Mistrz Jan – architekt Pałacu Wielkich Mistrzów na zamku malborskim. Oeuvre i oryginalny styl wybitnego mistrza budowlanego działającego między 1375 a 1406 r.
Master John – the architect of the Grand Master`s Palace in Malbork: The oeuvre and original style of an outstanding master builder between 1375 and 1406

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of historical sources and stylistic ­construction comparative studies, the following hypothetical statements can be formulated about the biography of Master John. He was born around or before 1350 and probably trained as a stonemason in Bohemia. About 1374 he was probably appointed by bishop Henry (of the diocese of Ösel­Wiek in Livonia) to build the residence in Arensburg, where there can be found numerous stylistic and conceptual parallels to the Grand Master’s Palace. After the capture and later murder of the bishop in 1380, in which the Teutonic Order was involved, Master John moved to Malbork Castle, where he was commissioned by Winrich von Kniprode to build the new Grand Master’s Palace. He supervised this building process until its completion (the painting of the interiors in 1397) and, at the same time, designed the town hall of Malbork. Also the secondary residence of the Grand Master in Sztum could have been a creation of Master John. From 1398 to 1406 Master John was the architect of the Teutonic Order’s castle in Bytów.With his unconventional architectural creations in the field of castle building, Master John occupied an outstanding position within the Central European “Reduction Gothic”. His was an independent and highly creative artistic personality, able to go beyond existing traditions and find new individual ways of doing things. Master John can thus be put on 3a par with other exceptional architects of his time (Peter Parler, Ulrich von Ensingen, Hans von Burghausen, and Madern Gerthener).

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