Deo Gracias fresco

Deodorant Gracias
unknown , 1326
Fresco painting
115 × 150 cm
Holy Spirit Church , Wismar

The Deo Gracias fresco in the Holy Spirit Church  (1326) in Wismar is a fresco that depicts a mathematical-logical puzzle made up of letters. The Latin sentence “Deo Gracias” (in the Middle Latin spelling “gracias” instead of “gratias”; German “Thanks be to God”) can be read on a total of 504 ways. In the church of a hospital , the riddle can be understood as both a praise to God and a remedy. The representation of praise as a puzzle and a learning aid for abstract thinking is unusual and therefore valuable. It is so far unique in Germany.

discovery

The Holy Spirit Church in Wismar, consecrated in 1326, was part of the Holy Spirit Hospital . The church building was extensively renovated from 1969 to 1978. As early as the 19th century, the walls were stripped of old paint and re-limed. It was therefore all the more surprising to find the fresco under a layer of lime on the south side of the church. It is the right side wall in the front part of the church, in the immediate vicinity of the pulpit . For centuries a baroque confessional had stood in front of the mural, which had protected it over time.

The fresco was found under the restorer Hans Todemann and was then completely restored in the second half of the 1970s. After 30 years, severe moisture damage occurred to the left underside of the painting. In 2010 the work of art was drained .

A dating could be narrowed down on the basis of the font and the year of construction of the church. These indications suggest that the year the church was consecrated as the year in which the fresco was designed, in 1326.

A similar fresco is known from Italy : In the church of San Sebastian in Acuto there is a Deo Gratias fresco above the altar . It does not contain mirror writing, but is otherwise the same. It is unclear which of the murals is older.

layout

With a size of 150 × 115 cm, the fresco has the appearance of a tapestry . The color scheme is limited to red and black tones.

The predominant feature of the fresco is a mathematical and logical puzzle made up of Gothic letters. The picture may seem confusing at first. In the center is a checkerboard-like grid with eleven columns and nine rows . There is an uppercase letter in each of the 99 fields. The letters can be put together to form the saying “ Deo Gracias ”, a variant of Deo gratias . The Latin phrase can be translated as “Thanks be to God”, “Thanks be to God the Lord” or “Let us give thanks to God”. The letters are alternating in red or black. The capitals are mirrored on the left .

The letter field is flanked left and right by two figures, a woman on the left and a man on the right. The female figure is presumably the Magistra ( German  master ) of the hospital . The figure wears a long, red robe and a hood, which probably belonged to the habit of the Beguine Sisters , who were responsible for looking after the poor and infirmary . The man, on the other hand, wears a suit with a half-pattern on the left. He may be the Magister , the court master of the Holy Spirit Hospital. This would keep him responsible for the economy and administration of the hospital's extensive possessions. Each of the figures holds a banner in their hands that winds vertically to the side of the letter field. The sentences on it are, like the riddle, in capital letters. The language is written in so-called monk Latin , sometimes with abbreviations. The woman's sentence is “ Lege si sis ” and is translated as “Read when you understand!” Or “Read when you can”. The man's name is " Temte si vis ", which can be translated as "Check if you please" or "Count if you want."

There is a kind of wide border at the top and bottom of the painting. The lower area also serves as a base for the figures, with the man standing higher. Flower ornaments are depicted above the woman in the frame and below the man in the base . The whole picture is surrounded by a simple, narrow frame of black lines.

Letter field

construction

When looking at it, you can quickly see that the letter D appears only once, in the middle of the field. The letter S is located in each of the four corners. If the field is divided into quadrants of a Cartesian coordinate system , only one quadrant does not contain a mirrored letter. This is the upper right quadrant, between rows 1 to 5 and columns 6 to 11. You can clearly see from this that the letters of the same type are arranged in diagonal rows within the quadrant. For example, the row of R runs from the 6th field of the 1st row to the 10th field of the 5th row.

Schematic illustration of Remus

	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11
1	S.	A.	I.	C.	A.	R.	A.	C.	I.	A.	S.
2	A.	I.	C.	A.	R.	G	R.	A.	C.	I.	A.
3	I.	C.	A.	R.	G	O	G	R.	A.	C.	I.
4th	C.	A.	R.	G	O	E.	O	G	R.	A.	C.
5	A.	R.	G	O	E.	D.	E.	O	G	R.	A.
6th	C.	A.	R.	G	O	E.	O	G	R.	A.	C.
7th	I.	C.	A.	R.	G	O	G	R.	A.	C.	I.
8th	A.	I.	C.	A.	R.	G	R.	A.	C.	I.	A.
9	S.	A.	I.	C.	A.	R.	A.	C.	I.	A.	S.
Letters mirrored in blue on the fresco .

