Masters of the Gothic

We know their works, but hardly their names

The old Gothic altar, on which the service is usually celebrated, is already so ruinous that the priest hardly feels safe at the sacrifice of the Mass." This was the reason given in 1799 by five honourable citizens of Hallstatt - pastors, market judges, caretakers and two councillors - who asked the "high mayor of the Enns provincial government in Linz" to have the altar of Hallstatt removed and replaced by a new one. The fact that we can admire the masterpiece of Gothic carving art today is not due to an art-loving official "the high mayor of the Enns state government".

Quite the opposite: the responsible government council had "the best hope for a favorable success of such an application". We owe the preservation of the altar solely to the fact that no one could be found who wanted to pay the costs for the demolition. We have to remember that there were once 1400 Gothic altars in Upper Austria alone, today there are just under two dozen.

It was the order of the day that works of art such as the winged altar of Hallstatt were turned into splinters. The Gothic masterpieces of Hallstatt still have to play the role of Cinderella today. This is by no means only the fault of the famous stepbrother in St. Wolfgang. Hallstatt, when it comes to art, everyone thinks of the Hallstatt culture. The prehistoric excavations "occupy the attention of scientists so much that our late Gothic carving has been pushed too much into the background of interest," regrets Ekkart Sauser, to whom we owe the well-founded treatises on the Hallstatt Altar of Mary.

One of the most important carved altars

There is no doubt in the art world about the value of this double-winged altar. "One of the most important carved altars in Upper Austria," judged the art monument handbook "Dehio", and "Reclams Kunstführer" specifies this: "It is the most important in Upper Austria after Pacher's altar in St. Wolfgang, after the Kefermarkt altar and with the altar of Gampern."

The Hallstatt Marian altar is the only work that Astl signed. When the inner wings of the altar are closed during Advent and Christmas, four relief representations become visible in the outer wings. The relief at the bottom left depicts the circumcision of the Lord, and here the creator of the altar has immortalized himself on the shawl of the high priest. However, you can only read "... nhart Astl" and it was a hasty conclusion on the part of the discoverer of this inscription to derive the name Leonard from it. Lienhart, Bernhart, Leonhart or Leonard puzzled the scholars. On the head of the right high priest there are three more letters: HER. This has now contributed to the complete confusion.

Because the artist will hardly have called himself "Mr. Astl". Should one interpret the "H" as a former "B" and derive Bernhart from it? Or are those right who think that this "... nhart Astl" could have been the master Leonhart zu Rottenmann? After the last thorough restoration of the altar in 1985, however, the solution to the mystery could be found: Leonhard Astl could be confirmed as the name by infrared technology.

Astl probably had his workshop in the area of Gmunden. The origin of the Hallstatt Altar of St. Mary is well known: in 1505 Astl probably took over the application, in 1510 it is believed that the work began to the full extent, 1515 is considered the year in which Astl celebrated the topping-out ceremony with his journeymen, the altar was completed around 1520. The sculptures in the main shrine were created by the master himself: Mary with Child, to the left of it St. Catherine, patron saint of woodcutters, on the right St. Barbara, patron saint of miners. Astl certainly carved the reliefs on the inner wings himself, because this is where the artist left us his name. Last but not least, the crucifixion group at the entrance to the church and a baby Jesus in the Hallstatt Museum. A letter of indulgence, with which the costs for the construction of the church were brought in, dates from 1505.

A consecration by the Bishop of Passau has been handed down from the year 1320. At least since 1181, the small Christian community of Hallstatt has had a church, of which the mightiest tower, which is firmly attached to the rock face, still stands. Today, the seriousness of Romanticism is softened by the cheerful, buoyant tower hood from the Baroque period. The state mining, which began with the elevation of Hallstatt to a market in 1311, brought an economic upswing. The church turned out to be too small. This is how the building that we still have in front of us today came into being: a two-aisled and two-choir Gothic hall church with a beautiful ribbed vault and tracery windows. The church was built with two naves not only for architectural, but also for social reasons. It was miners and citizens who made the construction of the church possible. the right nave was intended for the miners, the left for the rest of the parish.

