Viewing the Issenheim Altarpiece by Gruenwald in Colmar (Alsace, France) with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Since we lived in southwestern Germany, getting to Alsace in eastern France was a day-trip away from our home. Colmar with its Petite Venise (Little Venice) series of canals and the Unterlinden Museum merit several visits to this town of half-timbered homes on crooked, medieval streets.
Alsace has been French or German for centuries according to French governments or German ones; the Alsatians would most probably say, “We are our own people.” However, I think in this century, at least, that Alsace is very French for several reasons.
Citizens in Colmar have an almost Parisian gait to their wiry bodies. The women’s fashion on the street looks like classic Chanel with colored silk scarves at the throat. Perfume wafts through the air to complete “the look” that one puts on to be seen as one goes about one’s business.
Houses in Alsace have a well-trimmed abundance of flowers that accentuate the rectangular window frames, which makes me think they are competing in the French “Villages Fleuries” program. This program names a village or town that makes itself the most beautiful with flowers every year.
Restaurants in Alsace also expect you to wait to be seated as in France. In Germany, restaurant customers can sit down where they want as long as they do not sit at the stammtisch (owner’s table). French is spoken by everyone in Colmar, including the German tourists it seems.
There are busloads of tourists from all countries, who come to Colmar to visit the Unterlinden Museum. Unterlinden means “under the linden trees,” and there are linden trees all around the museum. The Unterlinden Museum houses the Issenheim Altarpiece, one of the greatest works of German art painted by Matthias Grünewald (ca. 1475/1480 – 1528) and sculpted by Nicholas de Haguenau (1485 – 1526/1538) between the years 1512 and 1516.
The Issenheim Altarpiece is not a joyful artwork, but rather one of Christ’s empathy for sufferers of what was called Saint Anthony’s Disease; the Issenheim Altarpiece offers hope for salvation from suffering on earth. Saint Anthony’s Disease was caused by fungus on rye used in bread baking.
According to the Musée d’Unterlinden Colmar in the Connaissances des Arts series, the church’s liturgical calendar determines the showing of the three collection of paintings of the Issenheim Altarpiece. There are nine scenes that deal with the life of the Egyptian hermit Saint Anthony, scenes from the life of Saint Mary, and the Crucifixion.
In the scene of the Temptation of Saint Anthony Grünewald’s monster’s have ugly, tortured faces and gnarled hands. They look joyful, though, as if they were hazing new recruits to a sinister fraternity.
Today the
altar piece has been separated and hung in a former chapel of a thirteenth
century Dominican convent.
Other galleries occupy the former convent’s rooms. The wood carving of the Haut-Rhenan School from the Middle Ages on display is life-like and deeply carved into the wood. A roomful of long-haired, blond Madonnas sculpted in wood shows them gazing towards their son with gentle curves at the hip to hold a baby. Wood sculpture on altars shows flowers almost blooming out of their background, because they are carved in such high relief.
The Canals of the Petite Venise run in front of the Unterlinden Museum and restaurants. The day we visited it was raining, so Laurent and I did not do our traditional assessment of every restaurant menu in town before deciding on one.
Fortunately, our choice of a restaurant turned out to be a welcoming place with excellent food named Pfeffel. I immediately liked the soft, red and white tablecloths and linen napkins. The restaurant was located inside a medieval, half-timbered house with wood beams running across the ceiling.
I ate pork medallions in cream sauce followed by a good slice of Muenster cheese rolled in caraway seeds. The caraway seeds improved the flavor and downplayed the scent somewhat. The meal was a marvelous finish to a wonderful outing in Colmar.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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