03 works, Today, September 14th, is Exaltation of the Cross day, the story illustrated #256

Mathias Grünewald,  (–1528)

Nikolaus Hagenauer,  (1445–1538)

Isenheim Altarpiece, c. between 1509 and 1515
Oil on panel
Height: 269 cm (105.9 in); Width: 307 cm (10 ft)

Collection
Unterlinden Museum,  Colmar, in the Alsace region of France

Depicted people; Anthony the Great, Saint Sebastian, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Paul

Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470 – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given as Mathis and his surname as Gothart or Neithardt. Only ten paintings—several consisting of many panels—and thirty-five drawings survive, all religious, although many others were lost at sea in the Baltic on their way to Sweden as war booty. His reputation was obscured until the late nineteenth century, and many of his paintings were attributed to Albrecht Dürer, who is now seen as his stylistic antithesis. His largest and most famous work is the Isenheim Altarpiece created c 1512 to 1516. More on Matthias Grünewald

Nikolaus Hagenauer (c. 1445/1460 — before 1538) was a German late gothic sculptor from Alsace.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross, also called Universal Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross or Holy Cross Day, liturgical feast celebrated on September 14 to honour the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. In the Eastern churches the feast dates back to the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site of Christ’s tomb) in Jerusalem circa 335. It was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in the 7th century and is also observed in various Protestant traditions, including Lutheranism and Anglicanism.

Ambrogio Bergognone

Christ Rising from the Tomb, c. 1490

Oil on panel

114.5 x 61.2 cm

Washington, National Gallery of Art

Ambrogio Borgognone (variously known as Ambrogio da Fossano, Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano, Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano or as il Bergognone or Ambrogio Egogni c. 1470s – 1523/1524) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period active in and near Milan.

 

While he was nearly contemporary with Leonardo da Vinci, he painted in a style more akin to the pre-Renaissance. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; he is said to have been born at Fossano in Piedmont and his appellation attributed to his artistic affiliation with the Burgundian school.

 

His fame is principally associated with his work at the Certosa di Pavia complex, composed of the church and convent of the Carthusians. Only one known picture, an altar-piece at the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, can with probability be assigned to a period of his career earlier than 1486.

 

For two years after his return to Milan he worked at the church of San Satiro. From 1497 he was engaged in decorating with paintings the church of the Incoronata. Documentation of him thenceforth is scant. In 1508 he painted for a church in Bergamo; in 1512, his signature appears in a public document of Milan; in 1524 - and this is our last authentic record - he painted a series of frescoes illustrating the life of St. Sisinius in the portico of San Simpliciano at Milan.individuality. He holds an interesting place in the most interesting period of Italian art.

 

But to judge of his real powers and peculiar ideals, his system of faint and clear coloring, whether in fresco, tempera or oil; his somewhat slender and pallid types, not without something that reminds us of northern art in their Teutonic sentimentality as well as their fidelity of portraiture. More Ambrogio Borgognone

The universal symbol of the Christian faith, the cross represents Christ’s victory over death. The feast celebrates the redemptive transformation of a barbaric instrument of torture into a divine “tree of life” that brings hope to humankind. In some traditions, a cross is oriented to the cardinal directions to represent the universal nature of Christ’s sacrifice and prayers are said for the salvation of all.

Cima da Conegliano, (1459–1517)

Saint Helena, c. 1495

Oil on canvas

Height: 40.2 cm (15.8 in); Width: 32.2 cm (12.6 in)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, United States

Giovanni Battista Cima, also called Cima da Conegliano (c. 1459 – c. 1517) was an Italian Renaissance painter, who mostly worked in Venice. He can be considered part of the Venetian school, though he was also influenced by Antonello da Messina, in the emphasis he gives to landscape backgrounds and the tranquil atmosphere of his works. Once formed, his style did not change greatly. He mostly painted religious subjects, often on a small scale for homes rather than churches, but also a few, mostly small, mythological ones, which have a special charm.

 

He often repeated popular subjects in different versions with slight variations, including his Madonnas and Saint Jerome in a Landscape. His paintings of the Madonna and Child include several variations of a composition that have a standing infant Jesus, which in turn are repeated several times. More on Giovanni Battista Cima

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross also commemorates the discovery of the True Cross. Legend holds that the relic was found by St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land about 326. The Chapel of St. Helena inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built by the Crusaders in her honour, and below it lies the Chapel of the Finding of the True Cross, in which the cross of Christ’s crucifixion was reportedly discovered. More on Exaltation of the Holy Cross

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