REICHLE, Hans

(b. ~1570 Schongau, d. 1642 Brixen)

German sculptor and architect. His father was the sculptor Paul Reichle. In 1586 he was in the workshop of Hubert Gerhard in Munich. He was a pupil of Giambologna in Florence between 1588 and 1595 where he was called “Anzireccelle”. In a list of assistants of 1591 he was named as Giovanni Tedesco.

He came to Augsburg in 1602 and then lived in Brixen where he had a sculptor’s workshop. In Brixen he also worked as an engineer and architect.

While the influence of Giambologna persisted in some quarters, Hans Krumper and Hans Reichle produced bronze figures less indebted to the classical tradition but with stronger individuality.

Archangel Michael

Over-life-size, the archangel stands with flaming sword (lost) raised triumphantly over the body of the fallen Lucifer, whose horror is expressed in a grisly naturalistic grimace. Reichle’s group is spatially expansive, the ensemble is widened to make room for the flanking putti, the entire fa�ade in fact serves as a stage for the event.

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Crucifixion group

The light late-Gothic church interior of St. Ulrich and St. Afra is distinguished by the three multi-storey monumental carved altars by the Weilheim sculptor Hans Degler. Reichle’s Crucifixion group is in the centre of the choir. The sculptor’s mastery of the bronze medium is evident in the figures. With wide gestures, the voluminous figures lay claim to the broad space of the crossing, in which they are clearly defined by sharp lines. The group, which consists of Christ on the cross an the grieving Virgin, with St Mary Magdalen and St John standing by, may be considered as the joint work of the sculptor and the Augsburg bronze foundry run by Wolfgang Neidhart the Younger, a member of an old brass-founding family.

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Crucifixion group (detail)

The picture shows the figure of the Virgin (the Mater Dolorosa) on the left side of the Crucifixion group.

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