He belongs to the Parler family, a stonemason, construction foremen, and architect family. He probably is the son of Johann Parler the Elder, architect in Freiburg and Basel, from whom he inherited the mason's mark.[3][4]
Between 1380 and 1385, Michael worked in Freiburg[3] on the construction of the apse of the Freiburg Minster.[5] He became foreman on the Strasbourg cathedral construction site in 1383:[3] a Michel Parler, known as Michael von Gmünd, was recorded there as magister operis from 1383 to 1387.[6] At that time, he devoted himself to restoration work after a fire[1] in 1384.[7]
He is the designer of the carpentry of the pipe organ's case[1] and its lower part completed in 1385, and he probably worked on the facade of the cathedral, on the apostles' gallery, and on the elevation of the belfry: between 1383 and 1387/88 he would have filled the space between the two towers above the large rose window, profoundly modifying the appearance of the facade.[8]
References
^ abcSchock-Werner, Barbara, "Parler, Michael von Gmünd" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 20 (2001), p. 71 Online-Version
^Didier Robert, Recht Roland. Paris, Prague, Cologne et la sculpture de la seconde moitié du XIVe siècle. A propos de l'exposition des Parler à Cologne. In: Bulletin Monumental, tome 138, n°2, année 1980. pp. 173-219. DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/bulmo.1980.5891Online version
^ abcHubert Janitschek, Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft. Band 16, Walter de Gruyter, 2018, p.345. (in german)
^Schock-Werner, Barbara, "Parler" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 20 (2001), p. 69-74 Online-Version (in German)
^Claude Andrault-Schmitt, « Ulm, Prague et la Cathédrale de Strasbourg (XVIIIe-XIVe siècle) » [PDF] Online version In: Bulletin Monumental, tome 172, n°1, année 2014. p. 73-74.
^Schock-Werner, Barbara (1978). Die Parler und der Schöne Stil 1350−1400, vol. 3. Cologne: Museen der Stadt Köln. p. 9.