When developing the puzzle, the letters of this primary subfield were mirrored downwards. This creates the later content in quadrant IV. Now the vertical mirror axis is used to mirror the two quadrants I and IV to the left, thus preserving quadrants II and III. This creates a total of 12 columns with 10 lines. The D is found four times in the center. So that the letter D only appears once, the redundant, doubled column and row have now been joined on the horizontal and vertical mirror axis.

Construction of the quadrants   1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 1 S. A. I. C. A. R. R. A. C. I. A. S. 2 A. I. C. A. R. G G R. A. C. I. A. 3 I. C. A. R. G O O G R. A. C. I. 4th C. A. R. G O E. E. O G R. A. C. 5 A. R. G O E. D. D. E. O G R. A. A. R. G O E. D. D. E. O G R. A. 6th C. A. R. G O E. E. O G R. A. C. 7th I. C. A. R. G O O G R. A. C. I. 8th A. I. C. A. R. G G R. A. C. I. A. 9 S. A. I. C. A. R. R. A. C. I. A. S. horizontal and vertical mirror axis. Surplus fields in blue .

Merged quadrants   1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 11 1 Quadrant II R. A. C. I. A. S. 2 G R. A. C. I. A. 3 O G R. A. C. I. 4th E. O G R. A. C. 5 D. E. O G R. A. 6th Quadrant III Quadrant IV 7th 8th 9

Number of reading opportunities

When it was discovered in the 1970s, it was calculated that the sentence “Deo Gracias” can be read in a total of 504 ways. The determination of the number of reading options succeeds with the aid of the mathematical sub-discipline of combinatorics , in particular the binomial coefficient . ${\displaystyle {\tbinom {n}{k}}}$

A closer look at the reading paths reveals that you can no longer leave the quadrant once you have decided on a reading path. Therefore, it is sufficient to calculate the reading paths of a quadrant. The result can then be multiplied by 4 to get the total result.

Each reading path goes from the middle to one of the corners and represents the shortest possible path. The distance between these points is always 9 steps and you have to take exactly 4 vertical and 5 horizontal steps to arrive at the corner ( see also: Manhattan Metric ).

The number of possible paths can be described using an urn model . Since the possible decisions are only “vertical” or “horizontal”, equivalent to “not vertical”, the system is modeled as an urn with balls numbered from 1 to 9, of which 4 are drawn: in the steps with which the drawn Balls are labeled, you run vertically, otherwise horizontally. The question is therefore how many possibilities there are to draw four balls from an urn with nine (different) balls, where each ball can only be drawn once, since you can only make one decision in one step, and the order of the drawing is irrelevant, since it only depends on the numbers on the balls. The math function that indicates this is the binomial coefficient

${\displaystyle N={\binom {9}{4}}={\frac {9\cdot 8\cdot 7\cdot 6}{1\cdot 2\cdot 3\cdot 4}}=126}$.

There are thus 126 possibilities in each quadrant.

These paths can be taken equally in all quadrants, in each of the four corners. Overall, therefore, there are possibilities. ${\displaystyle 4\cdot 126=504}$

See also : Combination (combinatorics) #Number of ways

interpretation

In the Middle Ages , the Christian faith was of fundamental importance. The praise of God was in the foreground and was practiced in different ways. Logically gifted people devoted themselves to praise, for example by creating puzzles with a Christian context. It was important that the puzzles were not too difficult so that the people could solve them.

The simplest interpretation of the Deo Gracias fresco is that the many reading options symbolize the infinite praises of God. The shape of the cross starting from the D in the middle was also easily recognizable for laypeople in the Middle Ages. Another simple interpretation is this: The letter path begins with a possibility (D) and ends in a possibility (S), in between many paths can be chosen. This symbolizes that God alone stands at the beginning and at the end of life, with many different paths in between.

Drawings of herbs can be discovered in the design. On the one hand on the man's pedestal, then in the border above the woman and as plant ornaments on the letters D, O, R, C. Experts recognize medicinal herbs that were used at the time. They offer an internal connection. A medical historical interpretation of the fresco can be derived from this.

Even without knowing the number of reading options, a viewer can get into meditation by delving into the task. The fresco offers several methods of healing the viewer . On the one hand, worship itself enables a fulfilling finding of God. Supported by the symbolism of the medicinal plants, the fresco can be understood as a “medicine on the wall”. Medical advice is to practice doxology , the final prayerful boasting of the glory of God. The next step is to consider the "power of mathematics" or the numerical level.

Number symbolism

In the Middle Ages, number symbolism was strikingly important. Puzzles with the system of this fresco are also possible with other words, but this number and selection of letters allows particularly good number-symbolic assignments.

