Art History and Appreciation Blog
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20/9/25 Mike Carr
The Isenheim Altarpiece, 1512-16, by Matthias Grunewald (1475-1528) Oil on panel and Nikolas Hagenauer (1485-1526), polychrome on limewood, is now in the Musee Unterlinden, Colmar, France.
Dedicated to St Anthony (251-356 AD), founder of monasticisim, and originally commissioned for the Anthonite Order of monks in the town of Isenheim, in the southern Alsace. These were hospitallers and tended to those suffering from “St Anthony’s Fire”, caused by ergotism, a fungal infection of grain, especially rye, which when consumed, led to the constriction of vessels in the body, resulting in convulsions and gangrenous symptoms. The work was almost 4 metres high and nearly 7 metres wide, and had three different versions, by opening various panels.
This YouTube video shows all images and gives a full commentary of the art and explanation of religious imagery. The mystical brilliance of Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece .