FRANCONIA

Upper and Lower Franconia display contrasting faces in their two main art centres, Nurcmberg and Wflrzburg, where two outstanding creators, Veit Stoss and Tilman Riemcnschneider, occupied the first rank.
At Nuremberg, after the middle of the fifteenth century, the influence of  Hans Multscher, which confirmed a traditional taste for calm and compact figures with mild expressions, was challenged by the influence of the Upper Rhine transmitted through the prints of Master E. S. and Martin Schongauer or by direct contact with actual works (Nordlingen is not far from Nuremberg). It was a mobile style, angular but marked by mildness and a fragile grace, that prevailed in Nurembcrg in the years 1470-1480, and which is notably illustrated by the sculptured parts of the altarpieces painted by Michael Wolgemut (Nuremberg, 5434 or 1437—1519). Veit Stoss shattered this relatively tranquil art.