In number symbolism, the numbers 10 and 12 are of particular importance because number systems are based on them , the decimal system and the duodecimal system . The numbers 10 and 12 were used in the construction of the puzzle: The starting point is quadrant I. If you fold it or if you mirror it 1: 1 on the other quadrants, you first get a square with 10 rows and 12 columns and 4 D in the middle (see table Construction of the Quadrants above ).

In the number symbolism you can assign numbers to the fields, for example the D in the middle the number 1. The D stands for deo , that means God , the one and it occurs once. So that this weighty number symbolism between D and 1 comes about, the construction was adapted: Only by merging the rows of axes (see table Construction of the quadrants above ) is a single D in the center.

The symbolic numbers 3 and 7 appear in the number of letters of Deo Gracias : Deo has three letters, Gracias seven.

The number 9 is in the center, where the D is surrounded by 8 letters, forming a square block of 9 letters with the D in the middle. This could be viewed as the nine-fold order of the angelic host in the heavenly hierarchy . The cross sum of the 504 possible reading types also results in the number 9.

The area consists of 9 rows and 11 columns, i.e. 99 fields. The number 99 is considered a mystical number with great significance. It was the special topic of Ramon Llull (around 1232), who introduced oriental ideas into medieval theology . This oriental note can be found in the mirrored letters on the left half of the fresco, which are reminiscent of Hebrew or Arabic script running from right to left . In Islam , there are 99 names of God. The 99 also occurs in the Christian Gospels of Matthew and Luke . The entire saying “ Deo Gracias ” also consists of 10 letters with 9 types of letters, which results in a product value of 90.

literature

• Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008.
• Herbert Müller, with Eberhard Vilkner: The real secrets of the Wismar church builders . Ed .: Förderverein der Stadtbibliothek Wismar eV 2nd edition. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-035494-6 (first edition: 1940).
• Herbert Müller: Numbers and geometry in building design in olden times . a new consideration: Main focus: Gothic brick churches in the southern Baltic Sea region. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2015, ISBN 978-3-944211-39-8 (first edition: 1940).

Web links

Commons : Deo-Gracias-Fresko, Wismar  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature on Deo Gracias fresco in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Christiane Rossner: The wall puzzle from Wismar . In: German Foundation for Monument Protection (Ed.): Monuments . Magazine for monument culture in Germany. No. 6 . Monuments publications, 2019, ISSN  0941-7125 , p. 6.7 .
2. ^ ^{A b c} Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 21 .
3. ^ Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 9 .
4. ↑ ^{a b} Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 19 .
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 10 .
6. ↑ Herbert Müller, participation Eberhard Vilkner: The true secrets of the Wismar church builders . Ed .: Förderverein der Stadtbibliothek Wismar eV 2nd edition. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-035494-6 , p. 82 (first edition: 1940).
7. ↑ Herbert Müller, participation Eberhard Vilkner: The true secrets of the Wismar church builders . Ed .: Förderverein der Stadtbibliothek Wismar eV 2nd edition. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-035494-6 , p. 81 (first edition: 1940).
8. ↑ ^{a b} Herbert Müller: Numbers and Geometry in Building Design in Ancient Times . a new consideration: Main focus: Gothic brick churches in the southern Baltic Sea region. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2015, ISBN 978-3-944211-39-8 , p. 270 (first edition: 1940).
9. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 11 .
10. ^ ^{A b} Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 16 .
11. ↑ Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia Sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 22 .
12. ↑ ^{a b} Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 24 .
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Herbert Müller, participation by Eberhard Vilkner: The true secrets of the Wismar church builders . Ed .: Förderverein der Stadtbibliothek Wismar eV 2nd edition. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-035494-6 , p. 83 (first edition: 1940).
14. ↑ ^{a b c d} Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 27 .
15. ↑ Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia Sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 23 .
16. ^ Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 17 .
17. ↑ ^{a b} Herbert Müller, Eberhard Vilkner: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 28 .
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Herbert Müller, participation Eberhard Vilkner: The true secrets of the Wismar church builders . Ed .: Förderverein der Stadtbibliothek Wismar eV 2nd edition. Verlag Koch & Raum Wismar OHG, Wismar 2014, ISBN 978-3-00-035494-6 , p. 84 (first edition: 1940).
19. ↑ ^{a b c} Michael Bunners: Mecklenburgia sacra . Ed .: Working Group for Mecklenburg Church History (=  Yearbook for Mecklenburg Church History . Volume 11 ). Redarius-Verlag, Wismar 2008, p. 12 .

Coordinates: 53 ° 53 ′ 31 ″  N , 11 ° 27 ′ 41 ″  E