Schwabacher Altar
The Schwabacher Altar is the high altar of the Evangelical City Church of St. Johannes and St. Martin in Schwabach . It comes from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut , Albrecht Dürer's teacher . The late Gothic convertible altar, completed in 1508, with its impressive carvings is a classic example of the use of gold leaf . There is some evidence that Veit Stoss also worked on the polyptych . The altar was a station on the Golden Mile art trail .
description
With its height of more than fifteen and a width of more than six and a half meters, it is one of the largest late Gothic winged altars. The convertible altar has a pair of fixed outer wings, a pair of movable outer wings and a pair of movable inner wings, which allow a change between a Passion, a weekday and a festival side during the church year. The outer wings are painted on both sides, the inner wings only on their backs, the fronts of the inner wings are provided with a total of four reliefs. The main shrine contains four sculptures up to 1.80 meters high, its theme is the coronation of Mary . The predella has a pair of wings painted on both sides, which is only opened for the festival side. In addition to the inactive wings, the back of the shrine and predella are also provided with paintings.
The Passion side, front side with closed wings
The closed wings show four scenes from the passion of Jesus, flanked by the church patrons, which are depicted on the inactive wings:
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Closed predella : burial of Jesus
The working day side, front side with open outer panels
When the outer wings are open, four motifs from the life of the church patron can be seen, the upper row is dedicated to John the Baptist, the lower to St. Martin:
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Closed predella: burial of Jesus
The festive side, front side with open inner wings
While the passion and weekday side only show paintings, the holiday side is highlighted by gilded carvings. The wings have reliefs, sculptures are placed in the main shrine.
The wings
The opened wings show highlights from the life of Mary and Jesus in four scenes, suitable for the Christian festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost:
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The main shrine
The coronation of Mary by Christ is depicted in the main shrine. To the left of Christ stands John the Baptist and points with the index finger of his right hand to this scene, to the right of Mary we see the second church patron, St. Martin.
The predella
The pair of wings of the predella is open and reveals a three-dimensional representation of the Last Supper . The inside of the wings are decorated with panel paintings, the two church patrons Johannes d. To find T. and Martin, on the right Anna selbdritt and St. Elisabeth .
The burst
In the burst above the shrine, Christ as the judge of the world is enthroned on a double rainbow, surrounded by Mary and John the Baptist. Two angels over the inactive wings blow their trumpets for the Last Judgment; the dead rise from their graves on the upper plate of the shrine. In the middle above the world judgment scene is the group of Anna Selbdritt.
The back of the altar
On the back of the main shrine, the theme of Anna herself is expanded in detail. The three marriages of St. Anne are represented in a genealogical tree, in the middle above Anna and Joachim you can see Mary with the baby Jesus, next to her St. Joseph. To the side of them are the other two daughters of Anna, who are also called Maria, from their marriages with Cleophas and Salomas. Together with their husbands and six children they belong to the kinship of Jesus, to the holy clan . To match the genealogical tree, the backs of the inactive leaves are painted with leaf tendrils on a green background. Two angels are depicted on the predella, holding Veronica's handkerchief.
literature
- Kurt Pilz: The town church of St. Johannes and St. Martinus in Schwabach: their history and their works of art . Schwabach 1979, ISBN 3922575005
- Evangelical Lutheran Church Community Schwabach - St. Martin (Ed.): Evangelical City Church Schwabach St. Johannes d. T. and St. Martin . Schnell & Steiner publishing house, Regensburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-7954-8031-8
- Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation (ed.): The Schwabacher high altar. International colloquium on the occasion of the restoration. Schwabach, June 30 - July 2, 1981 (workbook 11). Munich 1982, ISBN 3-87490-534-9
- Günter Bauer (Hrsg.): The high altar of the Schwabach town church . Schwabach 1983, ISBN 3-922575-00-5
- Ursula Kaiser-Biburger: St. Johannes & St. Martin - The Protestant town church of Schwabach. Kunstverlag Josef Fink , Lindenberg im Allgäu 2019, ISBN 978-3-95976-213-7 .
- Ulrich Distler, Klaus Huber: Evangelical Lutheran City Church of St. John the Baptist and St. Martin in Schwabach. A companion through the church. Schwabach 2019. Hermann Millizer GmbH Schwabach.
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 19 ′ 44.8 ″ N , 11 ° 1 ′ 18.5 ″ E