The Four Evangelists

Peasants’ wars, Protestant iconoclasts and the Thirty Years’ War have seriously depleted the north Alpine art of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Owing to the resulting lack of comparable works, it is difficult to classify surviving pieces. The Four Evangelists, depicted either writing or reflecting, were probably part of an altar retabel or pulpit set, but the work’s provenance is still unclear. Their representation as scholars with clothing and head coverings from the 16th century or in antique-style costumes, however, suggests a Dutch-German provenance, especially as Dutch artists specialized in alabaster works. The emigration of many of these artists to Cologne due to war had an immediate effect on the city’s art production. Unfortunately, hardly any works can be ascribed to particular artists. To this day it is unclear whether the Cologne-based sculptor Gerhard Scheben shared this fate and whether The Four Evangelists really were made in his workshop. (Arne Leopold)