To the vis\u00adi\u00adtor enter\u00ading the dim church from the vestibule, the \u201cThe\u00adatrum sacrum\u201d of the high altar beck\u00adons in the dis\u00adtance, flood\u00aded by the light from the high, sun-like win\u00addow of the apse. This work was begun in 1721 by Egid Quirin Asam and paint\u00aded in 1724 by his sis\u00adter Maria Salome (mar\u00adried Born\u00adschl\u00f6gl), but the altar was not fin\u00adished until 1734. The altar rere\u00addos opens in a lofty cen\u00adtral arch flanked by paired Solomon\u00adic (corkscrew) mar\u00adble columns. Through this tri\u00adumphal arch\u00adway rides the church\u2019s patron, St. George. The red Tem\u00adplar cross on his breast iden\u00adti\u00adfies him as a Roman-Chris\u00adt\u00adian hero (and explains its pres\u00adence in the Wel\u00adtenburg arms), and his armour reflects the dom\u00adi\u00adnant back\u00adlight\u00ading. Raised on a mon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal plinth, he flour\u00adish\u00ades his flam\u00ading lance at a drag\u00adon which rears up at him in anger, while to his left an equal\u00adly vivid Libyan princess hasti\u00adly flees her oppres\u00adsor. In its pyra\u00admi\u00addal com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion, this scene from the saint\u2019s leg\u00adend is high\u00adly dra\u00admat\u00adic in itself, but it is made even more so by the the\u00adatri\u00adcal light\u00ading effects. Plung\u00ading from the radi\u00adance of heav\u00aden into the dim inte\u00adri\u00ador of the church, St. George is staged as the arche\u00adtyp\u00adal Chris\u00adt\u00adian war\u00adrior in the bat\u00adtle of light with dark\u00adness. This motif is echoed in the fig\u00adure of Mary Immac\u00adu\u00adlate crush\u00ading the ser\u00adpent in the apse wall fres\u00adco by Cos\u00admas and Franz Asam which forms a back\u00addrop for the sculp\u00adtur\u00adal group. From the clouds high above this scene, God the Father extends a pro\u00adtec\u00adtive hand over his combatants.<\/p>\n
From this dynam\u00adic scene, two fur\u00adther life-size plas\u00adter\u00adwork stat\u00adues form a tran\u00adsi\u00adtion to the per\u00adspec\u00adtive of the audi\u00adence: on the left stands St. Mar\u00adtin, the abbey church\u2019s sec\u00adond patron, whose leg\u00adendary goose hiss\u00ades angri\u00adly at the drag\u00adon, while a naked put\u00adto wrapped in the folds of the bishop\u2019s cloak does duty for the beg\u00adgar of Amiens; on the right we find the abbot St. Mau\u00adrus, the name\u00adsake of the Abbot Mau\u00adrus B\u00e4chl who ini\u00adti\u00adat\u00aded the Baroque rebuild\u00ading of Wel\u00adtenburg. For this rea\u00adson the stat\u00adue of the saint has the facial fea\u00adtures of the builder. The paint\u00adwork imi\u00adtat\u00ading mar\u00adble con\u00adnects the stat\u00adues with anoth\u00ader group at the apex of the rere\u00addos, where, framed by the Archangels Gabriel and Michael, the Vir\u00adgin Mary is assumed bod\u00adi\u00adly into heav\u00aden, await\u00aded by her Son (who is depict\u00aded in the ceil\u00ading fres\u00adco above). The the\u00admat\u00adic coher\u00adence of this scene with the apse wall fres\u00adco is evi\u00addence enough that the Asam broth\u00aders remod\u00adelled the high altar group even before it was completed.<\/p>\n
A fur\u00adther lev\u00adel of mean\u00ading is pro\u00advid\u00aded by the mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent full coat of arms of Prince-Elec\u00adtor Max Emanuel (who vis\u00adit\u00aded Wel\u00adtenburg in 1721) at the top of the tri\u00adumphal arch; he sought to rein\u00adstate the Wit\u00adtels\u00adbach Order of the Knights of St. George, a goal ulti\u00admate\u00adly achieved by his son, Karl Albrecht, in 1729. The good rela\u00adtions between Wel\u00adtenburg and the Bavar\u00adi\u00adan rul\u00ading house are again the\u00adma\u00adtized in the sanc\u00adtu\u00adary ceil\u00ading fres\u00adco, which por\u00adtrays Duke Tas\u00adsi\u00adlo III as the abbey\u2019s founder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
To the vis\u00adi\u00adtor enter\u00ading the dim church from the vestibule, the \u201cThe\u00adatrum sacrum\u201d of the high altar beck\u00adons in the dis\u00adtance, flood\u00aded by the light from the high, sun-like win\u00addow of the apse. This work was begun in 1721 by Egid Quirin Asam and paint\u00aded in 1724 by his sis\u00adter Maria Salome (mar\u00adried Born\u00adschl\u00f6gl), but \u2026 <\/p>\n