The Goldsmith's Debt

“In this meticulously researched and thought-provoking book, Brisman brings alive the local and global contexts in which Northern European art projected—and enacted—claims to social, political, and economic power. The Goldsmith’s Debt is an exemplary exploration of the bonds between art and property.” -- Daniel Jütte, New York University “Brisman offers a highly original and often eye-opening interpretation of sixteenth-century Nuremberg gold and silver vessels. Looking beyond existing ways of framing goldsmiths’ works as technical and aesthetic accomplishments, as objects of diplomatic exchange, as elements in the rituals of elite dining, or as Kunstkammer wonders, Brisman considers them instead within the professional, political, social, and legal ecology of Nuremberg’s civic life. Successfully challenging many of the traditional epistemological assumptions, Brisman conducts a forensic examination into how a conception of property bound itself to the goldsmith’s art.” -- Andrew Morrall, Bard Graduate Center “In this seminal book about the Nuremberg goldsmith Christoph Jamnitzer, Brisman offers a new interpretation of the property claims made by members of a 'sworn craft' and their patrons, who belonged to the ruling, land-owning elite. This is the first study to discuss a goldsmith’s work within the context of broader legal, moral, and ethical concerns regarding the status of crafts and the rights of access to privilege and wealth. Centering on the precarious moment when Europeans began to lay claim to ‘new’ worlds, Brisman also reminds us of our own responsibility to be mindful of our planet’s limited resources.” -- Christine Göttler, University of Bern