Matthias Grünewald is one of those Renaissance painters who were forgotten for a long time before being rediscovered in the nineteenth century. Grünewald was born c.1470, and gained some recognition during his lifetime for his work in the late medieval style, even as the world turned to classicism. Much of his work was lost at sea, and his art was often also mistaken for that of Albrecht Dürer, with the result being that what remained were just ten paintings and thirty-five drawings. Grünewald’s most famous work is the Isenheim Altarpiece, completed in 1515. Since the nineteenth century, he has been championed by several notable authors, including Joris-Karl Huysmans, Elias Canetti and W. G. Sebald. I love Grünewald‘s dramatic use of colour, and the fact that, like Bosch, he emphasised spiritual struggle and the grotesque in mystical contexts.
