Matthias Grünewald was a German artist that painted this altarpiece between 1510 and 1515 for the monastery of the Order of St. Anthony at Isenheim, in the Elzas near Colmar - north-eastern France. Today, the altar is on display at the Colmar Museum.
The altarpiece was often shown to people suffering from Saint Anthony's Fire , a painful skin disease. It was thought that the beauty of the art and the image of Christ's suffering would help the patients.
The interesting thing about this painting is that it was unusual at the time to portray the figure of Christ as horribly twisted and mangled as it is here.
This is probably the most grotesque depiction of the Crucifixion in all of art. It is a dermatological vision of the Crucifixion. For the sick people praying in front of this image, it was Grünewald way to say - Christ suffered like you, but don't give up hope.
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