Isenheim Altarpiece Essay

Contrasting themes between the closed state and the first open state of Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece are apparent with one look. According to the textbook, the closed state showed a gruesome take on the Crucifixion, Grunewald’s inspiration for the horrific panel was from the St. Bridget of Sweden, whose work described the Crucifixion unlike it had been described before (Stokstad 685). On the other hand, the first opening illustrates vivid colors, joyous biblical events, and many different focuses. According to Stokstad, the paintings were done for a specific audience. While the two panels have a similarity, it mainly contains differences including: the focus, the symmetry, and the colors used. According to Stokstad, the painting was created for the Abbey of St. Anthony in Isenheim. The hospital that the Isenheim Altarpiece resided in was a place that treated patients that were ill with the St. Anthony’s fire, or ergotism, and other skin diseases (Stokstad 683). In the closing portion, it shows Christ perished on the cross, a part of his horrific image seems to be ergotism (Stokstad “Chapter 22”). The spots that cover his body are like the ones that cover someone suffering with ergotism, this is showing the patients that Christ knows your …show more content…
In the first opening, in the Annunciation panel and the Nativity panel there are so many vivid colors and elements that there is less of a central focus than the closed state. Another contrasting theme between the states is the use of symmetry. In the closed state, Christ on the cross is in the direct center, with an even portion of people beside him and equal sets of men in the farthest panels both on pedestals. In the first opening, the picture is not as symmetric as the closed. Without the symmetry, it seems to take longer to take in all the elements in the first opening