Isenheim Altarpiece

Uncommon card · No. 127773

The Isenheim Altarpiece is an altarpiece sculpted and painted by, respectively, the Germans Nikolaus Hagenauer and Matthias Grünewald in 1512–1516. It is on display at the Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, in France. It is Grünewald's largest work and is regarded as his masterpiece. It was painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Issenheim near Colmar, which specialized in hospital work. The Antonine monks of the monastery were noted for their care of plague sufferers as well as for their treatment of skin diseases, such as ergotism. The image of the crucified Christ is pitted with plague-type sores, showing patients that Jesus understood and shared their afflictions. The veracity of the work's depictions of medical conditions was unusual in the history of European art.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Matthias Grünewald / Nikolaus Hagenauer, Public domain