Schloßbergmuseum
24. Sep 2023 – 10. Mar 2024

The Shrine of Redemption

Heiliges Grab aus der Bürgerspitalkirche Salzburg (Detail), um 1475, Salzburg Museum © Salzburg Museum

The Shrine of Redemption
Europes holy graves

Holy sepulchres are among the special objects to be found in church interiors. Their configuration refers to the sites of Jesus Christ’s Passion and Resurrection in Jerusalem. Since the Middle Ages different kinds of sepulchre replicas featuring varying figures and accessories have become a fixed component of the Easter Week liturgy. The close connection between art and piety so characteristic of the Middle Ages is particularly evident here. Architecture and sculpture merge to form an artistic and thematic unity, functioning as ›settings‹ by means of which it was possible to graphically render the biblical tradition.
The Holy Sepulchre originally from St. Jacob’s church in Chemnitz and today in the Schloßbergmuseum was the focal point of an international colloquium last year. This exhibition and the accompanying catalogue take up the findings of that colloquium and provide insight into the typological diversity in the appearance of holy sepulchres. These were deployed in very different forms from the 12th to the 16th century: as an ensemble consisting of several chapels outside or inside a church, as splendid shrines or chest tombs, as works of complex stone carving or simple wooden sculptures. Holy sepulchres range across Europe from Turku in Finland to Esztergom in Hungary. Alongside the important examples in our exhibition, attention is also devoted to lesser known tombs which are shown here in the form of items on loan, photographs or media presentations.

Gallery

Heiliges Grab aus der Bürgerspitalkirche Salzburg, um 1475, Salzburg Museum © Salzburg Museum
Heiliges Grab aus der Bürgerspitalkirche Salzburg, um 1475
Künstler:in unbekannt, Heiliges Grab Jakobikirche Chemnitz, um 1490–1520, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz – Schloßbergmuseum, Foto: Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz/PUNCTUM/Bertram Kober
Künstler:in unbekannt
Heiliges Grab Jakobikirche Chemnitz, um 1490–1520
Görlitz, Heilig-Grab-Kapelle, um 1500, Foto: Justin Kroesen
Görlitz, Heilig-Grab-Kapelle, um 1500
Heiliges Grab, sogenannte „Krippe“, vor 1500, Haindorf, Dorfkirche, Foto: Martin Sladeczek
Heiliges Grab, sogenannte „Krippe“, vor 1500
Heiliges Grab in der Mauritius-Rotunde des Konstanzer Münsters, um 1260, Foto: Justin Kroesen
Heiliges Grab in der Mauritius-Rotunde des Konstanzer Münsters, um 1260
Unbekannter Künstler, Doppelschrein, sogenannter Schrein des seligen Hemming, vor 1500, Turku, Domkirche, Foto: S. O. Welin
Unbekannter Künstler
Doppelschrein, sogenannter Schrein des seligen Hemming, vor 1500
Unbekannter Künstler, Heiliges Grab aus Sankt Benedikt/Garamszentbenedek, um 1500, Esztergom, Christliches Museum, Foto: Christliches Museum Esztergom
Unbekannter Künstler
Heiliges Grab aus Sankt Benedikt/Garamszentbenedek, um 1500
Unbekannter Künstler, Heiliges Grab aus Magerau, um 1330/40, Freiburg i. Ue., Museum für Geschichte und Kunst Freiburg, Foto: Museum für Kunst und Geschichte Freiburg, Primula Bosshard
Unbekannter Künstler
Heiliges Grab aus Magerau, um 1330/40