Sacra Conversazione (Ernst Alt)

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Church of St. Ludwig with Marienbrunnen on the Great Market in Saarlouis
Demolition of the parish home of St. Ludwig and destruction of the facade sgraffito "The Flight of the Holy Family" by Victor Fontaine on May 9, 2016

The painting Sacra conversazione is an altarpiece created by the Saarbrücken artist Ernst Alt for the chapel of the parish hall of the Catholic Saarlouis parish church St. Ludwig in 1975.

Image and image type

The retable altar created by Ernst Alt for the parish hall of the Catholic Saarlouis parish church St. Ludwig was evacuated in spring 2016 before the building was demolished and is being kept in the rectory. The painting is supposed to be hung in the parish church. The altarpiece entitled “Sacra Conversazione” (205 × 189 cm, oil paint, tempera and crayon on canvas) was painted by the Saarbrücken artist Ernst Alt in 1975 for the chapel of the parish hall, the former “Centro Italiano”.

Sacra conversazione or Santa conversazione (it. = Holy conversation / conversation) is a common name in art history for the representation of the enthroned Madonna with the baby Jesus in the company of saints. The image type has developed in Italy since the so-called Trecento , i.e. the 14th century, and goes back to earlier Maesta representations. In contrast to the widespread pictorial form of a polyptych , where each figure is assigned its own space, the participants in a “Sacra Conversazione” are in a uniform pictorial space. Excellent examples of this type of painting were created in Venice in the 16th century in particular, but it also caught on in the rest of Italy. Examples of Venice were Giorgione's Pala by Castelfranco and Giovanni Bellini's altarpiece in San Giobbe in Venice.

Image description and interpretation

Deviating from this form of representation, Ernst Alt shows the crucified Christ in the center of his altarpiece, flanked by (from left to right) John (Apostle) , the painful Mother of God, St. Francis and St. Catherine of Siena . Ernst Alt chose the two saints from Italy, Katharina and Franziskus, in order to create a reference back to their homeland among the members of the Italian community in Saarlouis. The positioning of the crucified and the four saints is reminiscent of the figure composition of the altarpiece in the Maurus Chapel in Beuron by Desiderius Lenz and Gabriel Wüger (1868–1870).

The crucified Christ , clad only in a knotted loincloth, appears as if stretched out in a vegetation made up of fruit-bearing olive branches, fig branches and vines, as well as dense foliage. In addition, ripe ears of corn, green and red bunches of grapes, dark red figs and pomegranates that had burst open sprout at the end of the horizontal cross bar. Grapes and ears of wheat can be interpreted as symbols for the eucharistic elements bread and wine, the transformation of which in the Eucharist is interpreted as a bloodless reproduction of the bloody crucifixion. With its downright beguiling variety of fruits, the tree of the cross is reminiscent of the Old Testament tree of paradise, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ( Gen 2,9  EU ). In contrast to the divine prohibition in the Old Testament to eat its seductive fruits ( Gen 2.17  EU ), the blessed fruits of the tree of the cross seem to be offered by God himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, like a rich stream of grace, even Jesus appears to be offering itself, symbolized in the Eucharistic fruits of grain and grapes.

While the lower part of the vertical cross bar with rich roots is based in Adam's skull, the upper part, which usually bears the INRI tablet , is missing . Instead, Ernst Alt has the trunk of the cross split up in a Y-shape at the height of Jesus' chest, based on a high medieval forked cross or tau cross . The dew cross is the symbol of the Franciscan order . The founder of the order, Francis of Assisi, used it as a sign of blessing as well as a sign of humility and redemption and even signed it with this symbol. In this respect, the cross shape in the center of the painting and the saint standing next to the cross are in direct connection.

The head of Jesus , which is surrounded by a wreath of rays, wears a crown of thorns , the proliferating, hostile network of which forms a bird's nest against a water-blue background, in which a white pelican pokes its own beak in the chest in order to nourish its four young with the exuding heart's blood. It spreads its wings protectively over its offspring. This representation is usually used in Christian iconography for the symbolic representation of the execution of Jesus, which is interpreted as a sacrificial death. Just as the bird sacrifices itself for its young, so in the Christian conception God sacrifices himself in the figure of Jesus in the death on the cross for his creatures, the people. In this sense, the doctor of the church Thomas Aquinas also included the pelican's bestowal in his hymn " Adoro te devote ", which he wrote on the occasion of the introduction of the solemn festival of Corpus Christi (Sollemnitas Sanctissimi Corporis et Sanguinis Christi) in 1264 by Pope Urban IV the sacrificial death of Jesus in one:

Pie pellicane, Iesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine.
Cuius una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit from omni scelere.

