Grünewald's Isenheim Altar
Matthias Grünewald
MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, real name Mathis Gohart Nithart, c. 1465-1528, was a German painter, born in Würzburg. He became court painter to the archbishop of Mainz in 1508 and later to Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg. but was won over to Luther and discharged in 1525. Among his earliest extant works are "Flagellation" (1503) and "Christ Mocked" (1509). but his masterpiece is the "Isenheim Altar (1510-14) at Colmar. Although typical of early German painting in their linear realism and intensity of agonizing emotion. Grünewald's paintings fore-shadow Italian influence in their strong light and shade composition, recreation of space, and theatrical poses.
