Hardly any other epoch in art history has been marked by as many profound changes as the Late Gothic was in the fifteenth century. Inspired by Netherlandish role models, depictions of light and shadow, body and space, became increasingly more realistic. Everyday life found entry into the arts. With the invention of printing, images and texts were distributed to an extent previously unheard of. Artists such as Nicolaus Gerhaert and Martin Schongauer became widely known and influenced the development of the visual arts throughout Europe and across all genres. Featuring a wide selection of works, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin present the first extensive exhibition of Late Gothic art in the German-speaking regions. Its comparison and contrast of the various genres turns the catalogue into a handbook for the arts at the threshold of the modern era.

Der Band dokumentiert die Beitrage des am 25. November 2006 im Kunstgewerbemuseum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin veranstalteten Symposions in memoriam Kurt Koester (1912-1986), dem Nestor der deutschen Pilgerzeichenforschung. Neben biografischen und wallfahrtsgeschichtlichen Beitragen sind Fundberichte und Darstellungen zum Stand der internationalen Pilgerzeichenforschung enthalten. Einen zweiten Schwerpunkt bilden Untersuchungen zu Pilgerzeichen und Wallfahrtsdevotionalien in den Sammlungen der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. Erstmals wird ein kombinierter Bestands- und Verlustkatalog aller mittelalterlichen Pilgerzeichen und verwandten Weissmetallgusse im Besitz des Kunstgewerbemuseums und des Museums fur Byzantinische Kunst vorgelegt.

Hardly any other epoch in art history has been marked by as many profound changes as the Late Gothic was in the fifteenth century. Inspired by Netherlandish role models, depictions of light and shadow, body and space, became increasingly more realistic. Everyday life found entry into the arts. With the invention of printing, images and texts were distributed to an extent previously unheard of. Artists such as Nicolaus Gerhaert and Martin Schongauer became widely known and influenced the development of the visual arts throughout Europe and across all genres. Featuring a wide selection of works, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin present the first extensive exhibition of Late Gothic art in the German-speaking regions. Its comparison and contrast of the various genres turns the catalogue into a handbook for the arts at the threshold of the modern era.