Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today, on the Episcopal lectionary, falls a remembrance of three German Renaissance artist: Albrecht Dürer, Matthias Grünewald, and Lucas Cranach.

I would like to draw attention to one of these, Grünewald, to his famous Isenheim Altarpiece, and in particular, a panel that depict the life of St. Anthony the Great. In the righthand wing, St. Anthony is tormented by demons, who swirl around him in grotesque forms. According to St. Athanasius, who wrote an account of St. Anthony’s life, the devil tortured Anthony with thoughts of his past life, of lust, of ease and pleasure, and even with physical violence to his person.

Along with this image, we might place a piece of music, the Mathis der Maler Symphony by Paul Hindemith, music drawn from his opera about Grünewald. The final movement of the work, ‘Versuchung des Heiligen Antonius’ is a sort of companion piece to this altarpiece image. It incorporates tortuous, chromatic harmonies, violent outbursts, and a sensuous climax before arriving at a stirring denouement: Anthony achieves victory over temptation as the Medieval sequence for Corpus Christi, Lauda Sion salvatorem,  emerges from the chaos, leading to final triumphant ‘Alleluias’ from the brass. Here we are drawn to the opposite panel, in which St. Anthony meets St. Paul the Hermit, who humbly confirms Anthony in his ascetic calling.

Athanasius’s Life of St. Anthony, together with Grünewald’s art and Hindemith’s music, makes a potent depiction the struggles of discipleship. We, like Anthony, are called to struggle, to resist temptation (with the Word of God), to battle demons (by prayer), and to take up our cross daily and follow Christ.

Yours in Christ,
Justin

Life of St. Anthony, St. Athanasius (part 1, part 2)
Versuchung des Heiligen Antonius, from Mathis der Maler Symphony, Paul Hindemith
Second View of the Isenheim Alterpiece, Matthias Grünewald