Treasures of Hallstatt

What else does Hallstatt have to offer in and outside the Catholic parish church in terms of Gothic art treasures? Above all, a second, small winged altar, which is now set up at the north entrance of the church. This altar, which was built around 1450 and is the work of an unknown miner or a team of miners, was also threatened with destruction.

This is the simple story of the rescue of one of Hallstatt's most precious treasures: For a Gothic winged altar around 1750, a miner was commissioned to remove the small Gothic winged altar in the Häuerkapelle on the Salzberg. That was nothing unusual at that time. What was unusual, however, was how this unknown worker reacted. On a wooden tablet with which he nailed the altar wings together, he wrote: "Today I received orders to remove the small altar, cut it up and burn it. But I pick it up. Maybe someone who has more heart will find it."

He did not pretend to be an art connoisseur, this miner, he did not boast of his religious feelings, which were probably the reason for the decision not to carry out this commission and to place the altar in the house in a corner of the attic. He only expressed his hope that one day someone will have more heart. Hallstatt and Hallstatt visitors from all over the world owe it to this simple miner that the altar, which has been honoured again in the church today, has been preserved. Dominating this altar is the main picture: an unusually fascinating, lively depiction of the crucifixion, far beyond the mere realism of the scene, with an abundance of people, among whom there is not a single dozen faces.

Unfortunately, thieves destroyed the altar in 1987 and robbed it of its wings. Immediately after the incident became known, an alarm search was initiated, but it was unsuccessful. In the meantime, the panel paintings have been replaced by replicas of the Federal Monuments Office, which only gives an idea of the original uniqueness and beauty of this altarpiece...

Other Gothic treasures

Finally, as mentioned, the Hallstatt church still houses a life-size crucifixion group by the hand of Master Astl, which is placed in the main entrance and was probably created around 1515/20: Christ, Mary, John. The art historian Ekkart Sauser: "Johannes and Maria were created entirely in the spirit of the Astl workshop, St. Johannes, whose nobly shaped face makes him one of the best works of Master Astl, is reminiscent in its head shape and striking facial features of Astl's young men's types, as they can be found in large numbers in the Hallstatt essay figures and reliefs. Mary finds parallels in the Holy Women on the Hallstatt circumcision and representation relief. The Crucified One shows ascetic severity in his features, has accentuated jaws and sunken cheeks."

Art of the Danube School

The frescoes above the main entrance to the church are attributed to the Danube School: colourful Passion scenes; Carrying the cross and nailing the cross (around 1500). During this time, the Christophorus fresco on the east side of the church was also created. The portal dates from 1519 and is made of red Salzburg marble with a beautifully designed door strip. When listing the Gothic works of Hallstatt, the Michaelskapelle (around 1300) should not be forgotten, with a Romanesque substructure and a Gothic chapel room above it. This is where the widely known ossuary is located.

Mary, not only artistically

At the end of this chapter, however, may I invite you once again to a short visit to the church in order to return to the most beautiful Gothic architecture in Hallstatt. This is, in the spirit of the parish church of the Assumption of Mary and the altar of Mary, the Mother of God on the main altar. The art historian Ekkard Sauser analyzes it as follows: "Simple, plain, very natural, as if taken from life, nothing ascetic, majestic, not even extremely noble forms in the facial features and folds of the garments."

Simple, plain, natural? This is much more unusual than it seems at first glance. For the artist of Hallstatt, Mary is not the ideal of the highest heavenly and earthly beauty with internalized, sunken expression, as we have it in other works. Mary is here a simple, simple, natural woman. Perhaps this is not only important for an artistic view. I could imagine that with such a Mary, the feeling of having a mediator between God and people in front of her arises. This Mary is a woman and mother, no different from the women and mothers who have knelt before this Mary for four and a half centuries.

Experience history - visit Hallstatt now!

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