Sabine Schirdewahn
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Sculpture installation within the exhibition Uta und die Nachwelt, Nietzsche-Haus, Naumburg 1998
Revision of a Sculpture refers to the donor figure of Uta von Ballenstedt from the west choir of Naumburg Cathedral - a stone sculpture from the 13th century which, long unnoticed, suddenly gained importance at the end of the 19th century and was popularized and worshipped during the National Socialist era. Historically, nothing is known about the life of the donor, whose stone sculpture was not created until 200 years after her death, or about her personality, except that she was married childless to the Meissen market count Ekkehard II. In the 1930s, "Uta von Naumburg" was perceived as a solitary, lively-looking figure, particularly through the light and blurred atmospheric photographs by Walther Hege, in which he also visually detached the sculpture from its surroundings. On her face, lent by the photograph, were pojected the most diverse, sometimes irreconcilable ideals and roles of a saint, mother, virgin, mistress, a gentlewoman and an Aryan woman. Just as the sculpture is merely a reference to a lived person, the photographic portraits not only triggered a further distancing from the original, but also created a void that offered space for new metaphors and interpretations that corresponded to the longings of the contemporary historical context.
The sculpture installation is based on three figurative segments that can no longer be put together, although this is apparently possible. The "Uta" was copied from the original in Naumburg Cathedral and divided into two segments. The upper part is painted white. The head and mantle have been cut to reveal the original coloring. The lower part has an aged, patinated surface, which corresponds to the material character of alabaster. The third segment depicts the upper half of a figure of the Virgin and Child. This incomplete sculpture has the same dividing edge as that of the "Uta" and looks like an offset piece. In contrast to the "Uta", the "Maria" is painted in color. The face is recognizably implanted and bears contemporary features that could be reminiscent of 'Lady Diana'.