Bust of St. Urban

Saint Urban, who reigned as Pope Urban I from 222 to 230, is shown here in his requisite garments of cope, tasseled hood, and three-crowned papal tiara. The grapes atop his book indicate his role as the patron saint of vineyards, and this likeness, finished in the round, may have been used in processions through vineyards-many of which surround the city of Würzburg where the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider worked and where he owned many vineyards himself. As Urban's feast day (May 25) coincides with the time of year when grapes reach a critical stage in their growth, he was a natural choice to act as heavenly mediator for a good harvest later in the year. Originally the figure would have held a staff in his right hand. The lozenge-shaped clasp that joins the sides of his cope is inset with a four-leaved floral design; this was carved separately and set into the lozenge compartment.

This is the only figure of a pope sculpted by Riemenschneider, who was one of the best-known Gothic sculptors of southern Germany. He produced wooden carvings- both figures in the round and reliefs-for numerous altarpieces, as well as stone sculptures for church exteriors, and the funerary monument for the Prince-Bishops Rudolf von Scherenberg and Lorenz von Bibra in Würzburg's cathedral. He enjoyed great status in that city until 1524-25, when he sided with the peasants in a revolt; he was imprisoned and probably tortured. Although released, he produced no works of great importance after that time.