Nuremberg silver occupies a place of honor in the collections of the largest museums in the world. Nuremberg silver is distinguished by a variety of artistic forms, where strict simplicity coexists with ornate sophistication and rich decor. German masters set the fashion in jewelry art in Europe in the 15th-17th centuries. Germany had the largest deposits of silver ore, so the country had many centers for the manufacture of products from precious metals.

Nuremberg as a center of medieval jewelers

Nuremberg silver was valued higher than others for a long time, since skilled craftsmen with excellent technical training and refined taste worked in the city. Silver tableware and objects of decorative and applied art with their novelty and luxury aroused the keenest interest of the European nobility. One of the major buyers of products was ancient Muscovy.

Nuremberg silver became widely known at the end of the 15th century. During this period, Nuremberg became one of the largest centers of German art. The sculptors Veit Stoß and Peter Vischer der Ältere, as well as the outstanding artist Albrecht Dürer, lived and worked in the city. The works of these masters had a strong influence on the development of silversmithing and introduced features and images characteristic of the Renaissance into products.

Albrecht Dürer came from a family of jewelers, which was reflected in the artist’s work. He did not carry out orders for mass production, but created many sketches and drawings of coats of arms, ornaments, lamps and dishes. In his paintings, he paid great attention to the depiction of jewelry and cups, carefully painting the smallest details. Under the influence of Dürer, silver vessels in the form of an apple and a pear appeared, and special types of ornaments were established in the decoration.

From the beginning of the 16th century, for a century and a half, the Nuremberg school occupied a leading position in the art of precious metal processing. Numerous workshops operated within the city limits, employing more than three hundred people. All of them underwent fundamental professional training, mastered drawing skills and technical techniques, including enameling, engraving and finishing with precious stones.

Characteristic features of Nuremberg Silver

The head and driving force of the school was the jeweler Wenzel Jamnitzer. On his initiative, the guild rules for the master’s qualification exam were repeatedly complicated. The student was required to make a complex bell-shaped cup, the author of which was Jamnitzer himself. The candidate had to demonstrate skills in working with chasing and impeccable mastery of artistic installation techniques, which contributed to raising the overall level of the masters.

The products of the Nuremberg silversmiths of the sixteenth century demonstrate the final transition from the Gothic style to the Renaissance with its fundamentally new decorative techniques. The central place in the work of the masters was occupied by cups, which were in high demand both within the country and abroad. During this period, the solid form of vessels was replaced by complex multi-tiered compositions with an abundance of details and decor. Mythical themes and antique allegories were traced in the decoration motifs, and the engraved patterns consisted of leafy garlands, horns of plenty, and grotesque half masks.

A distinctive feature of the work of Nuremberg jewelers is a close connection with graphics. Albrecht Dürer’s engravings served as a source of inspiration for his followers – masters of small formats, which was reflected in the decorative and ornamental decoration of the products. The subjects of the paintings were transferred to plaques – rectangular or oval plates made of lead or tin, from which castings were then made to decorate dishes, vases and candelabra.

In the works of the Kleinmasters who worked on ornaments for jewelers, a penchant for antiquity is clearly evident. Hans Beham (Sebald Hans Beham) created decor with images of frolicking angels and fighting warriors, in the works of Heinrich Aldegrever (Heinrich Aldegrever) plant and floral motifs prevailed, and Virgil Solis (Virgil Solis) preferred grotesque scenes and compositions of antique attributes. Later, ornaments with elements of Italian architecture – caryatids, garlands of fruit, curls and spirals – came into fashion.

Common features of the “Nuremberg style”: high-quality metal; abundance of carefully crafted details; ideally smooth chased surface; volumetric relief; castings based on living models of the organic world. Nuremberg jewelers introduced into circulation press bands with figures and patterns, which were used to decorate complex cylindrical elements, where alternation of different ornamental details was required. Simple and accessible technique gave an excellent decorative effect, so it was quickly adopted by workshops in other cities of Germany. Until the Late Renaissance, Nuremberg remained the metropolis and a source of role models for German jewelers.