Christ Bearing the Cross from the High Altar of the Abbey Church in Tegernsee
Gabriel Angler d. Ä.
Munich, ca 1444/45
Painting on canvas over wood
186,0 x 294,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. L BStGS 1436
On loan from the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Gallery 8
Consecrated in 1445, this retable for the high altar had painted wings without sculpture. The inner panels represented the events of the Passion Cycle across two registers, one above the other. The outer panels were scenes from the life of the patron saint of the Abbey, St Quirinus. In the central field Christ bearing the Cross was probably at the bottom, with the Crucifixion above it (now in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg). Gabriel Angler, who created the – lost – high altar of the Munich Frauenkirche in 1434–1437, was the leading painter in Munich in the second quarter of the 15th century. He depicts the events of the Passion in scenes teeming with figures, dramatic motifs and realistic details. His palette is oddly subdued, revealing a preference for greys and browns. The turbulent sky in the background is the result of Baroque overpainting.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
