Veit Stoss

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Veit Stoss painted by Jan Matejko

Veit Stoss Altar, St. Mary's Church, Kraków

Veit Stoss (Polish: Wit Stwosz) (ca. 1445-1450 in Horb am Neckar - 20 September 1533 in Nuremberg) was one of the most important sculptor of the late gothic.

After moving a period, in 1473 he came to Nuremberg where married Barbara Hertz. Also, his eldest son Andreas was born here. In 1477 he renounced his Nuremberg citizenship and went to Kraków, where he stayed until 1496. During the Kraków period he carved the magnificent polychrome wooden Altar of Veit Stoss in St Mary's Church. It was the largest altar of this time. Another important work of this period is the tomb of Polish king Casimir IV the Jagiellonian in the Wawel Cathedral.

In 1496, he went back to Nuremberg with his wife and eight children. There he acquired the citizenship for three gouldens and starded to work on wood carved altars, groups and single figures. In particular, between 1500 - 1503 he carved the Mariae Ascension Day altar for the parish church in Schwaz, Tirol. In 1503, he copied the seal and signature of a fraudulent contractor and was sentenced to be branded on his both cheeks and not allowed to leave Nuremberg without an explicit permission of the city council.

In spite of the prohibition, in 1504 he went to Münnerstadt to paint the altar of Tilman Riemenschneider. He also created the altar in the Bamberg Cathedral and various other sculptures in Nuremberg, including the Annunciation and Tobias and the Angel. In 1506 he was arrested again. Emperor Maximilian wrote a grace letter, but it was rejected by the council of the free city (freien Reichsstadt) as interference into its internal affairs.

Veit Stoss was buried at Johanniskirchhof (No. 268).

In St. John Cantius, Chicago, IL, there is a 1/3rd scale replica of the St. Mary's Church Altar.