 1545/1546 for the Church in Siena.

Titian

was probably born between 1488 and 1490 (a. A. around 1477) in Pieve di Cadore near Belluno (Republic of Venice) and died in Venice in 1576.

Titian was actually called Tiziano Vecellio, or he was called "Tiziano da Cadore" (from Cadore) during his lifetime, or "the sun under the stars" - his talent made a name for himself.

The painter is considered the leading representative of Venetian painting in the 16th century , and one of the main champions of the Italian high Renaissance at all, "Titian" is enough for the art lover to know who is meant.

Tiziano Vecellio was the oldest of four children of a wealthy family of the Lower nobility, his father Gregorio was the senior clergyman at Pieve's castle, and his grandfather had a management function in the city administration.

It has been proven that the talent of little Titian and his brother Francesco noticed early on, at the age of nine Titian was sent to an uncle in Venice to search for an artistic apprenticeship for him.

Titian and Francesco were initially trained by the mosaic painter Sebastiano Zuccato, who then conveyed the brothers to the workshop of the best known painters of Venice. During his apprenticeship in the workshop of Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, Titian Contact Us other painters, including Giorgione .

Fortunately for the then very young Titian, in 1507 the already well -known Giorgione received an order from the city of Venice to design the external frescoes of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi (German trading exchange) that was just recovered after a fire.

Giorgione himself painted the facade, the students Titian and Morta da Feltre the less prestigious sides, the “Arte Moderna” , was the professional breakthrough for Titian, at around 17 he was a sought -after artist.

Gentile Bellini 1507 , in 1510 the Giorgione, which has now become rivals, died, Titian opened his own workshop in Venice in 1513, the death of Giovanni Bellinis in 1516 Titian freed from the last serious rival of the Venezian school. From this favorable position, Titian developed into a worldwide -celebrated artist that he should remain in the cultural world of time for the next sixty years of the uniform main champion Venetian painting.

In the beginning of his second decade of life, Titian acquired several urban privileges that entitled him to end work of his famous teachers, such as Bellini's paintings in the large council hall of the city of Venice. He also concluded skillful contracts with the city of Venice, fixed salary and tax exemption against the obligation to portray all dogs at a fixed price.

The climb was no longer to be broken, Titian portrayed the prominent figures of his time and completed commissioned work for her, married in 1525, moved into the then most distinguished district of Venice, was appointed court painter by Emperor Karl V in 1533 and raised to the nobility (previously Tizian is said to have painted two very flattering portraits of the emperor).

Pope Paul III has wanted since 1542. See Titian in Rome, who had now achieved such a prominence that he only did not need to follow the call in 1545; In 1548 and 1550, Titian accompanied the Emperor Karl V and son Philipp II to the Reichstage in Augsburg, during his last years until 1576 Titian worked mainly for Emperor Philipp II Titian died at an old age of 1576 as the most successful painter that the Venetian history produced.

Titian's "career" is very reminiscent of that of today's elite pupil, with the support since birth, access to the right training and the right circles, even "modern marketing methods" such as the value-enhancing signature of its paintings and mass production of stitches knew Titian, and luck (if you can call the appropriate death of rival), there was certainly a lot there.

But (birth -independent) talent and further development of one's own skills were involved in Titian success: he was a versatile painter, especially for his time, which is often limited to religious issues, he also painted portraits and landscapes and mythological motives , even took up topics of earthly love.

For his work, he invented a characteristic and pronounced color, used modern oil paints as one of the first painters in Italy, and he found plastic style, which was characterized by childhood, in several upheavals and crises.

The angel of December 1st is the "Annexalic Angel" from Tizian 1520 - 1522 "Resurrection of Christ" for the Church of San Nazzaro e Celso in Brescia.

Bavarian champion

Is called the unknown artist who painted the "Annunciation to Maria" in a size of 107 × 80.5 cm in the late Gothic style on wood around 1500.

We do not know anything about the artist, he did not leave us his name or life data, but a lot of symbols in his picture that tell us a lot: the angel who presents Mary with flowers, the Archangel Gabriel - the angel of resurrection, grace and proclamation when it appears in Christian art as a female being.

