Se det Sixtinske Kapel virtuelt uden at tage til Rom og lægge  dig på gulvet på ryggen, som jeg gjorde i 1986, da det desværre var under restaurering.

Grünewald og Bach

The final flowering of the Gothic came relatively late, in the work of the German artist, Matthias Grünewald 1470-1528. He was possibly an exact contemporary of Dürer, but while Dürer was deeply influenced by the Renaissance, Grünewald ignored it in his choice of subject matter and style. Much of his work has not survived to this day, but even from the small amount that has come down to us, it is possible to see Grünewald as one of the most powerful of all painters.

No other painter has ever so terribly and truthfully exposed the horror of suffering, and yet kept before us, as Bosch does not, the conviction of salvation. His Crucifixion, part of the many-panelled Isenheim Altarpiece, is now kept in Colmar.

It was commissioned for the Antoinite monastery at Isenheim and was intended to give support to patients in the monastic hospital. Christ appears hideous, his skin swollen and torn as a result of the flagellation and torture that He endured. This was understandably a powerful image in a hospital that specialized in caring for those suffering from skin complaints. Grünewald’s dark vision.  (detalje fra Isenheim alteret, helbillede her.)

Langfredag er det også værd at minde sig om, at påsken oprindeligt var en gammel israelitisk fest fra nomadetiden, hvor man fejrede foråret og kvægets frugtbarhed.

(udvalgte arier og finale fra Matthaüs Passionen)

Erbarme dich, mein Gott

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein

Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen

Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder

Roger Scruton: On Gratitude and Grace