German Translation:

O faithful pelican, Jesus my Lord!
Make me unclean through your blood!
One drop of it can affect the whole world
heal from all crime.

The pelican's exiting heart's blood in the thorns' nest corresponds on the altarpiece with the marks on the side wound of Jesus, the blood of which trickles down the body of the dying man, connects with the roots of the tree of the cross and runs over Adam's head looking skyward at the lower edge of the picture. The depiction of Adam's skull goes back to tradition, according to which the cross of Jesus stood at the place of the burial place of the first man. In Romans 5 : 12-21  EU , the apostle Paul contrasted Adam and Jesus Christ as antitypeople : as through the disobedience of a single one, namely Adam, who took the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden , death came upon all people, so he liberates Obedience to one, Jesus Christ, all men from the power of sin. Those who believe in Jesus die with Jesus through baptism and are thus withdrawn from the power of sin ( Rom. 6 : 3–11  EU ). He lives in Jesus Christ and is free from the law (7,6 LUT ). The sinful man has changed the domain and is no longer under law and death, but under grace, so the apostle Paul. The Holy Spirit , who is in the Christian ( Rom 8 : 1–17  EU ), is now to determine his life.

To the right of Adam's skull, the artist has depicted an eggshell breaking open as a symbol of the renewal and rebirth of creation. Instead of a chick, however, a human embryo is freed from the narrow calcareous shell , which stands for overcoming death. As a counterpart, Ernst Alt positions a rotten pomegranate on the left side of the skull as a symbol of sin and ruin, out of which seven small black snakes wind their way.

The structure of the crown of thorns is taken up again by the artist in the prickly roots of the tree of the cross. The braid of thorns bears the soles of the feet of the four saints and winds around their feet and ankles. In addition, the hands and feet of St. Catherine of Siena are pierced with thorns, while St. Francis is clearly wearing the bloody wounds of his stigmatization on his feet and hands. His habit is torn open on the upper body and reveals the wound on the side. Both saints, Francis (1224) and Catherine (1375) are said to have been stigmatized with Jesus' wounds on the cross during a vision. Since the stigmata in bloody form were only visible to the viewer with Francis and Katharina only felt her wounds physically, but these could not be ascertained externally, Alt depicts the wounds with Katharina only as piercing through her extremities.

In the depiction of Saint Catherine with a crown of thorns on her head and a snow-white ordinal dress, Ernst Alt seems to be based on a depiction of the saints by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna ).

Depiction of Saint Catherine of Siena with stigmata (oil painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, around 1746, oval: 70 × 52 cm)

The painful aspect of following Jesus on the cross is symbolically represented by the artist through “standing under the cross” and the stigmata and the painful strands of thorns.

The blood that escapes from the wounds of the crucified Christ's hand flows down from the palms of the hands and turns the bunches of grapes hanging from the tree of the cross blood red. The fruits massaging in the area of ​​the nailed hands of Jesus are visited by two fluttering white doves at both ends of the horizontal crossbar. While the pigeon on the left flies upwards to nibble on a glowing red pomegranate, the pigeon on the right flies downwards to peck grains from golden-yellow ears of corn. The two doves can be seen in relation to the Old Testament story of Noah and his covenant with God. The dove plays the role of the good ambassador in the biblical story of the Flood: A dove released by Noah from the protective ark returns with a fresh olive branch in its beak. Gen 8.11  EU . After the deadly flood has receded, God hands over responsibility for the earth to people. He makes a covenant with Noah and promises that there will never be another flood ( Gen 9.8–17  EU ). In addition, the motif of the dove in the altarpiece can also be interpreted as a symbol of the peace and reconciliation that Jesus gave to people.

As a negative counterpart to the self-sacrificing pelican over the shoulders of Jesus, the artist depicted the paradise snake in the lower part of the trunk of the cross. The plump, poison green shimmering body of the monster, as the archetype of the original sin of Adam and Eve in Paradise, embraces the fetters of Jesus like a spiral of evil and thus attaches him to the cross. In addition, Ernst Alt is referring to an Old Testament story within the desert migration of the people of Israel after their exodus from Egypt . As punishment for the impatience and ingratitude while walking through the desert, God sent snakes into the camp of the Israelites. Anyone who was bitten by a fiery serpent and looked up to the brazen serpent erected on a stick was healed and was allowed to go on living ( Num. 21 : 6–9  EU ):

“Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, We have sinned because we have rebelled against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he will deliver us from the snakes. So Moses prayed for the people. The Lord answered Moses, "Make a snake and hang it on a flagpole." Anyone bitten will stay alive looking at her. So Moses made a serpent out of copper and hung it on a flagpole. If someone was bitten by a snake and looked up at the copper snake, he was alive. "

The healing of those who looked at the snake is counted among the salvific deeds of God (cf. Dtn 8,15  EU ). The wisdom literature speaks of the fact that God gave his people a “saving sign” with it. Weish 16.5–11  EU . The story of the serpent in the wilderness will be taken up in the New Testament, when Jesus with Nicodemus speaks while history as analogy used Jn 3,14-15  EU :

"And just as Moses exalted the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be exalted so that everyone who believes (in him) may have eternal life in him."

Lucas Cranach the Elder : Law and Grace, 1529, Gotha

The healing that the Israelites found by looking at the snake according to the biblical tradition stands for the salvation that Jesus achieved through his death on the cross, that is, hanging on a wood as "exalted". The believer is healed when he looks at the crucified Christ like the Israelites at the serpent. For this reason, in Christian art there is always a depiction of a cross with a snake, for example in the painting "Law and Grace" by Lucas Cranach the Elder, famous for the history of the Reformation.

The aggressively torn open jaws of the snake with its dazzling white poisonous teeth snaps at the heels of Jesus and his mother Mary, who is standing next to him, but is crushed by the feet of the crucified Christ, even pierced by the nails of the cross themselves. Ernst Alt refers here to a passage from the narrative of the Fall, in which God prophesies the serpent of Paradise ( Gen 3:14–15  EU ):

“Because you did that, you are cursed under all cattle and animals in the field. You shall crawl on your stomach and eat dust all the days of your life. I put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and their offspring. He hits you in the head and you hit him in the heel. "

In this way Mary is interpreted as the counterpart to the first mother Eve. While Eve and Adam drove a wedge between God and humanity through sin by indulging in the temptations of the serpent, Mary and Jesus restore the broken covenant of salvation through the incarnation and crucifixion.

The Virgin and Mother of God Mary is shown by Ernst Alt in a sorrowful posture as the Mother of Sorrows . The representation of the standing "Mater Dolorosa" already developed in the adoration of the Virgin Mary, which flourished in the Middle Ages, and refers directly to the poem Stabat mater from the 13th century . Mary's incarnate appears pale as a corpse in the picture, which is reinforced by her robe in bluish tones. Her arms are crossed over her chest, her left hand cramped in her right shoulder. A sword with a cross-shaped handle pierces the heart of the mother of Jesus. The sword is an example of the so-called seven sorrows of Mary . The representation of the sword-pierced breast of Mary relates to the story of the presentation of Jesus in the Jerusalem temple ( Lk 2 : 21–34  EU ), which is handed down in the Gospel of Luke :

“When eight days had passed and the child was about to be circumcised, he was given the name Jesus, whom the angel had named, even before the child was conceived in its mother's womb. Then came the day of purification prescribed by the law of Moses. They brought the child up to Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord, according to the Lord's law, which says, Every male firstborn shall be consecrated to the Lord. They also wanted to offer their sacrifice as the law of the Lord prescribes: a pair of lovebirds or two young pigeons. A man named Simeon lived in Jerusalem at that time. He was righteous and pious and waited for the salvation of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the Lord's Messiah. Now he was led into the temple by the Spirit; and when the parents brought Jesus in to do what was customary according to the law, Simeon took the child in his arms and praised God with the words: Now you, Lord, let your servant part in peace, as you said. For my eyes have seen the salvation that you prepared before all peoples, a light that illuminates the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel. His father and mother were amazed at the words that were said about Jesus. And Simeon blessed her and said to Mary, the mother of Jesus: This one is destined that many in Israel will fall and many will be raised up by him, and he will be a sign that will be contradicted. This is intended to reveal the thoughts of many people. But a sword will pierce your soul. "

The heads of the crucified one and his collapsing mother turn to one another. Ernst Alt refers to the description of the crucifixion in the Gospel of John ( Joh 19,26-27  EU ):

“When Jesus saw his mother and with her the disciple whom he loved, he said to his mother: Woman, behold your son! Then he said to the disciple: See your mother! And from that hour on the disciple took her to him. "

St. John on the left edge of the picture is only dressed in a red shawl. His youthful face turns away from the cross with an air of suffering. The saint is depicted as the creator of the Gospel of John: In his left hand he holds an open book that shows the Latin lines of text ( Vulgate ) from the Gospel of John John 19 : 35-37  EU :