If Gabriel is represented in a male form, he is considered a messenger of God who can explain visions. According to the Christian and the Jewish view, he is also the head of the Cherubim (winged mixed beings of animal and humans who perform protective functions or serve God) and Seraphim (angels with six wings that fly around God's throne and call "holy, holy"). Gabriel - ǧibrīl, Jabrāʾīl, ǧabrāʾīl - also plays an important role in Islam as a transmission of the revelation on the Prophet Mohammed.

In the pot that the proclamation angel is handing, white lilies are located in Christianity symbol for pure, virgin love. The master did not paint any white lilies here, but the type of "Lilium Candidum" in the botanical genus of the lilies, the Madonna lily.

When Gabriel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary, the Madonna lily is his attribute, which he carries on or in his hands as here in the image of the Bavarian master. Furthermore, as here - he can have a scroll with him, or a trombone, or his raised index finger indicates the proclamation.

Another symbol that the Bavarian master gives us by the bird in the cage . It symbolizes the power of thinking that raises the soul in the body and can spread and helps man to consider it. The angel of December 16 announces the birth of Jesus at the "Annunciation to Maria" of the Blessed Mother, the painting can be visited today in the Kunsthaus Zurich.

Rembrandt

was born in Leiden on July 15, 1606 and died on October 4, 1669 in Amsterdam.

Rembrandt is the first name of the best known and most important Dutch baroque artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn , who was born in 1606 as eighth of nine children of the miller Harmers Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn and the baker's daughter Neeltgen Willemsdädt van Zuytbrouck and during the famous Italian baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi lived.

According to elementary school and Latin school, with lessons in biblical history, reading the classic and rhetoric lessons, Rembrandt wrote down at the Philosophical Faculty of Leiden University in 1620, but broke out the studies after a short time to become a painter.

Rembrandt became a student at the Leiden history painter Jacob Isaacsz van Swanenburgh , the teacher trained in Italy gave him the basics of painting and his own focus, architectural painting and scenic representations of hell from 1620 to 1624; The hell fire painted during this training should be responsible for Rembrandt's championship in the representation of light and shadow on its paintings.

Afterwards, Rembrandt competed in the famous history painter Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam, who is said to have shaped him more than the years at Van Swanenburgh. history painting was granted the highest rank among all the genres of painting, and Lastman introduced his student thoroughly into the topic.

With sustainable success, Rembrandt opened his first studio in Leiden in 1625 and soon attracted attention with his painting. So much attention that the secretary of the Government of the United Netherlands (forerunners of today's Netherlands) began to support the artist at the end of 1628 and convey orders to him, in 1629 and 1630 Rembrandt was even able to sell pictures to the English king.

Rembrandt then gave up the Leiden studio in 1631 and moved to Amsterdam, where he was shopping with the proceeds of the royal images into the large and important workshop of the art dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh. In the workshop, which was mainly flourished by copying and restoration, Rembrandt was able to quickly get portrait orders from rich merchants, governor Friedrich Heinrich bought a painting by his secretary and commissioned a passion cycle, 1632 Malte Rembrandt 30 paintings and was financially a made man - at the age of 26.

Rembrandt was still missing some prerequisites for inclusion in the Amsterdam guild (condition for independence in the city) and were fulfilled in the next few years, from work in the workshop of another master to the entry into the status of marriage; The latter took place in 1634, conveniently with the niece of his art dealer and daughter of a rich patrician, in the same year he joined the Lukasgilde.

The angel of December 12 was created by Rembrandt, "Jakob's struggle with the angel" from 1659, the further fate Rembrandt is described in the text on the angel of December 15th.

Rembrandt

had been accepted into the Lukasgilde in 1634 and seemed to have taken care of it, his ascent was described in the text on the calendar picture of December 12th, it continues:

As an independent champion, Rembrandt was now allowed to record, train and have work for schoolchildren and apprentices, he painted and sold on and soon moved to his own house with his wife. That was in 1635, in addition to his work as an artist, Rembrandt now also started trading in works of art and started to collect a wide variety of historical and scientific precious, rare plants, animals and exotics (expensive objects from distant countries).

