The Järva-Madise altar paintings

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The altar painting Calvary from Ackermann’s time is preserved at the Järva County Museum. The painting’s author has hitherto remained unidentified. This painting was studied and restored at the start of the 1990s at the Kanut Conservation and Digitisation Centre.

Miss Mohrenschildt from Marienhof Manor, which was an auxiliary manor (Hoflage in German) of Kurisoo Manor, gave Theodor Albert Sprengel’s altar painting Christ on the Cross to the church as a gift in 1866. The picture depicts the Redeemer of the world and the sinner Mary Magdalene. Both are introspective and their poses are somewhat unnatural. Adam’s large luminous skull as a symbol of death and the slithering serpent as a symbol of sin come across in the picture as a didactical exaggeration. The golden halo above Christ’s head, the effeminate forms of the Redeemer’s body, Mary-Magdalene’s long tresses and round arms speak of Sprengel’s wish to depict the event at Calvary as beautifully as possible. The painting’s brownish overall colouring speaks of the Düsseldorf school’s influence on Sprengel as an artist.

3 years ago