PACHER, Michael
(b. ca. 1435, Bruneck, d. 1498, Salzburg)

Coronation of the Virgin

1471-81
Wood, gilt and polychromed
Parish Church, St. Wolfgang

The picture shows the central portion of the altarpiece of the parish church at St. Wolfgang, Austria.

In a setting of supernal radiance enraptured angels assist Divine Omnipotence and Benevolence in the courtly ceremony of welcoming human modesty, come to Paradise in the form of the Virgin Mary. Michael Pacher, a Tyrolean artist, was a master in both painting and sculpture, and combines the two techniques in some of his works. He assimilated the examples of Donatello and Mantegna while on a journey of apprenticeship in Italy, but his temperament caused him to lean more towards the northern style of sculpture, which he brought to its highest level of achievement. This altarpiece, executed between 1479 and 1481, is one of the many including scenes from the life of the Virgin produced by the great triad of German sculptors, Pacher, Stoss and Riemenschneider.