The Gothic winged altarpiece - Part 1

When the wings are open

When you enter Hallstatt’s parish church, the 2 large altarpieces immediately catch your eye. On the left a Neo Gothic crucifixion altarpiece, fashioned by the teachers and students of the Hallstatt Holzfachschule towards the end of the 19th century.

But on the right, a real masterpiece: the Gothic winged altarpiece, one of the most important carved altarpieces in Austria. The altar, which is dedicated to Mary, Mother of God, is a so-called pentaptych, a folding altarpiece, with a main shrine and 2 moveable inner and outer wings. Different scenes can be displayed depending on the occasion.

When master craftsman Leonhard Astl from Gmunden takes on the commission in 1505, he probably does not realise that the altar will take a full 15 years to complete.

And although the altarpiece in Hallstatt is the only Astl piece that the master craftsman signs in his lifetime, it is not until it is restored in 1985 that the altarpiece can be identified, unequivocally, as his work.

If the inner wings of the altarpiece are open, Mary and Child are visible in the centre beneath baldachins, with Saint Katharine, the patron saint of lumberjacks on the left and Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners, on the right.

The carved decoration above the main shrine comprises 10 sculptures on 2 levels. The central figure on the lower level is Saint Christopher, who also greets us from the large fresco on the church exterior.