Isenheim Altarpiece
Grünewald's Crucifixion stands as one of the most poignant representations of this scene in Western art, due to the artist's masterful depiction of horrific agony, with Christ's emaciated body writhing under the pain of the nails driven through his hands and feet.
This body covered with sores and riddled with thorns must have terrified the sick, but it also left no doubt about Christ's suffering, thus comforting them in their communion with the Saviour, whose pain they shared.
This last figure announces the New Testament by crying out in Latin, illum oportet crescere me autem minui (Vulgate, John 3:30), "He must increase, but I must decrease.
Thus are revealed four scenes: the left wing represents the Annunciation during which the archangel Gabriel comes to announce to Mary that she will give birth to Jesus, the son of God.
A number of symbols provide keys to aid in interpretation: the enclosed garden represents Mary's womb and is a sign of her perpetual virginity, the rose bush without thorns refers to her as free of original sin, the fig tree symbolises mother's milk.
Lastly, the right wing shows the Resurrection, in which Christ emerges from the tomb and ascends into Heaven bathed in light transfiguring the countenance of the Crucified into the face of God.
Grünewald created a fantastic universe, surrounding the date palm with a strange mixture of vegetation, in marked contrast with the calmness and tranquillity of the encounter, in which the animals in attendance take part, with the crow bringing two morsels of bread to the two recluses.
Trampled to the ground, beaten with sticks, torn by claws and bitten, Saint Anthony appeals to God for help who sends angels to combat these evil demons.
In the lower left corner, the being with webbed feet and a distended belly seems to personify the disease caused by ergot poisoning, resulting in swelling and ulcerous growths.
[5] In the immediate postwar period the altarpiece, with its strong overtones of violent sensation and emotion, became a natural source of inspiration for many painters in the influential Expressionist school, such as George Grosz and Otto Dix.
[8] Due to renovation work in the former convent and until April 2015, the Isenheim Altarpiece was on view in the local Dominican Church, located about 200 metres from the Unterlinden Museum.
(the wings in this picture are actually the back of those in the second one, so that they can be seen when the altar is closed, with the saints Anthony and Paul at the right side and the demons at the left)
