Isenheim Crucifixion

• Mathis Grunewald

  The Crucifixion (from the Insenheim alterpiece)

  1510-15

  Tempera and oil on linden wood

  269 x 307cm

  Unterlinden Museum, France
• Purpose of an altarpiece

  -          Can convey a narrative – this piece conveys a narrative
• Gunewald and his painting

  -          Grunewald is an extremely idiosyncratic painter
• The Isenheim Altarpiece - details and now

  -          The Isenheim Altarpiece

  . a multi-panelled altarpiece- a polyptych

  . composed of 10 painted panels and a predella

  . It has been taken apart now – now shown in a museum in separate parts  
• First impressions

  • Very gory crucifixion scene – representation of his suffering is clear – his physical torment is clear

  . thick, dripping blood down the cross onto the floor – twisted and distorted hands – malnourished – skin is green is spotted

  . the red can be picked out more because of the red in other scene

  •   Slightly off centre of the polyptych design – but Jesus is the largest (use of hierarchical scene)
  • The background is extremely dark (night) – the foreground is bright and red
  • The background isn’t quite recognisable
  • Small inscription 
• How has Jesus been presented - background affecting skin

  • The green of the background (water) matches Christ’s skin tone  

  . stony landscape in the foreground by background is a murky and stagnant body of water – this brings out the gangrenous and greenish tinge of Christ’s skin

  • Red and green – complementary colours
• how has Jesus been presented - his hands and arms

  • Christs arms – abnormally long

  . hands look as if he is clutching onto the final second of life

  . or it could be Rigor mortis – the way the body becomes so rigid when it dies

  . nails drilled through his hands and realistic rendering of the crinkling of the skin and delicate bones at the wrist – contrast the disproportionate length of arms
• how has Jesus been presented - form

  • we are seeing a deliberate distortion of Christ’s form – figure on the left panel is St Sebastian who is clearly proportioned well – we are not seeing an artist who doesn’t know proportions
  • his knees are bulbus and large – so we can see that he is malnourished
  • his ribcage bulges out and there is very small waist
• how has Jesus been presented - impact of Mary's in comparison

  • Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene – intensity of Jesus’ suffering adds to the suffering of others
  • they are both in deep distress – curved backs - coveys suffering - impact of Jesus' suffering
  • Virgin Mary is extremely pale – her paler is extremely distressing to the viewer
  • both of their hands mirror each other – their clenched hands – their hands somewhat allude to the thorns around his head
  • Mary Magdalene – impossible pose of the back bend – she is also very old
• how is Jesus presented - mirror in colour

  • Each side of Christ is mirrored in terms of colour – red and white

  . overall symmetrical arrangement
• How has Jesus been presented - John the Baptist

  • John the Baptist is very stoic in his stature – upright - different to Mary's
  • John the Baptist – inscription next to him

  . ‘He must increase, and I must decrease’ – a more positive outlook
• How has Jesus been presented - tonal

  • Chiaroscuro is used on Jesus

  . there is dramatic lighting and tonal contrasts

  . the tonal contrast highlights Christs starved form

  . the tonal contrast of Mary - pale
• How has Jesus been presented - setting

  • setting = ominous
  • very barren and hopeless landscape – very desolate
  • this does match the description of St Luke’s gospel – in which the whole land became dark
  • Grunewald experience a full eclipse – maybe is recreating the darkness he experienced
• How has Jesus been presented - scale of piece

  • Such a large piece

  . so striking – it is prominent and imposing
• How has Jesus been presented - scale in relation to threat

  • Jesus is not threatening because he is so vulnerable and tortured
  • there is a hierarchical scale – medieval painting technique – showing the importance of Christ
• How is Christ's suffering shown

  • he is covered in splinters
  • one nail on the foot – shoved through
  • the nails are seeping a thick blood
  • his head is lolling – the physical weight of the dead body
  • his lips are blue and open – in agony
  • his brow is creased – in agony
• The lamb

  • on Jesus' left
  • lamb spurting blood – reinforces the idea of sacrifice and
• Where is the piece in relation to other parts of the altar scene

  • a box of statues is enclosed by these folding panels
  • the middle position presents a resurrection scene
  • Our work – the crucifixion scene is on the outer layer

  . seen for the majority of the year 

  • There is a lamentation scene beneath the crucifixion scene
• Where was the Isenheim Crucifixion originally located

  • an altarpiece for the Antonine order’s monastic complex at Isenheim
  • altarpiece commissioned for the high alter of the hospital chapel in the Catholic monastery of St Anthony
  • The Antonine monks of the monastery were noted for their care of plague sufferers as well as their care for ergotism (or St. Anthony’s Fire)
• Who commissioned the polyptych?

  • Religious patronage – Guido Guersi
• Correlation between setting and painting

  • depiction of Christ is related to the setting and the care of the disease that the monastery is looking after

  . the sickness – so much suffering – like Christ

  . there was no cure for it

  • correlation between the iconography of the alter piece and the suffering that was happening in the monastery
  • Another one of the panels depict a demon that shows signs of ergotism
  • other panels show two saints that heal and protect the sick – St. Sebastian and St. Anthony
• Why is Grunewald showing a suffering Christ - relatable

  • Relatable to those who are suffering in the monastery
  • Grunwald is giving the viewers of the crucifixion a depiction that they could relate to

  . he closes the figure between divine figure and viewer – he is suffering a realistic way

  . his horribly wounded body almost refers to the role of hospital who cares for these extremely sick people

  • the left panel severs Christ’s arm and refers to the amputations of those who suffered with the burning disease
• Why is Grunewald showing a suffering Christ - hope

  • isn’t wholly horrible – the depiction foreshadows his resurrection – the patients still have their afterlife
  • Give strength to the patients because Christ, in Biblical tradition, endured the most painful death – therefore the patients can
• Comparison to Renaissance

  • Not like the idealised depiction of Christ in the Italian renaissance depictions
  • body is more muscular and less gruesome slightly less extreme lamentation
  • Grunwald does more suffering depictions of Christ – could reflect the difficulties of living in rural medieval Germany
• use of suffering - Thomas a Kempis - The Imitation of Christ

  • 15th century writer
  • Kempis states the more suffering you endure you will find Christ
  • the image is giving the viewers a level of hope and identification of Christ being a being in which salvation can be accomplished
  • a painting functioning therapeutically
• Critic - Honour and Fleming - tortured Christ, this = worst


  ‘Of all the tortured Christs in Western Europe, this makes the most violent impact.'
• Critic - J-K Huysmans - horror

  • ‘awful horror made by the huge crucified Christ’
• Critic - J-K Huysmans - modelling from corpses


  'the terrifying realism and meticulous accuracy...obviously modelled on the corpses in the hospital mortuary’
• Critic - F. Gardner - meaningful


  ‘Grunewald carefully selected and presented his altarpiece’s iconography to be particularly meaningful for viewers at this hospital’