Ried

Ried or Rieth, von Piesting, Benedikt (c.1454–1534). German architect, the greatest figure in the final phases of Sondergotik in Bohemia and Moravia, whose influence spread further afield. He is best known for his very considerable works at Hradčany, the Royal Palace in Prague, where his name is first recorded in 1489. Apart from the massive fortifications and towers, his greatest work there is the Knight's (or Vladislav) Hall (completed 1502), with its elegant double-curved branch rib-vaulting that seems to grow out of the wallpiers, and Renaissance fenestration. Ried also designed the vault with stumps or cut-off ribs over the equestrian staircase (completed c.1501). Ried contracted to complete the nave of the Church of St Barbara, Kutná Hora, the choir of which had been virtually completed (with reticulated vault) by 1499 under the direction of Matěj Rejsek (c.1445–1506): Ried's nave and gallery vaults there are extraordinary, with ribs rising from the piers to flow and undulate, describing elegant panels framed by their gentle curves. Ried has been credited with the design of the stunning oratory in Prague Cathedral, with its ribs of decorated branches and twigs, though Rejsek has also been proposed as its architect.

Bibliography

Fehr (1961);
Hitchcock (1981);
Seibt (ed.) (1985);
Jane Turner (1996);
D. Watkin (1986)