The Isenheim altarpiece was painted for the Isenheim monastry in 1512-16 by the German artist Mathis Grünewald (1475-1528). In the frontal part of the altar, the Crucifixion is illustrated. In the second part, the Annunciation with Virgin Mary’s meeting with the Archangel Gabriel is depicted. The back part of the altar has a large golden stature of Saint Anthony. The right sidepanel has created debate about the disease of the shabby monk with widespread sores. Traditionally, he is believed to suffer from ergotism, but there are no signs of gangrene. Most likely he had Syphilis maligna, called “Böse blattern” or Variola major, which at Grünewald’s time plagued all Europe. Today, knowledge of malignant syphilis is practically non-existing. Textbooks about a hundred years ago described the characteristical bullous and pox-like, sometimes ulcerative lesions like those of the monk. In the Crucification Jesus Christ´body is covered with multiple sores resembling woodcuts of petitions and of a young man with “the French disease” attributed to Albrecht Dürer. Woodcuts of flyleaves and Albrecht Dürer´s reproduction may have inspired Grünewald to depict syphilis as a warning and rememberance of the plague.
| Published in | International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy (Volume 6, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16 |
| Page(s) | 157-160 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
“Böse Blattern”, Gangraenous Ergotism, Isenheim Altar, Mathis Grünewald, Saint Anthony, Syphilis maligna
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APA Style
Kaare Weismann. (2021). The Isenheim Altar in Colmar Depicts Syphilis maligna. International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy, 6(4), 157-160. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16
ACS Style
Kaare Weismann. The Isenheim Altar in Colmar Depicts Syphilis maligna. Int. J. Infect. Dis. Ther. 2021, 6(4), 157-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16
AMA Style
Kaare Weismann. The Isenheim Altar in Colmar Depicts Syphilis maligna. Int J Infect Dis Ther. 2021;6(4):157-160. doi: 10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16,
author = {Kaare Weismann},
title = {The Isenheim Altar in Colmar Depicts Syphilis maligna},
journal = {International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy},
volume = {6},
number = {4},
pages = {157-160},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijidt.20210604.16},
abstract = {The Isenheim altarpiece was painted for the Isenheim monastry in 1512-16 by the German artist Mathis Grünewald (1475-1528). In the frontal part of the altar, the Crucifixion is illustrated. In the second part, the Annunciation with Virgin Mary’s meeting with the Archangel Gabriel is depicted. The back part of the altar has a large golden stature of Saint Anthony. The right sidepanel has created debate about the disease of the shabby monk with widespread sores. Traditionally, he is believed to suffer from ergotism, but there are no signs of gangrene. Most likely he had Syphilis maligna, called “Böse blattern” or Variola major, which at Grünewald’s time plagued all Europe. Today, knowledge of malignant syphilis is practically non-existing. Textbooks about a hundred years ago described the characteristical bullous and pox-like, sometimes ulcerative lesions like those of the monk. In the Crucification Jesus Christ´body is covered with multiple sores resembling woodcuts of petitions and of a young man with “the French disease” attributed to Albrecht Dürer. Woodcuts of flyleaves and Albrecht Dürer´s reproduction may have inspired Grünewald to depict syphilis as a warning and rememberance of the plague.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Isenheim Altar in Colmar Depicts Syphilis maligna AU - Kaare Weismann Y1 - 2021/11/29 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16 DO - 10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16 T2 - International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases and Therapy SP - 157 EP - 160 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2578-966X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijidt.20210604.16 AB - The Isenheim altarpiece was painted for the Isenheim monastry in 1512-16 by the German artist Mathis Grünewald (1475-1528). In the frontal part of the altar, the Crucifixion is illustrated. In the second part, the Annunciation with Virgin Mary’s meeting with the Archangel Gabriel is depicted. The back part of the altar has a large golden stature of Saint Anthony. The right sidepanel has created debate about the disease of the shabby monk with widespread sores. Traditionally, he is believed to suffer from ergotism, but there are no signs of gangrene. Most likely he had Syphilis maligna, called “Böse blattern” or Variola major, which at Grünewald’s time plagued all Europe. Today, knowledge of malignant syphilis is practically non-existing. Textbooks about a hundred years ago described the characteristical bullous and pox-like, sometimes ulcerative lesions like those of the monk. In the Crucification Jesus Christ´body is covered with multiple sores resembling woodcuts of petitions and of a young man with “the French disease” attributed to Albrecht Dürer. Woodcuts of flyleaves and Albrecht Dürer´s reproduction may have inspired Grünewald to depict syphilis as a warning and rememberance of the plague. VL - 6 IS - 4 ER -
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