!!!Donauschule

Danube School: artistic movement that originated in the Austrian 
Danube area at the end of the 15%%sup th/%  century, spread to the 
Bavarian Danube area and to a large part of the Alpine countries and 
to areas further afield, where it became known under the name of 
"Donaustil" (Danube style). The Danube School was not a uniform school 
of painting modelled on the works of one master, but consisted of a 
number of schools and artists. The Danube School was mainly 
represented in painting and graphic art, later also in sculptural art. 
It is characterised by a close relation to nature that found its 
expression mainly in a preference for a highly dynamic depiction of 
nature. Religious and profane events were embedded in the 
representation of landscape. Landscapes were represented in a very 
expressive way, giving the Danube School a poetic and visionary touch. 
The works of the Danube School are characterised by their richness of 
invention, the glow of colours and last but not least by the somewhat 
eccentric stroke.

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Some of the earliest works are altars that R. Frueauf the Younger 
(altarpieces of the Johannes Altar around 1498/99 and of the Leopold 
Altar 1505 in Klosterneuburg), L. Cranach and J. Breu the Elder 
(Bernhardi Altar in Zwettl, 1500, former Aggsbach Altar, 1501, former 
Melk High Altar, 1502) created for monasteries in Lower Austria and 
for Vienna in the late 15%%sup th/%  and early 16%%sup th/%  
centuries. They were soon followed by other, mostly anonymous, artists 
such as the creator of the Pulkau Altar (Pulkau High Altar, around 
1520) or the "Meister der Historia", named after an illustrated 
biography of Friedrich III and of the childhood of his son Maximilian 
(who commissioned the work). Recent research has again suggested that 
A. Altdorfer was identical with the "Meister der Historia"; in any 
case he was a contemporary or pupil of Albrecht and Erhard Altdorfer 
of Regensburg; the former visited Austria several times and worked on 
altars for the monastery of St. Florian (Sebastian Altar with 
8 Passion scenes, 1509-1518), the latter lived and worked in 
Austria for several years. The painter and draughtsman A. Altdorfer 
was a central figure of the Danube School. The most important Austrian 
artist of the Danube School was W. Huber from Vorarlberg (St. 
Ann´s Altar of Feldkirch, 1521), his last position was that of 
court painter to the Bishop of Passau. He created the first "pure" 
landscapes in central-European art history. The main œuvres of 
the Danube School are the works of the "Master of the Miracles of 
Mariazell" (Kleiner Mariazeller Wunderaltar (miraculous altar) with 
6 scenes, 1512, and Grosser Mariazeller Wunderaltar (miraculous 
altar) with 47 scenes, 1519, today both on exhibit at the Joanneum in 
Graz) as well as numerous sculptures and reliefs.

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Among the most important sculptors working in Austria at that time 
were H. Leinberger, A. Lackner (former Abtenauer Hochaltar, 1518, 
parts of which are today kept in the Oesterreichische Galerie in 
Vienna and in the monastery of St. Peter, Salzburg) and "Meister 
I. P.".

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Around the mid-16%%sup th/%  century the Danube School style was 
increasingly replaced by the Renaissance style, showing Italian and 
Dutch influences.

!Literature
A. Stange, Malerei der Donauschule, 1964; Die Kunst der 
Donauschule, exhibition catalogue St. Florian/Linz 1965; W. Lipp, 
Natur in der Zeichnung A. Altdorfers, doctoral thesis, Salzburg 1970; 
K. Packpfeiffer (nee Hauser), Studien zu E. Altdorfer, doctoral 
thesis, Vienna 1974; R. A. Locicnik, Die Donauschule, doctoral thesis, 
Salzburg 1990; R. Froeis-Schuler, Gedanken zum Stilbegriff 
"Donauschule" in der Plastik, master´s thesis, Innsbruck 1993.


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