The Buhl Altarpiece (french: Retable de Buhl) is a late 15th-century,

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

of colossal dimensions now kept in the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

''Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste'' of Buhl in the Haut-Rhin département of France. It was painted by followers of

Martin Schongauer Martin Schongauer (c. 1450–53, Colmar – 2 February 1491, Breisach), also known as Martin Schön ("Martin beautiful") or Hübsch Martin ("pretty Martin") by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important ...

, most probably for the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of the Dominican sisters of Saint Catherine of

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

, and moved to its present location in the early 19th century. It is classified as a

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture (french: Ministère de la Culture) is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and protection of the arts (visual, ...

(see below,

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

). The altarpiece depicts five scenes from the

Passion of Jesus In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

, four scenes from the

Life of the Virgin The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the nu ...

, and a

Last Judgment The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...

History

The , the convent of the Dominican sisters of Saint Catherine (french: Catherinettes) of

was established in 1310. The convent's church for which the Buhl altarpiece was originally painted was completed in 1436, replacing a smaller building from 1371. The

building was desecrated in 1792 and partly destroyed in the 19th century. Classified as a ''

'' since 1903, it is now used for different purposes by the municipality. The colourful Buhl altarpiece is the work of a group of followers of

, who drew their inspiration both from his

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s and from his paintings, especially the ''Altarpiece of the Dominicans'', now kept in the

Unterlinden Museum The Unterlinden Museum (French: ''Musée Unterlinden'') is located in Colmar, in the Alsace region of France. The museum, housed in a 13th-century Dominican religious sisters' convent and a 1906 former public baths building, is home to the Isenh ...

. The Buhl painters closely followed their model's designs, but on a larger scale and in a simpler and technically cruder manner. While it is not documented that the altarpiece was commissioned by the convent of Saint Catherine, the closeness to the designs of Schongauer but also, to a lesser degree, of

Caspar Isenmann Caspar (or Kaspar) Isenmann (french: Gaspard Isenmann) was a Gothic painter from Alsace. As the municipal painter of his hometown Colmar and the creator of a major altarpiece for the prestigious St Martin's Church, he was an important repres ...

(the panel depicting the

Flagellation of Christ The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the '' Life of C ...

is reminding of the same scene in the altarpiece of St Martin's Church) indicate without a doubt that it has been painted in Colmar; furthermore, both Saint Catherine and

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...

, who figure prominently in the Crucifixion scene, were particularly venerated by the Dominican sisters of Saint Catherine. It has been suggested that Schongauer's pupil Urbain Huter (1471–1501) may have been one of the authors but without any solid evidence. The altarpiece is recorded in Buhl since 1835. The current parish church, a

Neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

building with a long and imposing

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and a short and narrow

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

(in which the altarpiece is displayed) was built in three phases between 1868 and 1899. The altarpiece left Buhl twice, once during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when it was hidden in

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

and once from 1966 until 1971, when it was restored in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, then displayed in the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar. A local association of the "Friends of the Buhl Altarpiece" (''Amis du retable de Buhl'') was founded in 1988. The altarpiece is classified as a Monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture on terms that may appear confusing. It is classified as an object (''mobilier'') since 1978 according to the digital database of the Ministry, or since 1967 according to the (General inventory of the cultural heritage) of the Ministry. It is also classified since 1863 as a part of the building (''immeuble'') in which it is displayed, regardless of the fact that the church in question has been entirely rebuilt after that date.

Description

Originally a

triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...

but currently not displayed in that fashion because of a lack of space, the Buhl altarpiece is composed of a central panel, wide and high, and two lateral panels, wide and high. When opened, the altarpiece thus reaches a width of , significantly surpassing the

Isenheim Altarpiece The ''Isenheim Altarpiece'' is an altarpiece sculpted and painted by, respectively, the Germans Nikolaus of Haguenau and Matthias Grünewald in 1512–1516. It is on display at the Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, in France. It is Grünewal ...

(total width , and the

Ghent Altarpiece The ''Adoration of the Mystic Lamb'', also called the ''Ghent Altarpiece'' ( nl, De aanbidding van het Lam Gods), is a large and complex 15th-century polyptych altarpiece in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. It was begun around the mid-1420 ...

(total width . The front side of the left wing shows the

Agony in the Garden The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of Jesus. After the Last Supper, Jesus enters a garden where he experiences great anguish and prays to be delivered from his impending death on the cross ("Take this cup from me") ...

and the

. The front side of the central wing represents the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...

with Saint Catherine and

. These two female figures may have been painted last as they are in a more distinctly Proto-Renaissance style than the rest. The front side of the right wing represents the

Crowning with thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...

and the Bearing of the Cross, all from the

. The rear side of the left wing shows the

Nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of Matthew, Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea (Roman ...

and the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

. The rear of the central panel (painted in a different style and in a lesser state of preservation than the rest of the altarpiece) shows the

as a

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * L ...

. The rear of the right panel shows the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

with the

Unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

(almost a carbon copy of the same scene from the ''Altarpiece of the Dominicans'') and the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

. Remarkably, both the

blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

in the depiction of

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

and the damned in the depiction of

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

in the Last Judgement are almost all

clerical Clerical may refer to: * Pertaining to the clergy * Pertaining to a clerical worker * Clerical script, a style of Chinese calligraphy * Clerical People's Party See also * Cleric (disambiguation) Cleric is a member of the clergy. Cleric may a ...

people:

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s. A nun deep in the fire is shown pointing her finger at her tongue; a text (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

) running next to her says "I didn't keep my mouth shut, that's why I'm deep in hell" (''Darum, dass ich nit han geswiegen ich tief in der Helle liegen'').

Gallery

Buhl StJeanBaptiste26.JPG,

Buhl StJeanBaptiste41.JPG,

Crown of thorns According to the New Testament, a woven crown of thorns ( or grc, ἀκάνθινος στέφανος, akanthinos stephanos, label=none) was placed on the head of Jesus during the events leading up to his crucifixion. It was one of the instru ...

Buhl StJeanBaptiste35.JPG,

Buhl StJeanBaptiste43.JPG,

Bearing the Cross ''Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference'' is a 1986 book by David J. Garrow about Martin Luther King Jr., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the American Civil Rights Movement. ...

Annunciation with the Unicorn and Adoration of the Magi.jpg,

with the unicorn and

Buhl Altarpiece Last Judgment (retouched).jpg, Last Judgment and Hell

References

External links

Pictures of the front and rear sides of the Altarpiece
{{Portal bar, art 1490s paintings Gothic paintings Triptychs Monuments historiques of Haut-Rhin German paintings Paintings depicting the Passion of Jesus Paintings of the Virgin Mary Paintings in Alsace