In this interview, Merike Kurisoo, Director, Niguliste Museum, Tallinn, discusses her work on the Rode Altarpiece and how it enables ‘time travel’ to the 1480s.

The Niguliste Museum (branch of the Art Museum of Estonia) is based in the medieval St Nicholas ( Niguliste ) Church in central Tallinn.  One of the most important items in it’s collection is the massive and stunning beautiful altarpiece by Herman Rode of Lübeck.  Based on documents in the Tallinn City Archives, Merike describes how the unique altarpiece was commissioned for St Nicholas Church by the major guilds of the city; how funds for the work was collected from the wider congregation, and finally how the altarpiece was delivered in August 1481 and erected in place by workmen from Lübeck.  Merike extends the story of the Rode Altarpiece to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as the work and City Archives were evacuated and returned to Tallinn due to wars and peace. Today Tallinn clearly loves and is proud of its medieval history and art.

Workshop of the Lübeck master Hermen Rode. Retable of the High Altar of St Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn. 1478–1481

https://nigulistemuuseum.ekm.ee/en/the-retable-of-the-high-altar-of-st-n...

Books:

https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-tallinn-niguliste-church-main-altar... https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-side-view/

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.