chapter 11 Hermen Rode: The Painter of Medieval Lübeck and His Art Production Anja Rasche1 Written sources record that Hermen Rode worked as a painter in the medieval free imperial city of Lübeck. As yet, we have no exact knowledge of how many painters worked simultaneously in Lübeck in the second half of the 15th century: Estimates lie between 20 and 40 self-employed masters.2 As was customary for all craftsmen’s trades, the painter’s work was regulated by the statutes of the guild, which in Lübeck was known as the ‘Amt’, or of- fice. The statutes were written on parchment before 1425, supplemented in 1474 and are now preserved as the ‘Maler und Glasewerterrolle [Role of Painters and Glaziers]’ in the archive of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck.3 The statutes and the quality of the wrought products were guarded by the aldermen of the of- fice, which was itself answerable to the city council. Research on the life and works of Hermen Rode has as yet stood in the shadow of his more famous contemporary and rival Bernt Notke.4 By study- ing the sources for the works of Notke and taking into account the results of restorations, Kerstin Petermann5 has called into question whether he actually worked as a sculptor. Moreover, Peter Tångeberg has convincingly argued that Notke did not create the group depicting St. George with the dragon that is 1 This contribution summarizes the results of my dissertation on Hermen Rode, which I wrote under Prof. Robert Suckale’s supervision, defended at the Technische Universität Berlin in 2011 and published in 2014 – Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode. Thanks a lot to Anne Clart for her translation. 2 Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode, p. 40. 3 Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode, pp. 34–37, transcription and High German translation by Dieter Möhn: pp. 254–246. 4 Rasche, “Hermen Rode – ein Zeitgenosse Bernt Notkes und sein Konkurrent?” When search- ing for literature in the catalogue of the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (www.kubikat. org), which contains both books and articles, the following picture appeared in June 2015: 133 entries for Bernt Notke, 16 for Hermen Rode. 5 Petermann, Bernt Notke. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004393776_012 Hermen Rode 307 displayed in Stockholm,6 a work that has been central to art historians’ apprais- als of him. The works that records prove are certainly associated with Notke7 vary so wildly in style and quality that it remains unclear what tasks and func- tions Bernt Notke performed in the workshop. Hermen Rode, meanwhile, is a very different case: His paintings exhibit great unity and a sustained quality. The name ‘Rode‘ can be found in Lübeck sources beginning in the 13th century. Although we know neither Hermen Rode’s date nor place of birth, records and a presumed familial relationship with a goldsmith of the same name strongly indicate that he originated in Lübeck.8 The earliest altarpiece that can be attrib- uted to him is the former high altarpiece of Stockholm’s Storkyrkan Cathedral. An inscription states that it was produced in Lübeck in the year 1468.9 The archive of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck has preserved three of Hermen Rode’s wills, dated to 1485, 1494 and 1500.10 They reveal that his marriage to his wife Gertrud by all appearances remained childless. Art historians have taken the existence of several wills to conclude that Hermen Rode was sick for many years,11 but this interpretation is in need of revision. A will was not renewed because of longstanding illness, but because of changes like a shift in financial circumstances.12 The will of 1494, for example, was renewed because 6 Tångeberg, Wahrheit und Mythos – Bernt Notke; Tångeberg, “Ausweglose Forschung”; Richter, “Wer war Bernt Notke?” – a methodical approach based solely on comparisons of forms and motifs does not solve the problems and no longer appears up to date, Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode, p. 234. 7 Petermann, Bernt Notke – based on those works that text sources connect to Notke, of- fers a solid starting point for further studying the artist. It meticulously references and discusses the comprehensive scholarly literature. 8 Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode, p. 28. 9 An inscription is located underneath the many-figured crucifixion in the retable’s middle shrine, written with black stain on a gilded board: “Desse tafele wart rede gehe maket to lub do me schreff na xpi gehe bort mcccclxviii visitatsionis maria to den tiden veren vor wesere der kerken tom stok holm tideman neckovic/peckowe mester lawren”. The name of the church administrator was applied in another color and font. Compare Rasche, Stu- dien zu Hermen Rode, p. 170, Goldschmidt; Lübecker Malerei, p. 14; Tångeberg, Mittelalterli- che Holzskulpturen, p. 227. The designation “Österåkerretabel” is misleading and ignores the historical context. The retable was produced for the high altar of Storkyrkan Cathe- dral in Stockholm and later moved to Österåker only briefly, before being moved to the Swedish History Museum – compare Hoffmann, Lübecker Tafelmalerei, pp. 416–422. 10 Rode’s will from 1485 is printed in Rasche, Studien zu Hermen Rode, p. 256. 11 According to Albrecht, Corpus der mittelalterlichen Holzskulptur und Tafelmalerei, Cat. No. *22: Schinkelretabel, p. 535. 12 Compare the Lübecker wills to Meyer’s thorough study Lübecks Gesellschaft..