Matthias Grünewald

Lore & Background

Grünewald was recognized in his lifetime, as shown by his commissions, yet the details of his life are unusually unclear for a painter of his significance at this date. The first source to sketch his biography comes from the German art historian Joachim von Sandrart, who describes him around 1505 working on the exterior decoration of an altarpiece by Albrecht Dürer in Frankfurt. As this work is typically performed by apprentices, it was estimated that he was born in 1475. Sandrart records that Grünewald's apprentice was the painter Hans Grimmer, who became famous in his time, but most of whose works were lost in the Thirty Years' War. Sandrart describes Grünewald as leading a withdrawn and melancholy life, and marrying unhappily. In 1511 he became court artist of Uriel von Gemmingen, Archbishop of Mainz, and he also worked for the next archbishop, Albert of Brandenburg. About 1510 he received a commission from the Frankfurt merchant Jacob Heller and settled in nearby Frankfurt where records indicate he bought a house and married Anna, a converted Jew, then probably aged 18. The marriage was not happy and in 1523 she was institutionalised with what is variously described as mental illness and demonic possession. From 1512 to 1514 or 1515 he worked on the Isenheim altarpiece, apparently in partnership with another Mathis, variously surnamed Nithart, Neithart, von Würzburg (after his place of birth), or Gothardt. Grünewald seems to have left Isenheim in a hurry, returning to Frankfurt, and his subsequent poverty suggests he was not fully paid for the altarpiece. In 1527 he entered the services of the wealthy and noble von Erbach family, apparently with a child (whether his own or adopted, is unclear). He most probably died in 1532, although sources vary. In 1938 Walter Karl Zülch published the theory that Grünewald and his partner Nithart/Gothardt were the same person; this theory is now generally discredited, although more recent historians believe Nithart/Gothardt may have pretended to be Grünewald for business reasons.

Reader's Guide

Grünewald's surviving corpus is small and exclusively religious, the most famous being the Isenheim Altarpiece, completed 1515, now in the Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar. Its nine images on twelve panels are arranged on double wings to present three views (rather than just the open and closed states of triptych altarpieces), according to the season or occasion. The first view with the outer wings closed shows a Crucifixion flanked by Saint Sebastien and Saint Anthony, with a predella showing the entombment. When the first set of wings is opened, the Annunciation, Angelic Concert (sometimes interpreted as the Birth of Ecclesia), Mary bathing Christ, and Resurrection are displayed. The third view discloses a carved and gilded wood altarpiece by Nikolaus Hagenauer, flanked by the Temptation of St. Anthony and Anthony's visit to Saint Paul. The altarpiece contains most of his surviving painting by surface area, being 2.65 metres high and over 5 metres wide at its fullest extent. His other works are in Germany, except for a small Crucifixion in Washington and another in Basel, Switzerland. Around 1510 he was asked to paint four saints in grisaille for the outside of the wings of Albrecht Dürer's Heller Altarpiece in Frankfurt. Dürer's work was destroyed by fire and survives only in copies, but the wings have survived, one pair of saints being displayed in Frankfurt's Municipal Art Gallery and the other in Karlsruhe's Staatliche Kunsthalle. There are also the late Tauberbischofsheim altarpiece in the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, and the Establishment of the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome (1517–1519), Augustiner Museum, Freiburg. A large panel of Saint Erasmus and Saint Maurice in Munich probably dates from 1521 to 1524. The visionary character of his work, with its expressive colour and line, is in stark contrast to Dürer's works. His paintings are known for their dramatic forms, vivid colors, and depiction of light. In the late 19th century he was rediscovered, and became something of a cult figure, with the angst-laden expressionism—and absence of any direct classicism—of the Isenheim Altarpiece appealing to both German Nationalists and Modernists. Joris-Karl Huysmans promoted his art enthusiastically in both novels and journalism. The composer Paul Hindemith based his 1938 opera Mathis der Maler on the life of Grünewald during the German Peasants' War; scene Six includes a partial re-enactment of some scenes from the Isenheim Altarpiece. Elias Canetti wrote his novel Auto-da-Fé surrounded by reproductions of the Isenheim altarpiece stuck to the wall. German author W. G. Sebald traces the life story of Grünewald in his first literary work, After Nature. Grünewald is commemorated as an artist and saint by the Lutheran Church on April 6, along with Dürer and Cranach.

Did You Know?

