In Tuesday’s class, we finished our discussion on the Portinari Altarpiece and began our discussion on the many layers of the Insenheim Altarpiece. I found the Insenheim Altarpiece to be refreshing because although Grünewald echoed some of the iconography and style choices of some of the more typical Italian Renaissance art we have seen, his style, as we discussed, is mostly Germanic. I was particularly interested in this aspect of the art considering its place of origin in Alsace, which historically has had a mixture of French and German cultures/languages. One of the parts of our discussion that particularly struck my interest was the portrayal of skin disease and decomposing flesh in the painting, specifically because it was shown in both Jesus’ flesh wounds, and Lucifer’s rotting hands and green skin. Jesus’ suffering is portrayed as a skin disease, which makes sense to me, as the patrons of the monastery could be comforted by Jesus’ sacrifice and his eventual “pain-free” rebirth. However, juxtaposing it is Lucifer’s decomposition, which my only guess would be based on the belief that disease came to those who had sinned as a punishment, much like the plague.

In Tuesday’s class we spent most of the class discussing Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece. This piece was quite interesting because so many elements of the altarpiece were so tailored to the monastery where it would be placed. This piece was an essential element of the work that the Antonite monastery was doing for their patients with Ergotism (“St. Anthony’s fire”). The monks would bring their patients before the altarpiece to make sure that when they finally died, they would go to heaven. This was the first example I have seen of an altarpiece that was so integral to the function of a religious order—other altarpieces have felt more like additional decoration or adoration opportunity for members of the congregation, but this piece felt more interactive to me because it was so specific to the monastery it was placed in. The grotesque depiction of Christ’s infected skin and bloody wounds really ground Him as a human figure and remind the patients suffering from ergotism that Jesus suffered as they have and sacrificed himself so that they can go to heaven and have eternal life once they have died.

In Thursday’s class, we reviewed the works Professor Plesch discussed in the virtual lecture given on Tuesday and then we delved into Hugo van der Göes’ Portinari Altarpiece. This was our first introduction to a nativity scene, and it opened up a whole new set of symbolisms and artistic techniques. The nativity scene represents the encounter between the sacred and the secular. The birth of Christ encapsulates that encounter perfectly. The baby Jesus lies in a central part of the painting and is surrounded by human and animal figures adoring Him. We were introduced to the concept of people removing their shoes in the presence of religious figures (in art) because they are standing on holy ground, which we see occurring with one of the figures in the foreground of the painting. As we discussed this altarpiece, we also talked about the pattern of antisemitism in Christian religious iconography, which is disturbing and important to pay attention to as Christianity looks to gain power and assert dominance through art later in the Renaissance.

This virtual class was one of my favorites because of the level of extraordinary detail that Professor Plesch revealed about Jan van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece. One of the most initially striking elements of the altarpiece is the mobile nature of the piece—a characteristic of Northern altarpieces. When the piece is closed, it is relatively subdued in color, but when the piece opens the colors are explosive, which gives the viewers the experience of witnessing a heavenly vision. I was absolutely astounded by the detail of the clothing and accessories adorning the God figure (judge of the apocalypse) at the center of the inner panels. From the sheen on the pearls to the pelican images of sacrifice behind God, each minute detail brings greater texture and meaning to the painting. The detail that was achieved by van Eyck with his expert use of oil paint is incredible and makes each aspect of the painting feel extremely lifelike. I was absolutely fascinated by the intricacies of the Ghent Altarpiece and hope we have the opportunity to explore more works like this one later in the semester.

In this class, we first discussed the Portinari Altarpiece. One thing that stood out to me was that the virgin was represented by the glass or a beam of light, implying “light can go through glass without changing it, so the virgin can get pregnant without not being virgin anymore”. Such an explanation for the virginity of the virgin is not convincing, but it’s still interesting to see how the ancient try their best to justify their religious legends. The demon lurking in the dark is also interesting, as it takes people centuries to discover that, and even now when I was told that there’s a demon, it was hard to find out easily. I was totally amazed by the great craftsmanship of the artist and their skills in detail. I also like the structure of this piece, which has scenes in the background that reminded people of what was happened in the story, like the virgin was pregnant on her traveling way. This kind of design made me feel like I was reading a story, which was much more vivid and impressive than simply a picture.

