Mechelen is known as a production center for wooden sculptures mainly by the numerous resulting statuettes, dating around 1500 and in the first third of the 16th century, which were also widely exported. They worked as individual figures and were made for altarpieces and prayer boxes, the so-called besloten hofje. The study of these statuettes refers above all to the German-speaking world. However, the carving activity in Mechelen does not end with this early mass production. Even in the later 16th century and into the 17th century, the sculptural image production in Mechelen can be detected. This late Mechelen production has not yet been investigated.This project aims to do just that.

Project coordinators: Michael Rief and Dr. Dagmar Preising, Suermondt-Ludwig Museum Aachen

Bamberg, Germany

Research project on Medieval church portals by the Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg
Institut für Archäologie, Denkmalkunde und Kunstgeschichte
Lehrstuhl für Kunstgeschichte, insb. Mittelalterliche Kunstgeschichte

Research project on Medieval Altarpieces in Hessen by the Kunstgeschichtliches Institut of the Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main

> The project page on Fotoarchiv Marburg