Faith, Justice and Holy Roman emperors: allegorical figures by painter Christian Vacksterffer added around 1577, with biblical scenes and bas-relief portrait medallions, to the galleried facades and elaborate timber corner oriel of Maison Pfister, a prestigious Renaissance merchant’s house built in 1537 in the historic centre of Colmar, Alsace, Grand Est, France.
Colmar, Alsace, Grand Est, France: allegorical female figures representing Faith (Glaube) and Justice (Gerechtigkeit), delicately painted on a sandstone wall, were added with biblical scenes and other murals in the late-16th century to the galleried facades and two-storey corner oriel of the historic Maison Pfister at 11 Rue des Marchands. The prestigious residence, now named after its 19th century owner and restorer, merchant Francois-Zavier Pfister, was built in German Renaissance style in 1537 for the wealthy Besançon hatter or milliner Ludwig Scherer, who made a fortune in the silver trade. It replaced an earlier house on the corner site and was constructed of yellow Rouffach sandstone and timber with street level arcades, a balustraded wooden gallery, the elaborate oriel, an octagonal stair tower and two attic levels. The mural paintings, all attributed to Christian Vacksterffer, were added to the house in 1577. Apart from the allegorical figures representing Faith and Justice, the decoration includes coats of arms (the Holy Roman Empire, the city of Colmar and Haute-Alsace), the Four Evangelists, the fathers of the Western Church and biblical scenes from the Gospels and Book of Genesis, as well as bas-relief portrait medallions of 16th century Germanic emperors. Maison Pfister, its construction date confirmed by an inscription on a stair tower window, was declared an historic monument in 1927. It was the first Renaissance building in Colmar and is regarded as a gem of Alsatian architecture (officially, a “jewel of the Renaissance”).
Size: 4064px × 2704px
Location: Colmar, Alsace, Grand Est, France.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: -storey, 11, 1500s, 1537, 1577, 16th, added, allegorical, alsace, alsatian, architecture, art, balustrades, bas-relief, biblical, built, centre, century, christian, christianity, colmar, corner, , des, eastern, emperor, est, faith, female, figures, framed, framing, france, francois-zavier, gallery, gerechtigkeit, german, glaube, grand, haut-rhin, historic, house, justice, kerr, ludwig, maison, marchands, medallions, merchant, mullioned, murals, northeast, oriel, paintings, pfister, portraits, renaissance, rue, scherer, symbol, symbolic, symbols, terence, timber, timbered, vacksterffer, wall, windows, wooden
