Tallinn Trip – Niguliste Museum (Passion Altarpiece)

This is the Passion Altarpiece dating to around 1515, attributed to the workshop of the Flemish painter Adriaen Isenbrandt, which was located in the Tallinn Dominican friary in the early sixteenth century and then in this building from the mid-sixteenth century. The altarpiece depicts the Passion of Christ, focusing on the events leading up to and including his crucifixion, so yet another cheery bit of imagery for church goers. It’s a poignant and dramatic scene filled with emotion and symbolism and telling the story of the crucifixion. Those three figures at the front who are praying, one in the left panel and two in the central panel, are overpaintings from a slightly later period and they’re of wealthy people who donated to the church.

The rear of the altarpiece. I’m hardly a medieval art historian, but this is evidently part of the Renaissance change from some rather rough artworks in churches to some authentic looking artistic efforts. This seems rather more evident to me with Jerusalem in the background, it’s quite a creative and well-drawn landscape. Anyway, enough of Julian’s artistic reviews….