Opening of the new Unterlinden Museum in Colmar
After four years under construction, the Unterlinden Museum has expanded. After major changes to its foundation and its galleries, the digging of trenches, the elevation of walls, the digging out of spaces, the construction of stairs, the museum modified its structure and its visit layout using new display areas to showcase its collections. It will be officially inaugurated January 23, 2016, but the public has been admitted since December 12, 2015.
The Unterlinden Museum offers a tour of nearly 7000 years of history, from prehistoric times to 20th century art. This travel through time allows the visitor to experience the many architectural facets of the museum renovated by the architects Herzog and Meuron. The medieval cloister holds the art of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance with works by Martin Schongauer, Hans Holbein, Lucas Cranach… and the Altarpiece of Issenheim—a true masterpiece of linden panels carved by Nicolas de Haguenau and painted by Matthias Grünewald between 1512 and 1516, which has been put back in its place in the chapel of the former convent.
The power of this monumental polyptych is explained by the pictorial quality of the work, the richness of the colours and the expression of the persons and scenes depicted. The seven panels of linden wood and the ten sculptures that make it up illustrate several episodes in the life of Christ and of St. Anthony of the Desert, patron of the Issenheim command, situated 20 km from Colmar. The closed altarpiece shows a dolorous crucifixion scene, flanked by two panels depicting saints invoked against epidemics, St. Anthony and St. Sebastian. Under the central scene, the predella represents the burial of Our Lord. The first wing of the altar piece shows luminous panels of the Annunciation, the concert of the angels, the Nativity and the Resurrection. The completely opened altar piece reveals the master sculpture of the patron saint of the command, enthroned between St. Augustine and St. Jerome. It is surrounded by panels with paintings showing the attack on St. Anthony and St. Anthony visiting St. Paul. On the predella, Christ surrounded by His Apostles is the saviour of the world.
Finally, the former baths dating from 1906 offer a space that is ideal for temporary exhibits, and the contemporary wing contains the offerings from artists of the 20th century.
(Sources: kipa-apic.ch – Unterlinden Museum – DICI no 328, 15/01/16)
