{{Use dmy dates, date=October 2015 Hildesheim Wrisberg-Epitaph Mitteltafel

The Wrisberg Epitaph is a

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 ...

, which was created by the

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

painter Johannes Hopffe († 1615) in 1585 as an

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

for the Domherr Ernst von Wrisberg. The original frame did not survive. However, copies were created and subsequently hidden during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, the central one could be viewed in the south transept of

Hildesheim Cathedral Hildesheim Cathedral (German: '), officially the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (German: ''Hohe Domkirche St. Mariä Himmelfahrt'') or simply St. Mary's Cathedral (German: ''Mariendom''), is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral in the city cent ...

until January 2010. During the renovation of the cathedral (2010–2014) the three panels were on display in a reconstructed frame in the Weserrenaissance-Museum in Schloss Brake,

Lemgo Lemgo (; nds, Lemge, Lemje) is a small university town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of Hannover. T ...

Style and description

The three large panels in the

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...

style have the same format. The outer panels show the Nativity and

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

of Christ, drawing on models from the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

. The most novel portion is the central panel. This serves as a painted catechism of the Catholic reform. The renewed Catholic

ecclesiology In Christian theology, ecclesiology is the study of the Church (congregation), Church, the origins of Christianity, its relationship to Jesus, its role in salvation, its ecclesiastical polity, polity, its Church discipline, discipline, its escha ...

and sacramental doctrine of the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

are displayed in the tone of the counter-reformation. The painting shows the heavenly realm of God and the saints and the contemporary, mundane world in two levels, which are both separated and linked. The connection follows the central axis.

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

flows from the wounds of the crucified Jesus, as the second person of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

(between God the Father and the Holy Spirit), into a baptismal font and the other sacraments and through them to humanity. In the centre, a woman in red wearing a papal tiara is enthroned as a personification of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

on a magnificent Renaissance monument. A long line of people emerge from a hole in the background, enter a baptismal building and leave it dressed in white, set on the way to the palace of the church. From there they split into individuals dressed as laypeople, who receive the sacraments in their various types of life, and those who leave the bosom of the church and sink into the ground at the bottom of the picture. There are six sacraments beyond the "entrance way" of

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

, dispensed by giant figures, At left: * Anointing of the Sick (Priest in rochett and stole), * Holy orders (Bishop in golden

cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A c ...

), * Confirmation (Bishop in red cope), At right: *Marriage (Priest in rochett and stole) *

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

(Priest in

chasuble The chasuble () is the outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy for the celebration of the Eucharist in Western-tradition Christian churches that use full vestments, primarily in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. In the Eastern ...

) * Penance (Priest in rochett and stole). The heavenly and earthly churches as well as the church and the sacraments are bound together with iron chains.

External links

Information of the Diocese of Hildesheim

Image of the three panels of the epitaph in the reconstructed frame
(Weserrenaissance-Museum) Hildesheim Cathedral Museum Catholic paintings 16th-century paintings German paintings Counter-Reformation Mannerist paintings Paintings depicting the Holy Trinity