Der Schmerz des Vaters?

For the first time the catalog accompanying the eponymous exhibition dedicates the trinity image with the Man of Sorrows that was widely known in the late Middle Ages and early modern period the trinitarian Pietà. It shows God the Father, who presents his sacrificed son; the iconography also includes the dove of the holy ghost. In this image created around 1400 the abstract dogma of the trinity is emotionalized and transformed into a vibrant devotional picture. It can be found in all media – painting, sculpture, graphic art, applied art – and is not only encountered in churches but also in the realm of private worship. What becomes apparent is that the manner in which the trinity is depicted remains the same in the age of reformation and this demonstrates the relevance of the topic from the Gothic to the baroque.