bavarikon4UMichael Wolgemut, Hans Tucher, 1481
The portrait of the Jerusalem pilgrim Hans VI Tucher (1428-1491) comes from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut (1434/37-1519), the teacher of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). Tucher is wearing black clothes with beret and bonnet. Originating from the Burgundian court, the colour black became modern around this time. In medieval colour symbolism it meant humility and moderation. Tucher is placed in front of a carmine red background in a picture frame. He is looking to the left with a devout look, his hands laid on his chest. He is holding the "mahelfingerlin", i.e. the wedding ring, set with precious stones in his right hand between his thumb and index finger.
The portrait formed the left wing of a diptych of the married couple whose counterpart is hanging in Schloss Wilhelmshöhe (Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel) today and shows Tucher's second wife Ursula from the Harsdörffer family in Nuremberg. The wings are matched to each other, each model is shown in three-quarter profile and facing the other. Ursula, in white festive cap and green dress, holding a carnation in her hand.
The year of the marriage is not known, but it took place before 1477. There is a discrepancy in the annual details on the portraits: Ursula's bears the date 1478, the year before Tucher's journey to the Holy Land, Tucher's portrait the date 1481, the year after his return. Whether the painting replaced an earlier portrait of him or whether it was created later for some other reason can only be speculated on.
Randall Herz