What reads like the picture book career of a new rich, who cannot get the neck, continued quite typically for one: in 1638 Rembrandt had brought his wife's legacy through around 40,000 guilders.

Perhaps both spouses also pretended, it was at least Saskia Rembrandt, who was reprimanded by her relatives because of what Rembrandt sued his wife's relatives for insulting.

Perhaps with the assertion of pain and suffering, Rembrandt definitely bought a new house on January 5, 1639, a real large town house, for which he also took out a loan that should be paid in five or six years.

The path to the abyss, the waste and credit for the large property had now been accelerated by one stroke of fate after another: Rembrandt's first son had already survived in 1635, in the year of the insulting process the first daughter died shortly after birth, not only in 1640 Rembrandt's second daughter died shortly after her baptism, but also a month later. In 1641 son Titus was born, but his mother, Rembrandt's wife Saskia, died in June 1642.

During the time before Saskia Death, Rembrandt had been able to maintain a high level of productivity despite all the losses, the death of his wife was now too deep, his artistic activity decreased significantly. In addition, there was concern about the little son, combined with the attitude of two children's women, love relationships of Rembrandt to these, subsequent arguments among women and court proceedings around the women, about maintenance and for will.

After all, Rembrandt could no longer pay for his loans and had to lend even more money, shortly before the disability declaration, he overwritten his house to his son in 1656, and the auction of the house and collections was not enough to pay the debts.

Rembrandt had to move to a poor quarter, where he lived a secluded life for four years. This was once again revitalized by son and foster nut by employment in their art shop, Rembrandt was able to maintain business contact us e, accept orders and teach students, in 1663 the foster nut and 1668 son Titus at the age of only 27, Rembrandt followed him a year later.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a brilliant artist, already celebrated and well paid for by his contemporaries and worshiped by posterity as one of the most important artists at all. He lived in a golden age, in an economic, artistic and political heyday, he worked hard for a long time of his life, created hundreds of expensive -traded paintings - and yet he managed to become loan through nonsensical consumption and a loan that was only secured by future earnings.

The angel of December 15 was created by Rembrandt in 1626, it is the angel from the painting "Prophet Bileam and the donkey" .

Ssemjon Fedorowitsch Uschakow

was born around 1626 in Moscow and died on June 25, 1686.

Ssemjon or Simon Uschakow was a well -known Russian icon painter . Nothing has survived about his life until he entered office and dignity. Ssemjon Fedorowitsch Uschakow worked as an artist in the service of the Russian state, as the head of the icon workshop of the Kremlin armory, a very well-known and highly respected artist.

No personal fame was granted to the artists who made for Russian tsar and the top art - they created the icons (saints of the eastern churches, especially the Orthodox churches) in the name of their rulers, to whom religious support should come, and secular art to fame their rulers.

We are therefore not aware of a lot of works by Ssemjon Uschakow, but his main area of ​​work and his championship is said to have been in the production of icons.

Ssemjon Uschakow was z. B. involved in the wonderful design of the Uspenski Cathedral (Maria-Dekathedrale) in the Trinity Monastery of Sergijew Possad (1930-1991 Sagorsk). The building of this cathedral in honor of the Blessed Mother had started the terrible in 1559, under his son Fjodor the church was completed until 1585.

It was created based on the model of the Uspenski Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, the largest church in the Kremlin (and today the oldest fully preserved building in Moscow); The Trinity Monastery, which was around 70 km northeast of Moscow, was founded by St. Sergius of Radonesch around 1340 and has since been one of the most important religious centers of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The masterful ornament of the interior of the cathedral was started in 1684, Hofmaler Simon Uschakow was involved in the work on the five -row iconostasis . An iconostasis is a wall decorated with icons with doors between the inner nave and the sanctuary, the iconostasis of the Uspenski Cathedral should ultimately consist of 76 icons.

The two wonderful icons of a gold-plated Holzkonostasis, which are preserved in the Nikitniki Trinity Church in the Moscow district of Kitai-Gorod, are also attributed to Simon Fjodorowitsch Uschakow.