Then we moved on to the Isenheim Altarpiece, and what left me a great impression was how the sickness of Jesus was depicted in the piece. Jesus here was already dead with twisty ankles, worn cloth, and morbid skin, which related to ergotism many followers got during that time. Instead of being narrative as the Portinari Altarpiece, this one was more impressive and was trying to send a message to the followers, who came to pray for their skin disease, that they would reobtain a healthy body just like the resurgence of Jesus. Those uncomfortable depictions created a gruesome atmosphere and also a sense of resonance with the patients, revealing the religious function it possessed.

Today we discussed several more altarpieces. I really enjoyed our conversation about the Isenheim altarpiece. I think it’s interesting to think about the huge size of this altarpiece, even when it’s closed, and how that would impact the audience given the setting (many sick people in the hospital would view this art). To me, it is important to understand the context of this time period and how there were no medical advancements to stop this disease, so the monks were just there to pray for the patients in hopes they will be able to go to Heaven. In a way, the altarpiece was also helping their healing process as well. I enjoyed learning about the two specific saints depicted and why the artist chose these. To me, it is interesting how Saints could have one primary purpose / message, yet also be used for other situations for prayer. For example, St. Sebastian is a popular saint to pray to in terms of the plague however he is depicted here since his arrow wounds distorted his skin, so the patients could pray to him as well since they were dying of a skin disease.

In this class we discussed the Insenheim Altarpiece which was different from many others due to the practical use of it in the healing process at the monastery it was made for. It was because it was made for this process that there are multiple instances in the altarpiece in which the person looks as if they had ergotism which was called “St. Anthony’s fire” with St. Anthony being the patron of that particular monastery. This piece stood out because it did not focus on telling a narrative as much as some other altarpieces. Instead, it was more expressive and didn’t focus on making all of the expressions look natural. However what really stood out was the way the artist used representations of certain items and icons from other famous paintings that left their mark on the minds of the people. For example, he drew the lamb of God that was similar to the one on the Ghent altarpiece as well as using peacocks and elements of peacocks to decorate Lucifer because similar elements were used to decorate the serpent that tempted eve in a previous depiction of the scene.

This class we discussed the Portinari Altarpiece and its many symbols and hidden meanings. I thought it was interesting how the artist made many small details to add depth and symbolism to the piece. The shoe for example, represents the sacred ground the people were on. Also, the colors of the flowers representing royalty (blue), purity (white) and passion (red). We also discussed some similarities between northern and southern Renaissance art. One being how both were making art more realistic, and they were able to do that will oil paints. It is more clear which pieces were made during what period just by looking at the attention to detail and the depth of the painting. Also, both the north and south had a common understanding of the purpose of the altarpieces and that was to being heaven and spiritual world to the “here and now”. They extended the church space into the holy world, allowing a more earnest prayer . They also had differences in the way the altarpieces were displayed, from the richness of the paint and and the emotions provoked. Northern art tended to be more emotional, detailed and used richer colors of red. Southern art was more heavenly, not so somber and gruesome and had a more blueish tone.

Today we discussed more of the Portinari Altarpiece and the Isenheim Altarpiece. I thought it was super interesting how it took four centuries to decipher the lurking devil in the background of the Portinari altarpiece. Personally, I can really see it, but it is super cool how an art historian found it. Then, we jumped to a northern piece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Though the northern and southern altarpieces differ structurally, they both are beginning to create more somber, and emotional scenes throughout the Renaissance.

The Isenheim has many scenes depicted in one folding altarpiece, including an inaccurate but provoking image of the crucifixion. Jesus’ skin looked diseased, which could resemble to ergotism outbreak during the time period. The altarpiece was made for diseased people to pray in front of to heal their gangrene. Another figure on the altarpiece was Saint Sebastien who symbolized healing from illness, another way the Isenheim was used for those with ergotism.

In today’s class, we discussed the differences between Northern and Italian Art. In particular, I noticed differences in themes starting to emerge. In Northern Art, Christ is depicted as more grotesque, alluding to a more realistic theme. Meanwhile, in Italian Art, Christ is depicted as beautiful and untouched by humans. This alludes to a god-like theme. Furthermore, the grotesqueness of Christ in Northern Art ignites a more emotional response to the paintings. This implies Northern Art focused on emotional reactions, in stark contrast to the holy reactions Italian Art ignites.