Kraft, Adam

Kraft or Krafft, Adam (both: ä`däm kräft), c.1455–1509, German sculptor of Nuremberg. He moved from an ornamental late Gothic style toward clarity, symmetry, and a powerful use of rounded, organically constructed figures. His decorations for the Schreyer family tomb (c.1490) in the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg and his openwork tabernacle (1493–96) for the Church of St. Lawrence typify his earlier style. His later manner may be seen in his Stations of the Cross (1505–8; Nuremberg). Kraft was notably adept at blending architectural and sculptural forms.

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Kraft, Adam 

(also A. Krafft). Born circa 1460 in Nuremberg (?); died 1508 or 1509 in Schwabach, Bavaria. German sculptor.

Kraft’s art, which represents the transitional phase between Gothic and Renaissance, is distinguished by emotional restraint of the figures, rhythmical narration, plastic forms, and balanced compositon. Genre elements are sometimes encountered in his works. His works, which are all in limestone and are found in Nuremberg, include a tabernacle with portrait figures of Kraft and two of his apprentices (1493–96, Church of St. Lorenz), the relief The Weigher, and seven reliefs of the Stations of the Cross for St. John’s Cemetery (1505[?]-08, now in the Germanic Museum).

REFERENCES

Schwemmer, W. Adam Kraft. Nuremberg, 1958.
[Lutze, E.]A. Kraft. Bayreuth, 1961.