Ssemjon Uschakow recently recently come into focus in Moscow when the facet palace in Moscow Kremlin (oldest part of the large Kremlinpalast, oldest profane building Moscow) was brought back into its original form in spring/summer 2012 - the interior was restored using descriptions that the icon painter in the 17th century had made.

Ssemjon Fedorowitsch Uschakow created the angel of December 19, the Archangel Gabriel as Russian icon , he is dated the 2nd third of the 17th century.

An unknown Russian artist

If we left an icon of St. Nicholas.

We do not know anything about this artist because Nicholas can be seen and since it is an icon, it is obviously a recovery of the orthodox church. This special form of the veneration of saints painted on wooden boards is a form of adoration that the Orthodox Church is peculiar. The choice of St. Nicholas for the representation on an icon is also typical of the Orthodox Church:

There are two holy Santa Clauses in church history. Bishop Nikolaus von Myra was born around 270/280 near Myra east of Rhodes (now Demre, Antalya, Türkiye), he died 345/351. Bishop Nikolaus von Pinara was abbot in the Sion monastery at Myra and the last five years of life Bishop in Pinara, his birth time is not known, he died in 564.

Both Santa Clauses are closely connected to the city of Myra and were revered as saints in the Greek Orthodox Church in the sixth century. Since then, Myra has been a place of pilgrimage by the Orthodox Church, and Saint Santa Claus is also a popular motif in the eastern Orthodox churches, and it is probably most often portrayed by all saints on icons.

The saint can be recognized as Santa Claus through its attributes. He carries the robe of a bishop of the Orthodox Church, the brocade strip called Omophorion decorated with crosses around his shoulders and has a book in his hand. The design of the work of art, the color of EIT Tempera, applied to wood and decorated with a halo made of silver, the frame and the background made of silver sheet reveal an development of this icon around 350 years ago, around 1665.

With us in the West, Santa Claus is also worshiped, concentrated on the Bishop of Myra and so much that the bones were taken from Myra by Italian merchants. This happened in 1078, from 1087 a church was built around the "stolen bones", the Nikolaus basilica in Bari , into which around 200,000 believers today make a pilgrimage every year.

Nicholas is not only worshiped as a saint because he was a bishop, but about the Nikolaus von Myra rank many legends: he is said to have preserved innocently accused from death, saved the daughters of a debtor on the brothel before selling and have given them three lumps of gold as a lump, killed by irritated hosts and embedded young men, magical. have increased to save the people in Myra from starvation, healed the sick, saved boys from drowning and driven out demons from poisoned fountains.

Nikolaus von Sion/Pinara is said to have been friendly and charitable, both saints merged into a figure of a great benefactor.

Saint Nicholas of Myra died on December 6, 343, later his commemoration day became our Nicholas Day, on which Santa Claus in memory of the gold lumps for the poor daughters filled the shoes with gifts .

The unknown Russian artist created the angel of December 6th, the icon of St. Nicholas .

William Blake

was born on November 28, 1757 in London and died on August 12, 1827.

William Blake was born in the family of a well -off stocking dealer and taught at home by his mother Catherine Wright Armitage Blake. He is said to have shown such a idiosyncratic temperament that his parents did not dare to send him to a school.

He seemed just as much suitable for a normal profession associated with subordination, which is why he was registered in a drawing school at the age of ten. It was a most important London drawing schools and obviously the right thing for William Blake, from 1772 he completed an apprenticeship as a engraver, from 1779 he became a student at the Royal Academy of Arts .

Actually, with the admission to the Royal Academy, a successful career as a historical painter was certain, but Blake overturned himself with the academy president Sir Joshua Reynolds, a more tradition than the originality of a portrait painter who was hopes for the great career.

To do this, he found the right woman, the Catherine Boucher, who came from simple backgrounds, which he married in 1783. Catherine couldn't even read, but was blessed with a strong curiosity, learned from her husband and continued himself.

After a while she became valuable help for Blake, who opened a print shop in 1784; Some difficulties in connection with the childlessness of the couple have been overcome, and the marriage (over 40 years) lasted up to blake death is said to have been a very happy and fertilizing community.

