GLESKER, Justus

Justus Glesker (also Klesecker), German sculptor and ivory carver. He was the son of the sculptor Jost Klesecker. He was trained by his father, then he traveled to the Netherlands and to Italy.

He received the first important large-scale commission in Franconia in 1648, the year of the peace treaty, for refurbishing the Bamberg CathedralGLOSSARYThe principal church of a province or diocese, where the throne of the bishop is placed. For reasons lost to time and tradition, a cathedral always faces west - toward the setting sun. The altar is placed at the east end. The main body, or nave, of the cathedral is usually divided into one main and two side aisles. These lead up to the north and south transepts, or arms of the cross, the shape in which a cathedral is usually formed. in the BaroqueGLOSSARYThe period in art history from about 1600 to about 1750. In this sense the term covers a wide range of styles and artists. In painting and sculpture there were three main forms of Baroque: (1) sumptuous display, a style associated with the Catholic Counter Reformation and the absolutist courts of Europe (Bernini, Rubens); (2) dramatic realism (Caravaggio); and (3) everyday realism, a development seen in particular in Holland (Rembrandt, Vermeer). In architecture, there was an emphasis on expressiveness and grandeur, achieved through scale, the dramatic use of light and shadow, and increasingly elaborate decoration. In a more limited sense the term Baroque often refers to the first of these categories. The development of the Baroque reflects the period's religious tensions (Catholic versus Protestant); a new and more expansive world view based on science and exploration; and the growth of absolutist monarchies. style. Here he created his main work, the Crucifixion group. Glesker lived at this time in Frankfurt, where he became a city captain. In 1669/71 he was also involved in the decoration of the Barfüsserkirche in Frankfurt.

Glesker was regarded as one of the best sculptors in Southern Germany. His work is difficult to categorize on the basis of conventional stylistic criteria. His knowledge of Roman art is translated by the mannerismGLOSSARYA movement in Italian art from about 1520 to 1600. Developing out of the Renaissance, Mannerism rejected Renaissance balance and harmony in favor of emotional intensity and ambiguity. In Mannerist painting, this was expressed mainly through severe distortions of perspective and scale; complex and crowded compositions; strong, sometimes harsh or discordant colors; and elongated figures in exaggerated poses. In architecture, there was a playful exaggeration of Renaissance forms (largely in scale and proportion) and the greater use of bizarre decoration. Mannerism gave way to the Baroque. Leading Mannerists include Pontormo, Bronzino, Parmigianino, El Greco and Tintoretto. of the 1630s and 1640s. In the naturalistic, anatomically detailed representations of the naked body, he reveals his exceptional artistic talents as well as his thorough training in the sculptural art of antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. These aspects of his work also made Glesker an isolated phenomenon in the stylistic development of contemporary sculpture.