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Isenheim Altarpiece

Polyptych altarpiece (c.1512–1516) by Matthias Grünewald, created for the hospital chapel of the Antonite monastery at Isenheim, Alsace. Features multiple configurations of panels including the central Crucifixion scene — the most agonized depiction of Christ's suffering in Western art — and a luminous Resurrection panel. Now at the Musée Unterlinden, Colmar.

Scholarly Significance

The most emotionally intense altarpiece in Northern European art. The Isenheim Altarpiece anchors the German Renaissance/Gothic axis, the critical reception arc (near-unknown 16th c. → Expressionist rediscovery 20th c.), and BFA iconography claims.

Notes

  • ·Commissioned by the Antonites of Isenheim for their hospital chapel, where patients suffered from ergotism ('St. Anthony's Fire'), an often-fatal disease.
  • ·The altarpiece has three configurations: closed (Crucifixion), first opening (Annunciation/Christmas/Resurrection), second opening (carved shrine with SS Anthony and Augustine).
  • ·The Crucifixion panel depicts Christ's body covered with the pustules of ergotism — intended to show patients that Christ shared their suffering.
  • ·Grünewald's name was nearly unknown until Sandrart mentioned him briefly in 1675; the altarpiece was essentially unattributed for centuries.
  • ·Rediscovered by German art historians in the late 19th century; became a touchstone for German Expressionists (Kirchner, Nolde) who saw in it a proto-Expressionist aesthetic.
  • ·Paul Hindemith's opera Mathis der Maler (1938) and symphony were inspired by Grünewald's life while creating this altarpiece.
  • ·The altarpiece was hidden during WWII to protect it from potential damage or looting; returned to the Musée Unterlinden after the war.
  • ·Among the most visited artworks in France; the Musée Unterlinden was rebuilt and expanded in 2016 specifically to better house and display it.