Vienna's Easter Treasures  Art, Altars, Reliquaries, Lenten Cloths And Theater

Billie Ann Lopez Vienna, long the capital city of the mostly Catholic Habsburg Empire, is richly endowed with religious treasures from earlier times, especially treasures relating to Easter. Before the invention of the printing press, the church relied heavily on visual aids such as paintings, sculpture, altars, reliquaries, and even theater to teach its mostly illiterate parishioners the gospel as well as to spread the faith to those it wished to convert. What follows is a guide to some of Vienna's amazing Easter treasures: PAINTINGS -- One of the world's grandest art museums, Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, contains an abundance of paintings depicting the events surrounding the Easter season. Perhaps one of its most treasured paintings is "The Fight between Carnival and Lent" painted by Pieter Bruegel in 1559. It portrays a multitude of comic folk scenes taking place at the end of Carnival and the beginning of Lent in a Flemish village square. Sharing the same gallery is Bruegel's somber "The Procession to Calvary" when Christ falters while carrying the Cross amidst the crowds which are assembling for His crucifixion. Hieronymus Bosch painted his "Christ Carrying the Cross" sometime between 1480/90. He, too, shows a scene of curious crowds following alongside a struggling Christ. Below, the repentant and unrepentant thieves are depicted being prepared for what is to come. The "Crucifixion", painted in 1500/01 by Lucas Cranach the Elder soon after he moved to Vienna, depicts the rawness of Christ's suffering. The "Adoration of the Trinity" painted by Albrecht Duerer in 1511 portrays Christ on the Cross being accepted into Heaven by God the Father seated on a rainbow throne and the Holy Ghost hovering above. The scene is witnessed by the patriarchs, prophets and kings of the Old Testament and holy virgins, martyrs and other Christian believers from the New Testament. On both sides of the Trinity, angels hold the instruments of the Passion. ALTARS -- One of Vienna's grandest winged altars is in the small Schottenstift Museum (Monastery of the Scots) on Freyung. Late Gothic, this masterpiece was painted between 1469-1480 by a painter known as the Viennese Master of the Scots. It depicts both the story of Christ and his Crucifixion and the Life of Mary. The Austrian Medieval Religious Art Gallery in the Lower Belvedere Museum contains a wonderful altar piece known as the Znaim winged altar. It was carved possibly by a Viennese carver and painted by another Viennese artist around 1427 and depicts in detail the events of Good Friday ranging from Christ carrying the Cross to the Roman guards fighting over Christ's cloak, from the Deposition, to the Lamentation, and on to the preparations for the Entombment. Almost all of the scenes depicted in the altar are in the Gospel According to St. Matthew. There are many other pieces of great historical interest in this Gallery. The Romanesque "Christ on His Cross" from Stummerberg in the Zillertal was carved around 1160. The collection also includes the Master of St. Lambrecht's 15th century depiction of "Christ Carrying the Cross", Conrad Laib's "The Crucifixion" from 1449, and a panel depicting "The Lamentation" from the Schottenkloster Museum's winged altar mentioned above. LENTEN CLOTHS -- Lenten cloths (Fastentuch) once covered most crucifixes and altars in Austrian Catholic churches in the weeks leading up to Easter. The oldest Lenten cloth can be seen in Gurk in Carinthia. Painted in 1458, it measures about 90 square meters. It contains around 100 panels depicting scenes from both the Old and New Testaments. Klagenfurt also has a Lenten Cloth with 41 pictures from 1593 that can be seen in the Church of Christ the King. Vienna's oldest Lenten Cloth dates from 1640 and is in the Oesterreichisches Museum fuer Volkskunde (Austrian Museum of Folk Life and Folk Art) on Laudongasse. This Lenten Cloth has 36 scenes beginning with the lives of Adam and Eve and continuing on with the lives of Christ and Mary. During Lent, St. Michael's church on Michaelerplatz displays large batik Lenten Cloths painted by Lore Heurmann, a contemporary Viennese woman artist. These batiks are quite stunning with St. Michael's multitude of Rococo angels hovering above the altar behind. RELIQUARIES -- Vienna's Schatzkammer, the Treasury, contains fabulous religious treasures, each one with its own particular, sometimes peculiar, story. Perhaps the most valued in Vienna is the Imperial Cross. It dates from around 1024/25 and is a receptacle for the Imperial relics. It is covered with precious jewels, each