Aachen altar

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Middle part of the Aachen altar with the crucifixion of Christ, Aachen Cathedral Treasury

The Aachen Altar , also known as the Passion Altar , is a late Gothic Passion triptych from the Aachen Cathedral Treasury , which was created by the so-called Master of the Aachen Altar around 1515/20 in Cologne .

Structure and design

Detail of the left wing

The open, three-winged altarpiece shows continuously from left to right scenes from the Passion of Christ up to his Ascension . This type of design was no longer modern at the assumed point in time when the altarpiece was created. On the left wing of the picture Jesus' crowning of thorns and the confrontation with Pontius Pilate are depicted. This is followed by the central panel with the carrying of the cross , the crucifixion as the central scene, as well as the descent into the underworld and the suicide of Judas . On the right wing the Lamentation of Christ , the Entombment , the encounter with Mary Magdalene and the Ascension are depicted.

By distributing red color elements over the entire picture, the painter accentuates the meaning, dynamism and development of the Passion event as a bloody ordeal. With the exception of Christ, Mary and John , all persons are shown in contemporary clothing in a local landscape. The biblical event is brought to mind for the viewer and thus given him the opportunity to meditate. Also in the division of the central panel into a “good side” to the left of the crucified Christ - from the viewer's point of view - and a “bad side” to his right, glances directed at the viewer and pointing gestures express a request for a personal statement.

On the left wing, the soldier who leads Jesus to Pilate is characterized by the scimitar and martial armor as a Turkish warrior, since at the time the work was written there was already a great danger of an attack on Christian Europe by the Turks. In addition, a child who was loused by a monkey and showing signs of Down's syndrome alludes to the obsession with Satan of those who demand Christ's death, who crowd to the right of the crucified One. The narrow head of a youth with the dark beret is sometimes viewed as the painter's self-portrait. In the church with the unfinished towers visible in the left background, the Cologne Cathedral was mistakenly seen for a long time and in the street in front of it the Schildergasse and the Dreikönigenpförtchen . The church facade, recognizable behind a column, was identified with the church of the Carmelite monastery in Cologne .

Under arcades on the outside of the wings in front of a brocade curtain, six saints are shown, two of which are particularly emphasized by church towers as saints of the Carmelite Order : on the left wing the Carmelite saints Antonius of Hungary , Barbara and Sebastian , on the right Laurentius , Katharina and der Carmelite saint Angelus .

history

The date of the foundation is not known. The depicted donor Theodericus de Gouda, Provincial of the Cologne Carmelite Monastery , died in 1539. The winged altar was on the cross altar of the Cologne Carmelite Church until 1642 , from 1761 to 1834 in the Cologne Lyversberg collection and from 1834 to 1872 in the Cologne Haan collection, from the it was acquired in 1872 for the Aachen Cathedral . There it was placed in the choir hall .

painter

The unknown master, tentatively identified with the Cologne engraver PW, is an artist that can be verified in Cologne between 1480 and 1520. This also results in the relationship of his art to the works of his Cologne contemporary, the master of Sankt Severin , but also to the older master of the Ursula legend , as well as the depiction of Cologne fashion from around 1495 to around 1500 on the altarpiece. In addition to the Middle Rhine, particularly in technical terms, there are also Dutch influences and those of Antwerp Mannerism . The apparently medical interest of the master is noticeable if one looks at the depictions of the sick child, the blind Roman captain and the syphilic rider.

literature

  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum (Ed.): The Master of the Bartholomäus Altar - The Master of the Aachen Altar. Cologne painter of the late Gothic. Exhibition in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne March 25 - May 28, 1961. Catalog for the exhibition 100 Years Wallraf-Richartz-Museum Cologne 1861–1961 , Cologne 1961.
  • Ernst Günther Grimme : The Aachen Cathedral Treasure. 2nd edition, Schwann, Düsseldorf 1973, No. 128, pp. 131-133.
  • Herta Lepie , Georg Minkenberg : The treasury of the Aachen cathedral. Brimberg, Aachen 1995, ISBN 3-923773-16-1 , pp. 46-47.
  • Marita to Berens-Jurk: The master of the Aachen altar. Mainz 2002 (based on the name-giving Aachen altar fundamental to the painter).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the thesis generally asserted in the literature that Theodericus de Gouda was the founder, there is no evidence whatsoever. Cf. on this issue: Marita to Berens-Jurk: The Master of the Aachen Altarpiece. Mainz 2002, cat. A 1, note 3–5.
  2. ↑ Egon Schmitz-Cliever : The depiction of syphilis on the so-called Aachen altarpiece of the Cologne school of painting (around 1510). In: Archives for Dermatology and Syphilis . 192, 1950, pp. 164-174.

Web links