• Only ten paintings and thirty-five drawings by Grünewald survive, all religious; many others were lost at sea on their way to Sweden as war booty.
• The Isenheim Altarpiece is 2.65 metres high and over 5 metres wide at its fullest extent, containing most of his surviving painting by surface area.
• Grünewald's apprentice Hans Grimmer became famous in his time, but most of his works were lost in the Thirty Years' War.
• In 1938 Walter Karl Zülch published the theory that Grünewald and his partner Nithart/Gothardt were the same person, but this theory is now generally discredited.
• Grünewald is commemorated as an artist and saint by the Lutheran Church on April 6, along with Dürer and Cranach.

Career & Commissions

Despite the thinness of documentary evidence, Grünewald clearly enjoyed a working reputation during his lifetime, evidenced by the steady stream of commissions he received from powerful patrons. In 1511 he was appointed court artist to Uriel von Gemmingen, Archbishop of Mainz, and subsequently served the next archbishop, Albert of Brandenburg. Around 1510, a commission from the Frankfurt merchant Jacob Heller brought him to the city, where records show he purchased a house and settled into domestic life. His most ambitious undertaking, the Isenheim Altarpiece, was executed between roughly 1512 and 1515 in apparent partnership with another painter named Mathis. He departed Isenheim in what appears to have been a hasty retreat, and the poverty that followed strongly implies he never received full payment for the monumental commission. By 1527 he had entered the household of the wealthy von Erbach family. His surviving output is remarkably small—only ten paintings and thirty-five drawings, all of a religious character—yet many more works perished when they were shipped to Sweden as war booty and lost at sea.

The Isenheim Altarpiece

The Isenheim Altarpiece, completed around 1515 and now housed in the Musée d'Unterlinden in Colmar, stands as Grünewald's supreme achievement and contains the largest share of his surviving painted surface. Measuring 2.65 metres in height and exceeding five metres in width at its fullest extension, the piece is organized across nine images on twelve panels mounted on double wings. Rather than offering the simple two-state arrangement of a conventional triptych, the altarpiece presents three distinct views tailored to the season or liturgical occasion. With the outer wings shut, the viewer confronts a Crucifixion flanked by Saint Sebastian and Saint Anthony, above a predella depicting the Entombment. Opening the first set of wings reveals the Annunciation, an Angelic Concert, Mary bathing Christ, and the Resurrection. The final innermost view discloses a carved and gilded wooden altarpiece by Nikolaus Hagenauer, accompanied by the Temptation of Saint Anthony and Anthony's visit to Saint Paul. The work is celebrated for its visionary intensity, expressive use of colour and line, dramatic forms, and vivid handling of light—qualities that place it in sharp contrast to the classical restraint associated with Dürer.

Personal Life & Biographical Uncertainty

For a painter of his stature, the biographical record surrounding Grünewald is strikingly sparse and contradictory. The earliest sketch of his life comes from the seventeenth-century art historian Joachim von Sandrart, who places him around 1505 performing the kind of exterior altarpiece decoration typically reserved for apprentices on a Dürer commission in Frankfurt. Sandrart also portrays Grünewald as a withdrawn, melancholy figure who married unhappily. More recent research adds texture: around 1510 he settled in Frankfurt, bought a house, and wed Anna, a converted Jew probably about eighteen years old. The marriage proved deeply troubled, and by 1523 Anna was institutionalised, her condition variously described as mental illness or demonic possession. In 1527 he entered the service of the von Erbach family, accompanied by a child whose parentage remains unclear. His death is variously dated to 1528 or 1532. A 1938 theory by Walter Karl Zülch, which merged Grünewald with a painter-engineer named Nithart or Gothardt from Würzburg, is now largely discredited, though some modern scholars suggest that Nithart may have assumed Grünewald's identity for commercial advantage.

Legacy & Rediscovery

Grünewald languished in obscurity for centuries, his works routinely misattributed to Albrecht Dürer. Even the Lutheran theologian Philipp Melanchthon, one of the few contemporaries to mention him, puzzlingly described his style as moderate—a judgement whose basis remains uncertain. By the late sixteenth century, when Emperor Rudolph II was actively hunting down Dürer paintings, the Isenheim Altarpiece was already widely assumed to be a Dürer. The true rediscovery came in the late nineteenth century, when Grünewald emerged as a cult figure whose angst-laden expressionism and complete absence of classical refinement captivated both German Nationalists and Modernists alike. The French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans championed his art with the same fervour that Proust later brought to Vermeer, promoting him through novels and journalism. His apparent sympathy for the peasants during the Peasants' War also earned him admiration from the political left. In 1938 the composer Paul Hindemith drew on Grünewald's life for his opera Mathis der Maler, whose sixth scene stages a partial re-enactment of the Isenheim Altarpiece. The novelist Elias Canetti similarly surrounded himself with reproductions of Grünewald's work while writing his novel Auto-da-Fé.