The Devil at Isenheim: Reflections of Popular Belief in Grünewald's Altarpiece (California Studies in the History of Art Discovery Series) [Hardcover]

Ruth Mellinkoff (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520062043 | ISBN-13: 978-0520062047 | Publication Date: December 21, 1988 | Edition: First

Matthias Grünwald's world-famous Isenheim Altarpiece ranks among the most powerful expressionistic works of the Northern Renaissance. Characterized by great emotional force, exquisite handling of color and brilliantly interwoven subtleties of Christian iconography, the multi-paneled altarpiece has remained the object of intense scholarly interest and the main attraction of the Musée d'Unterlinden in Colmar, France.
Ruth Mellinkoff offers an original analysis of the altarpiece, uncovering the late medieval popular beliefs that underlie its unusual visual content. She places its rich imagery within a tradition of Christian art, and stunningly, discovers Lucifer among the angels observing the Nativity.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Here is a convincing new iconographic reading of Mathias Grunewald's masterpiece, "The Isenheim Altarpiece," commissioned for the Antonite monastery near Colmar, Germany, before 1510. Mellinkoff identifies Satan amid the angels in the nativity scene and deciphers the meaning of other enigmatic details--the chamber pot, the belted bed, the oil cruet--through comparison with late medieval written sources and art works. As she demonstrates, these many details fit into a complex program dramatizing Christian salvation. An essay in book form, the brief text is abundantly illustrated with handsome color and black-and-white reproductions of the multi-part altar and related works. For specialized collections; this study launches a series devoted to examining individual works of art.
- Annette Melville, Research Libraries Group, Mountain View, Cal.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

"Dr. Mellinkoff's work is a small jewel. The essay is riveting, the evidence convincingly mustered, the scholarship impeccable and wide-ranging, and her thesis is new and convincing."--Lucy Freeman Sandler, New York University

"Ruth Mellinkoff's iconographic discoveries afford us valuable fresh insight into the significance of a well-known monument. Her identification of the angel in the temple as the figure of Satan is wholly convincing, and it significantly alters our appreciation of this important, yet enigmatic, work."--Keith Moxey, University of Virginia

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 100 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; First edition (December 21, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520062043
• ISBN-13: 978-0520062047
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,206,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.