Casting Model for the Gooseherd Fountain

Linden wood. This figure carved in linden wood is one of the few surviving Renaissance wood models for bronze castings. Made around 1550, it is attributed to sculptor Hans Peisser. Peisser became a citizen of Nuremberg in 1526 and probably studied here under Veit Stoss. The model for the fountain's famed Gooseherd is a superb example of collaboration between the artist and the craftsman, between designer and caster. The figure cast from this model for the fountain was produced by the major Nuremberg metalworker Pankraz Labenwolf (1492-1563).