COELN, WILHELM VON, or William of Cologne, a celebrated old German painter, of the latter part of the 14th century, called also Meister Wilhelm. There are several documents which satis factorily prove the existence of this painter, but there are no data by which any of his works can be identified : many paintings in distemper of the old Cologne school are attributed to him, upon uo other grounds than conjecture ; but none but the best productions of that school are awarded to him.
The exact date of his birth is not known, but the place appears lo have been Ilerle, a village near Cologne, whence he is also called in some documents Wilhelm or Wilhelmus de llerle. He was settled in Cologne, with his wife Jutta, as early as 1370; and there is a passage in the Annals of the Dominican monks of Frankfurt, which testifies to his great reputation : ten years later, it says--" in that time, 13S0, there was at Cologne a moat excellent painter, to whom there was not the like in his art; hie name was Wilhelm, and he made pictures of men which almost appeared to be alive." There were celebrated painters at Cologne however long before this period, for Wolfratn of Eschenbach, who lived at the commencement of the 13th century, in speaking, iu his poem of ' Percival,' of the beauty of a knight on horseback, says that uo painter of Cologne or Maastricht could make a better picture than the knight on horseback Was. Of the works attributed to Meister Wilhelm, the following are the prin cipal :—the picture over the tomb of Cuno von Falkenstein in the St. Castors-Kirche at Cohlenz, painted iu 13S8; the large altarpiece of the church of St. Clara at Cologne, which is now in one of the chapels of the cathedral • it is in compartments illustrating the life and passion of Christ; the Sancta Veronica, formerly iu tho Boisserde collection, now belonging to the King of Bavaria, and iu the Pinakothek at Munich, and of which there is a beautiful lithograph by Striencr • and a Crucifixion, and a half-length Madonna and infant Christ, in Wallraf Museum at Cologne.
Meister Wilhelm was also supposed to have been the master of the so-called Dom-bild, or Cathedral-picture, which was formerly the altarpiece of the chapel of the Rath-bawl of Cologne, but is now in the cathedral, and is at present generally attributed to Meister Stephan, the supposed scholar of Meister Wilhelm. There are also in the
Pivakothek at Munich (cabinet i.) four other pictures of various saints, mostly on gold grounds, besides the Sancta Veronica, attributed to this painter. They are all remarkable for richness of colour and extreme diligence of execution, in the heads in particular, which all have a true nobility of expression. Technically, likewise, they are very remarkable works; for though in water-colours, in a species of tempera, they are equal, or oven in some respects superior, in impart°, to the best of oil paintings, and very 'similar in effect : diey are how ever Gothic in design ; and in the extremities, especially the fingers, are totally devoid of proportion and modelling. Except for this lest mentioned defect, they would bear a perfect resemblance to the works of the so-called school of Van Eyck ; for even in the vehicle in which the colours have been mixed there is no apparent difference, and, as already stated, that .they are by Wilhelm von Coln is a mere conjecture.
There is no other record of STEPHAN VON Ciir,N, the Dom-bild Meister, than a note in the journal ' Tagebuch ' of Albrecht Hiker, which attributes this celebrated picture to him. It was painted in 1410, and is the most valuable picture of the old school of Cologne. It consists of a centre and two revolving wings, painted on both aides. The outside of the wings represents the Annunciation ; the centre represents the Adoration of the Three Kings; and on the interior of the wings are patrons of Cologne, St. Gereon and St. Ursula, with their companions in martyrdom. There are three other works of this school, which from their similarity of style are attributed to this master : the altarpiece formerly in the Benedictine Abbey of Heister bach, near Bonn, now existing only in parts; the altarpiece formerly in the church of St. Lawrence, at Cologne, likewise divided into parts and scattered; and a picture of the Madonna and Child, with Angels, in a private collection at Cologne.
(Fiorillo, Geschichte der Zeichnenden Kiinate in Deutschland, &c.; Passavant, A ltkolnische Malerschule, in his Kunstreise durch England and Belgien ; ' Hillis, Verzeichniss der Geznalde in der KUnig lichen PinakatheA: zu Munchen.) •