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The ''Heller Altarpiece'' was an Kunstgeschichtliches Institut der Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, DFG-Projekt »Sandrart.net«
Heller-Altar, Kopie des Mittelbildes: Himmelfahrt Mariens. Retrieved 2010-05-30. The side panels, executed by Dürer's workshop basing from his drawings, are at the Staatliche Kunsthalle of
The side panels, executed by Dürer's assistants, were completed by other four commissioned to Matthias Grünewald in 1510. The side shutters were detached in the 18th century, and each of the two panels composing them were separated in 1804.
The external panels were painted in
{{Authority control Paintings by Albrecht Dürer Paintings by Matthias Grünewald 1500s paintings Paintings in the collection of the Städel Paintings depicting Jesus Paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin Birds in art Triptychs
oil on panel
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel of wood, either a single piece or a number of pieces joined together. Until canvas became the more popular support medium in the 16th century, panel painting was the normal method, when not paint ...
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the 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) that is divided ...
by German Renaissance artists Albrecht Dürer and Matthias Grünewald
Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given ...
, executed between 1507 and 1509. The artwork was named after Jakob Heller, who ordered it. Dürer painted the interior, Grünewald the exterior.
In 1615, Dürer copyist Jobst Harrich painted a duplicate, which is now at the Städel of Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
.Heller-Altar, Kopie des Mittelbildes: Himmelfahrt Mariens. Retrieved 2010-05-30. The side panels, executed by Dürer's workshop basing from his drawings, are at the Staatliche Kunsthalle of
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
.
History
The painting was commissioned by Frankfurt merchant Jakob Heller, for the Dominican church of the city. In 1615, the central panel, the only one by Dürer alone, was sold to Maximilian I of Bavaria; a copy was ordered to replace the original in its location at the church's high altar. The central panel was destroyed by a fire in Munich in 1729. The famous drawing of two praying hands in theAlbertina
The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...
in Vienna
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is a study for one of the apostles in the central panel.
The side panels, executed by Dürer's assistants, were completed by other four commissioned to Matthias Grünewald in 1510. The side shutters were detached in the 18th century, and each of the two panels composing them were separated in 1804.
Description
The central panel, depicting the ''Assumption
Assumption, in Christianity, refers to the Assumption of Mary, a belief in the taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven.
Assumption may also refer to:
Places
* Assumption, Alberta, Canada
* Assumption, Illinois, United States
** Assumption Tow ...
and Coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of ot ...
of the Virgin'', was perhaps inspired by Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
's Oddi Altarpiece. It is not known if Dürer saw Raphael's work in Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...
, during a hypothetical trip to Rome after his stay in Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, or if he knew it from etchings or drawings.
Mary is shown while the Holy Trinity (Jesus at right, the Eternal Father at the center and, at top, the Holy Spirit Dove) crowns her, surrounded by a multitude of cherubims; this iconography was popular in northern Europe art at the time, and was used, for example, in a panel by Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton (or Charonton) ( 1410 – 1466) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherlan ...
now at the Louvre Museum
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
(1454). Below, around the empty sepulcher, the apostles observe the scene in astonished postures. Dürer added a self-portrait in the background, next to a table with his signature and the date.
The internal side panels were painted by assistants from Dürer's drawings. At left is he ''Martyrdom of St. James''; Jacob Heller appears below, kneeling inside a niche with his coat of arms. At right is ''Martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria'', with the donor's wife, Katharina von Melem. The choice of the saints was connected to the two donors' names.
The external panels were painted in grisaille
Grisaille ( or ; french: grisaille, lit=greyed , from ''gris'' 'grey') is a painting executed entirely in shades of grey or of another neutral greyish colour. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many g ...
, with the participation of a young Matthias Grünewald. They include eight depiction of saints; one, St. Lawrence, is signed "MGN". St. Cyriacus is portrayed during the exorcism of Artemia, daughter of Roman emperor Diocletian. He hold a book with the exorcism formula: ": AVCTORITATE DOMINI NOSTRI IHSVXPHISTI EXORCIZO TE PER ISTA TRIA NOMINA EDXAI EN ONOMATI GRAMMATON IN NOMINE PATRIS ET FILII ET SPIRITVS SANCTI AMEN".
References
Sources
*{{Authority control Paintings by Albrecht Dürer Paintings by Matthias Grünewald 1500s paintings Paintings in the collection of the Städel Paintings depicting Jesus Paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin Birds in art Triptychs