"Et qui vidit testimonium perhibuit et verum est eius testimonium etali scit quia vera dicit ut et vos credatis. Facta sunt enim haec ut scriptura impleatur: os non comminuetis ex eo et iterum alia scriptura dicit videbunt in quem transfixerunt. "

(German translation: And he who saw it has testified, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he reports truths so that you too may believe. For that happened so that the scriptural word was fulfilled: One should Don't break any bones on him. And another scripture says: You will look at him whom you have pierced.) On the open book pages underneath it says “Johannes, IXX, 35–37”. Another book leaf bears Ernst Alt's initials: "EA". The text presented by the artist is related to the statement of the death of Jesus on the cross in the Gospel of John ( Joh 19,31-34  EU ):

“Because it was preparation day and the bodies should not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to break the legs of the crucified and then remove their corpses; for this Sabbath was a great holiday. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first one, then the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a lance, and immediately blood and water flowed out. "

In his rake, John holds a golden chalice with a white cloth as an attribute. The chalice refers to a John legend in the Legenda Aurea : John did not want to sacrifice in the temple of Artemis in Ephesus . After unrest - the local goldsmiths feared losses when selling their Diana amulets - the high priest of the temple wanted to induce Johannes to sacrifice, otherwise he would have to drink the poison from which two criminals had already died before his eyes. John then struck the sign of the cross over the chalice, whereupon the deadly poison escaped in the form of a snake. After Johannes had drunk the goblet, he would have put his cloak (shown by Ernst Alt as a red shawl) on the previously killed criminals and thus brought them back to life. Overwhelmed by this miracle, the high priest of Artemis would have converted to Christianity.

At the feet of Johannes and Maria, a white lamb has got caught in the thorny roots against a red-brown background. The fur on his neck is soaked with blood. His stretched out posture suggests an act of killing. The sacrificial animal is generally interpreted as a symbol of the sacrifice of the cross ( Agnus Dei ) and has its Old Testament models in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham , in the Paschal lamb and in the Jewish temple sacrifice . Iconographic attributes that would assign the lamb depicted in the picture an interpretation as the apocalyptic victory lamb of the Revelation of John are missing.

The founder of the order, Francis, standing to the right of the cross, opens the upper part of his robe with his left hand while he spreads the fingers of his raised right hand, which reveals the bloody stigmata. The artist depicted Catherine of Siena standing on the far right of the picture in the white habit of the Dominican lay communities . In 1970 by Pope Paul VI. According to her testimony, saints who were raised to church teachers appeared in a vision Christ, who is said to have put a ring on her finger in a mystical wedding and said to her:

“See, I marry you, your Creator and Redeemer, in faith. You will always keep this faith intact until you will celebrate an eternal wedding with me in heaven. From now on, my daughter, do with confidence and without any hesitation what my accompanying provisions will impose on you. You are now strengthened by the strength of faith and so you will happily overcome all your adversaries. "

- Raimund of Capua : Legenda maior, no.115

The lush bouquet of red roses and white lilies in Katharina's hands can be interpreted as a sign of the virginal purity of this mystical marriage. Instead of a bridal wreath of flowers, the mystic wears a crown of thorns. She wears a gold wedding ring on her right hand.

At the feet of the two Italian saints, against a watery blue background, a small unicorn has fallen asleep as a symbol of the incarnation of Christ and virginity. A gold wedding ring is also slipped over its coiled white horn as a reference to the mystical wedding of St. Catherine.

literature

  • Severin Delges: History of the Catholic parish St. Ludwig in Saarlouis. Saarlouis-Lisdorf 1931, OCLC 632250160 . (Extension by a second part by Heinrich Unkel in 1952, extension by a third part by Marga Blasius in 1985)
  • Oranna Elisabeth Dimmig: Saarlouis City and Star / Sarrelouis - Ville et Étoile. Translation into French: Anne-Marie Werner, ed. v. Roland Henz and Jo Enzweiler Saarbrücken 2011, ISBN 978-3-938070-62-8 .
  • Josef Mischo: The history of salvation in color. The window cycle by Ernst Alt in the parish church of St. Ludwig Saarlouis. Dillingen / Merzig 2015, ISBN 978-3-9816943-6-9 , pp. 150-159.

Individual evidence

  1. Josef Mischo: The history of salvation in color. The window cycle by Ernst Alt in the parish church of St. Ludwig Saarlouis . Dillingen / Merzig 2015, pp. 150–159.