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Isenheim altarpieceIsenheim altarpiece, closed © Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

Isenheim altarpiece

Matthias Grünewald. c. 1512–1516 C.E. Oil on wood.

Curator Note

"A polyptych created for a hospital treating victims of St. Anthony’s Fire (ergotism), a painful skin disease. Unlike the idealized Italian Christ, Grünewald’s Crucifixion shows a sickly, green, pockmarked Jesus, offering comfort to the patients by showing that God understands their suffering."

Form

  • Polyptych (many panels) with multiple views/configurations.
  • Oil on wood.
  • Expressionist color (greenish skin, dark sky).
  • Distorted figures for emotional impact.
  • Gothic horror mixed with Renaissance realism.

Function

  • Altarpiece for the monastery hospital of St. Anthony.
  • Therapeutic: to comfort dying patients.
  • Didactic: opened on Sundays/Feast days to show the Resurrection.
  • To inspire hope (Resurrection panel is blindingly bright).
  • Liturgical centerpiece.

Content

  • Closed: The Crucifixion (Nightmare scene).
  • John the Baptist pointing: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
  • Lamb of God bleeding into a chalice.
  • Open: Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection (psychedelic light).
  • St. Sebastian and St. Anthony (healer saints) on wings.

Context

  • St. Anthony's Fire caused hallucinations and gangrene.
  • Border of France/Germany (Alsace).
  • Pre-Reformation mysticism.
  • Contrasts heavily with Italian idealism (e.g., Raphael).
  • Saved during wars and now in a museum (Colmar).