High altar of the Benedictine Monastery of Auhausen

General information
Original location Auhausen, Monastery Church of St Mary (now parish church), choir
Current location Still in original location
Commissioner Abbot Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen
Artist Hans Schäufelin and Sebastian Doig
Date 1513 (mentioned on predella)
Material Oil on panel
Visual elements
Short description Polyptych with two wings and a predella. When opened, the altar shows the following scenes. Central panel: St Mary crowned by the Holy Trinity, surrounded by angels and signs of the evangelists. Under Mary the Lamb of God and saints, Old Testament saints on the left and the Apostles on the right. In the bottom right corner the kneeling portrait of Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen, accompanied by his coats of arms and pilgrimage insignia. Left wing, upper panel: Fourteen Holy Helpers. Left wing, lower panel: various female and wordly male saints, plus the painters of the altar. Right wing, upper panel: various saints from the clergy (e.g. church fathers). Right wing, lower panel: souls being saved from purgatory by angels. Predella, from left to right: Christ in limbo; the pope in front of the monastery; Christ appears to Mary; Resurrection of Christ; Doubting Thomas.
Text On the predella, on a painted text panel: Regina celi letare alleluia. 1513.
Depicted pilgrim
Personal information
Name Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen
Social status / profession Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery of Auhausen (1499-1530); In 1530 the monastery was threatened and dissolved because of the Reformation, and Georg moved to the Dominican Monastery in Eichstätt; Previously monk in the monastery of Münchsteinach; Studied at the university of Ingolstadt (until 1488); Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
Coat of arms In front of him three semicircular shields
Left: in blue two gold crosiers in saltire (Auhausen)
Middle: in silver a red Jerusalem cross
Right: in gold two bars chequy red and silver (Truchsess)
Above the three shields a silver mitre with golden bands
Other known portraits Pilgrimage memorial of Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen, 1521 (Auhausen, former Monastery Church of St Mary)
Single portrait of Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen, 1531
Stained glass window with prayer portrait of Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen, 1527 (Auhausen, former Monastery Church of St Mary)
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage to Jerusalem 1493
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage Jerusalem cross (on coat of arms); half wheel and sword of St Catherine (in front of him, laying on the ground)
Death
Year of death 1552, in Eichstätt
Location of grave Eichstätt, Dominican Monastery
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks In 1536, Georg founded a wall-mounted sculpted Last Judgment in the Cloister of the Cathedral of Eichstätt. The object includes his coats of arms with the Jerusalem cross and his name.
Additional information
Literature
  • Sturm, Klaus, Geschichte des Klosters Auhausen an der Wörnitz, Sammelblatt des Historischen Vereins Eichstätt 63 (Eichstätt 1970)
Wikipedia - Georg Truchsess von Wetzhausen
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