Veit Stoss

Veit Stoss (1447?-1533), German Gothic sculptor, born in Swabia, and trained in art in Nuremberg. Stoss executed the spectacular high altar for St Mary's Church in Kraków, Poland, between 1477 and 1489, and the sculptured red marble tomb of Casimir IV of Poland, in the cathedral of Kraków in 1492. In 1499 he carved three stone reliefs, based on the life of Christ, in the Church of St Sebaldus in Nuremberg. His best-known sculpture is the Annunciation (1518) in the Church of St Lorenz, Nuremberg, carved in wood on a heroic scale and suspended from the vault. Stoss's sculptures are renowned for their dramatic realism. Although Gothic in style, they also contain Renaissance elements.