In professional life, William Blake did less well without support from the right circles, he worked as a printer, engraver and illustrator, arm and the creme de la cream of art world until his death. However, there were friends and benefactors who helped him through orders through the greatest financial dry spells.

Only very late in his life was Blake was able to experience that a new generation of artists began to appreciate his work-from 1818 the picture book career of a highly gifted, highly gifted, slowly took a positive turn.

These young artists had a good sense of talent, even if it was too early, and these were William Blake's highly innovative works, they were discovered by the Präraffaelites around the middle of the 19th century and were now generally recognized - the painter was almost a century ahead of his time.

Since then it has stayed popular in high culture and in pop culture. Painting and etchings by the exceptional artist, his work as a poet and his views as a natural mystic have been rediscovered since then. William Blake had many amazing talents. B. invented the relief etching and lived out his exuberant imagination in visions, which he processed in poems and pictures.

The series of writers, classic composers, jazz composers, rock musicians, pop musicians and directors, who were decisively influenced by William Blake in their work, is legendary, and it does not look as if this series had come to an end soon.

The angel of December 21 was created by William Blake, the “Archangel Raphael with Adam and Eva” , in 1808.

Inga Schnekenburger

was born on June 28, 1949 as Ingrid Hübler in Winsen an der Luhe and died on Tenerife on November 20, 2013.

Inga Schnekenburger is the artist who, together with her husband Willi Schnekenburger, gave us the angel advent calendar at www.onlinekunst.de/engel with the image templates for an angel calendar.

Inga Schnekenburger (then Ingrid Hübler) won prizes early in creative competitions and studied at the Werkkunstschule in Hamburg from 1967 to 1968; In 1969 her first solo exhibition was in Geesthacht, and until 1971 she ended an apprenticeship as a graphic artist.

In 1969 she married Artur Kaesmacher, in 1971 and 1973 the children were born; From 1976 to 1980 she studied art, works, pedagogy, psychology and philosophy at the Lüneburg University of Applied Sciences and in 1980 passed the first state examination for teaching art and works.

In 1977 the divorce of Artur Kaesmacher and began working as an art lecturer at the adult education center in Lüneburg, followed by legal clerkship and exams, from 1986 the teaching activity as an art teacher at the high school and from 1989 a teaching position at the University of Applied Sciences Northeast Lower Saxony for creativity training.

During this time, Ingrid Hübler had equipped five solo exhibitions, two group exhibitions and a retrospective and founded an art school, in 1991 she said goodbye with an exhibition in the municipal bell house in Lüneburg from Lower Saxony and went to Donaueschingen in Baden-Württemberg.

There she headed the municipal youth art school until the end of January 1992 and married the artist Willi Schnekenburger. This was followed by teaching orders for creativity training at the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences until 1997 and until 2001 many exhibition participations:

Several times at the international ceramic weeks in Hüfingen, a " Mirrors Kreuz" in Munich, watercolors, objects and ceramics, partly together with Willi Schnekenburger, at the State Garden Show Bad Dürrheim, in Koblenz, Asbach, Furtwangen, Lohmar, Schwerin, Düsseldorf, Meiningen, Berlin and Hochfelden in Alsace in France.

In the meantime, Inga Schnekenburger's painting, object art and ceramics had joined the departure into the digital world: In 1995 "Pictures About I went-pictures on the I went" the first presentation on the Internet, 1997 to 1998 the artist was trained as a multimedia developer, in 1998 Willi and Inga Schnekenburger Onlinekunst.de, found a lot of exhibitions on this platform for art and culture since then and art projects.

Even if the page after Inga Schnekenburger's death in 2013 is currently not being continued (as of 12/2014), an excursion there is definitely worth it. B. was also started in 1998 and has grown for many years, today it contains a wealth of computer art and artistic digital photography.

Inga Schnekenburger left us the angels of the 2nd, 4th and 9th December, the "angel of John" , "Time is progressing" and "Guardian angel" , beautiful computer graphics and watercolors.