He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between the Late Gothic, to which he essentially belonged, and Northern Renaissance art, a master in limewood and stone.

[1]: 2 When Riemenschneider was about five years old, his father was involved in a violent political conflict, the Mainzer Stiftsfehde [de], so the family had to leave Heiligenstadt and all their possessions.

They resettled in Osterode, where his father became Master of the Mint (a good position at that time) and where Riemenschneider spent his childhood years.

Also in 1485, Riemenschneider became a citizen of Würzburg, which made it possible to attain the status of master craftsman, and opened a workshop in Franziskanergasse, in the home of his wife.

It was erected in 1499, the same year he got the commission for the Imperial tomb of Henry II and his wife Cunigunde of Luxembourg at Bamberg Cathedral (delivered 1513).

[1]: 3 [5]: 28 His increasing engagement in local politics at a time of heavy order volume meant that his employees and apprentices took a more prominent role in the creation of the workshop's output.

The claim that both of his hands were broken during the torture, which ended his artistic career, is today considered to be a legend without base in fact.

Only when his gravestone was discovered in 1822 between Würzburg Cathedral and Neumünster was his outstanding position in Gothic sculpture recognized by a wider audience.

Notably the tomb for Lorenz von Bibra (see below) is considered as one of the pieces marking the transition from Gothic to Renaissance art.

Riemenschneider's early success as a sculptor was due to the plasticity of his works, with great care being taken of modeling the folds of garments.

This way of sculpting the clothing as well as the typical oval faces and almond-shaped eyes were modelled on art from the Upper Rhine region of the 1470s, implying that Riemenschneider may have learned his trade either there or at Ulm.

[1]: 15 Souren Melikian places Riemenschneider's best work, such as the Virgin listening to the Annunciation, in the same league as the oil paintings of Albrecht Dürer.Ref?

Art historian Kenneth Clark views the Riemenschneider figures as showing the serious personal piety in Germany in the late fifteenth century and as harbingers of the coming Reformation.Ref?

The largest collection of his work, 81 pieces, can be found in the Mainfränkisches Museum (Marienberg Fortress) in Würzburg, including most stone sculptures from the city's churches.

Hesse describes Riemenschneider's statue of Mary with child which resides in the Pfarrkirche St Burkard in Würzburg as: "Dreamily she gazes out from her glass case, far away from our world... in her gracefulness and distinction she is refined to a degree of perfection far above that of mankind today."

The plot of Elizabeth Peters's first Vicky Bliss mystery novel, Borrower of the Night (1973) centers around the search for a missing Riemenschneider sculpture.