A Masterly Hand / Scientia Artis 9

221 Arnold Truyen 11 220 Wood was also dried by other means. Two documents specify that wood was boiled in water: one is from St Mary’s Church in Königsberg (north of Bamberg), the other, a brief note, was found in a statue of St Catherine now in the Museum Kurhaus in Cle ves. 11 Th is note also mentions the name of the sculptor, Kerstken Woyers or Woetz, and the date of delivery. According to this document the sculpture was boiled in a brew kettle then dried in an oven. Another wood-drying method involved removing the heart of the trunk at an early stage to make it dry faster. The wood still needed a specific moisture content if it was to be carved properly. Often a specific structure made by the gouge used for hollowing the back of the sculpture provides an indication that the wood was not completely dry when it was carved. The backs of many of the Elsloo sculptures have, in fact, been (partially) hollowed out. Evidently the sculptor required only minimal depth to achieve the desired relief in drapery and figures. For exam- ple, the folds in the garments of the figures of the St Anne with the Virgin and Child from Elsloo and Rindern are about 10 centimetres deep and those in the Montfort sculpture are only 7 centimetres. Several sculptures from the Master of Elsloo group have not been hollowed out however, and still contain the heart of the trunk. This means that the woodcarver probably used one of the other drying methods mentioned above. Marks and Traces of Tools and Workbench Clamps As part of the technical study several sculptures were examined for similar traces of carving or particular tool marks – such as those left by a damaged gouge or chisel – or signs that the same workbench had been used, in order to determine whether certain works were made in the same workshop. To gain specific information about the working practice in a particular workshop and the workbench or benches that were used there, a stylistically coherent group of sculptures that can be attributed to one carver or workshop is required. This still does not guarantee an accurate reconstruction, however. The technical examination of sculptures from certain Lower Rhine workshops and from the carver Hans Multscher from Ulm, for example, revealed marks left during the carving process, but they were too diverse to give an exact idea of the workbenches u sed. 12 In the cases of Niklaus Weckmann and Jan van Steffeswert, on the other hand, workbench traces were found that did allow the bench to be reconstruc ted. 13 The holes in the top and bottom of the Elsloo statues examined indicate that wooden or metal pins were used to hold the wooden block horizontal between the two uprights of the workbench. A few contemporary prints show the sculptor at work at this type of bench but it is difficult to see how it really functi ons. 14 Th e partially finished sculpture can be seen fixed horizontally on the bench. Besides the round pinholes, another type of workbench mark consisting of pairs of notches was noted on sculptures associated with the Master of Elsloo. These appear to have been made by a fork-like clamp which was used to hold the block of wood in place during carving. Often these double notches are repeated within a small area on the top and bottom of the sculpture,