Post by Tamrin on Sept 28, 2008 9:18:03 GMT 10
Sabina sculpturing the figure of 'Synagogue'
by Moritz von Schwind, 1840
by Moritz von Schwind, 1840
Sabina assisted her father, the famous architect Erwin von Steinbach, in the construction of Strasbourg's Notre-Dame Cathedral. Among her works are statues at the South Portal. The most famous of these are a pair representing “Church” and “Synagogue” (below) of which the suggestion has been raised that they are both self-portrayals of the artist, while a statue of St. John the Evangelist has him holding a scroll which reads: "Thanks to the hold piety of this woman, Sabina, who has given me form from this hard stone."
"Synagogue" & "Church," sculptured by Sabina von Steinbach
Nor was the employment of Sabina and others among the Strasbourg stonemasons merely an irregularity perpetrated by a provincial lodge, lax in the proper observances. According to Gould (v.1, p.173) until the capture of the city by France in 1681, the headquarters of the German stonemasons was in Strasbourg (even as late as 1760 the Strasbourg lodge still claimed tribute from the lodges of Germany). Indeed, Albert Mackey, in his Encyclopedia (1917, p.704), cites, the theory ‘which places the organization of the Order of Freemasonry at the building of the Cathedral of Strasburg, in the year 1275.’ If so, Erwin would have been, in effect, the first grand master and Sabina would have been numbered among Freemasonry’s founders!
Sabina is said to have accepted responsibility for the work on Strasbourg Cathedral after her father's death (Prof. Jan Snoek of Heidelberg University has reported, at the inaugural, International Conference on the History of Freemasonry, recent confirmation of Sabina having undertaken that role). If so, and if Erwin was, in effect, the first grand master, Sabina may have been the second!
Later statues erected to commemorate
Erwin (holding a plan of the cathedral) & Sabina (holding a hammer and her Guild's Constitutions)
Erwin (holding a plan of the cathedral) & Sabina (holding a hammer and her Guild's Constitutions)