of which were assigned mystical powers and virtues in the Middle Ages. Behind the jewels are fragments of the Holy Lance and particles from the Cross itself. The Treasury also has the spear end of the Holy Lance worked over with gold in the 8th century. Particles from the Nails of the Cross may have been forged into the metal as well. The Holy Lance is believed to be the one that pierced Christ's side and was washed in Christ's blood. The Treasury contains an abundance of reliquaries containing particles of the True Cross, nails from the Cross, a piece from Christ's apron, a piece of the tablecloth from the Last Supper, drops of Christ's blood, hairs from His beard, thorns from His Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the reed presented to Christ as a sceptre after His crowning, each preserved in glorious reliquaries of finely worked gold and silver, enhanced with precious stones. THE MUSEUM OF THE ARCHDIOCESE (DOM-UND DIOEZESANMUSEUM) also has many grand religious treasures, including reliquaries containing drops of Holy Blood and pieces of the Cross. Amongst its other treasures are a winged altarpiece from the early 15th century and panels depicting the "Crowning of Christ" and the "Carrying of the Cross" from the middle of the 15th century, Lucas Cranach's the "Suffering Christ" from 1537, and another artist's depiction of this scene from the 14th century, the Wopfinger Pietà from 1420/30, the Ober St. Veit Altar from 1505/1507, the Antwerp Passion Altar from 1460, and paintings depicting Christ's entombment. The Museum also provides a rare opportunity to see Easter créches (Fastenkrippe). We are all quite familiar with Christmas créches, but the Dom- und Dioezesanmuseum collection also includes a few Passion créches from the late 18th century. (Unfortunately, only one is on exhibit in 2003.) THEATER -- Passion plays were quite popular in the Middle Ages. They focused on the events surrounding Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection, but by the second half of the 18th century, they were largely forbidden. However, in Austria a few are still performed. The oldest Passion Play, from 1613, is performed in Erl in Tyrol every six years as is the one from 1799 in Thiersee, also in the Tyrol. Passion plays are also performed in the Roman quarry in St. Margarethen in the Burgenland and in Kirchschlag in Lower Austria. The Passion Play in Thiersee in the Tyrol was first performed over 200 years ago in response to the threat of war. The villagers at the time vowed to perform a Passion play during Lent, though the actual performance is now late spring/early summer. This year, for the first time in the German-speaking world, a more contemporary play will be performed entitled "Where is Jesus?" in which the problems and the disaffection of people today will be addressed. The Passion play will be performed in Thiersee every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from June 13 until June 29. For more information: www.passionsspiele.thiersee.at, or Passion Play Office Thiersee, A-6335 Thiersee/Tyrol, Tel. 0043 (0) 5376 5220. The next traditional Passion play in Thiersee in Tyrol is scheduled for 2005 instead of the usual six years. THEATRE SETS -- Although Vienna does not have Passion theater performances today, it does have some theater sets from the middle of the 18th century in the very Baroque Maria Brunn Church in the 14th District. Maria Brunn's three remarkable surviving Passion theater sets illustrate "The Last Supper", "Jesus sweating blood", and the "Judas kiss". Beneath the stage is the Holy Sepulchre, with painted board figures of the sleeping guards and from the early 20th century, a neo-Baroque, Jesus lying in the niche. Altogether, the scene with its wings and doors, columns and view is stunning. The chapel with its 18th century Passion theater sets can be seen during Lent (after mass or by appointment) in the Mariabrunn Church located in the outskirts of the 14th District. Pfarr- und Wallfahrtskirche Mariabrunn, Wien-Hadersdorf, Hauptstrass 9, 1140 Wien. Tel.(++43/1) 979 10 72.

About The Author

Billie Ann Lopez was an American freelance writer, born and raised in Kansas. For many years she called Vienna, the city she loved, home. Billie Ann's articles tell you about the legends, places in Austria not often on the tourist maps and subjects close to her heart. Informative, descriptive and interesting she acquainted you with her Austria. Billie Ann Lopez passed away September 13th, 2003. She enriched our lives through her friendship, caring and writings. Billie Ann, you are greatly missed. Silvia McDonald

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