Divine craftsmanship

The gigantic wooden relief describes the Passion, scene by scene and with a multitude of figures. As many as 400 figures have been brought forward from under the oak bark by Hans Brüggemann and his tools. It took him seven years to complete the altar.
 
In its entirety, the altar seems almost chaotic. But a zoom into one of the scenes - such as "Christ breaks down the gates of death" - reveals Brüggemann's impressive wood-carving skills. Notice the shameful couple, Adam and Eve, who cover their nakedness. Or a fine detail such as the expressive glance exchanged between Christ and Abraham whom he frees from the land of the dead. Or how about the devilish bird that points its trident at those who are damned? Ready to be impaled if they are not true to their faith!

The floating city
Weighing several tons, the altar gets lighter towards the top where it is completed by fine ornaments. Overall, it is reminiscent of a piece of magical architecture reaching for the sky. The altar becomes a symbol of The Heavenly City ruled by Christ on his throne who hovers above it all. He is "The Last Judge" who will sit in judgment of the living and the dead. Separate the sheep from the rams. Who wouldn't prefer to hover up there in eternity instead of being roasted in the flames of hell, deep down beneath the earth?

New ideals
In Brüggemann's time, art was developing rapidly. Try to compare the description of space and figure with Resurrection by Unionsmesteren (which has also been selected for the Canon of the Arts) painted just 80 years earlier. Now the picture space begins to resemble something real!

There is no doubt that Brüggemann knew the Passion wood-carving by the German master Albrecht Dürer. Dürer had learnt several tricks from the clever Italian renaissance artists who developed the central perspective, and life-like figure drawing. Brüggemann imitated him in a most accomplished way.

Trine Moeller Madsen is a writer on art and cultural affairs and an author. Among her works is "KUNST" ("Art") (Gyldendal, 2004), a textbook on image analysis for the oldest students in the Danish Folkeskole.