(b ?Düren; fl 1487; dafter 1532). German mason and architect, active in Denmark and Sweden. His name and style, together with the Low German language of many of his inscriptions, indicate his origins in the Rhineland. In 1487 he went to Sweden with the German masons’ lodge that was engaged to complete the choir of Linköping Cathedral. His work there included 16 vault bosses with the Instruments of the Passion. In the late 1490s he moved to Denmark and for the following decade worked for John, King of Denmark (reg 1481–1513), and his closest supporters. He carved a monumental image of the King for the castle in Copenhagen, anticipating the Renaissance tendency towards the glorification of rulers. In the Carmelite monastery at Helsingør, Adam provided a net vault for the chapter house; here also the keystones are decorated with some of the subjects from the Passion reliefs from Linköping. From 1499 he built the castle at Glimmingehus for Jens Ulfstand (d 1523), the Admiral of the Realm. It is a high, rectangular building with Gothic stepped gables, decorated with many reliefs. On one of these the builder is depicted kneeling before the Crucifixion. Adam also carved his name, his mason's mark and the year 1505.
From The Grove Encyclopedia of Northern Renaissance Art in Oxford Reference.
Subjects: Renaissance Art.