Andree Hayum approaches Matthias Gruenewald's Isenheim Altarpiece, now at the Musee d'Unterlinden in Colmar, as a structural and iconographic entity and restores it to its broader cultural context in the early 16th century. She interprets the altarpiece in terms of its hospital context, then explores how this polyptych functions as a system of communication, in relation to contemporary sermons and in response to an emerging print culture. The meaning and motivation behind the direct visual appeal of the Isenheim panels are considered within the liturgy and the sacramental economy.
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Like the Isenheim Altarpiece itself, Hayum's text has the beauty of being accessible to two distinct, but related audiences: the interested layman and the serious scholar. -- Review
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A wonderful, scholarly treatment of a superb work of art.,
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This review is from: The Isenheim Altarpiece (Paperback)
Grunewald's Isenheim altarpiece is an extraordinary polyptich, expressive and dramatic, that was painted circa 1510-15 for a monastery church of the Order of St. Anthony, a hospital order. Following the French Revolution, the altarpeice was removed from the monastery, and it therefore can no longer be seen in its original church setting.Hayum's wonderful book successfully considers the original context of Grunewald's German Renaissance masterpiece to enable the reader to understand and appreciate it in terms of the particular needs and circumstances of its creation. The book, which contains numerous fine (albeit rather small) illustrations, examines the altarpiece's architectural setting, patronage, place in church rituals, reception by the specific audiences for which it was intended, and its historical setting on the eve of the Reformation. The first chapter of the book looks at the hospital context of the altarpiece, and illuminates themes of dire illness and miraculous healing that are features of the polyptich panels, and their relationship to the monastery's healing and spiritual missions. It explains how each of the three different stages of the altarpiece (the panels were movable to display three settings) deal with illness in distinct manners. The second and third chapters discuss how the stages of the altarpiece fit into the devotions of the church calendar, particularly its impact on a worshipper at the Mass. These chapters illustrate how Grunewald's painterly techniques and powerful visual effects work to heighten the impact on the communicant of the work's messages. The final chapter explores the impact of the altarpiece following its reemergence from seclusion in the middle of the 19th Century. Various prominent artists, writers, and musicians have reacted to the mix of rugged realism and transcendent vision in the work, and the book examines the ways that it influenced them. All in all, this is a fascinating and rewarding book for the serious art lover or student.
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