Altarpieces of the Church of St. Oswald, Seefeld in Tyrol, Austria

Nestled within Austria are all sorts of treasures, sometimes treasures hiding in plain sight. From the outside the parish church of St. Oswald simply seems like a beautiful little church, but in the bigger scheme of the churches of Europe it doesn't particularly stand out. Exteriorly the church's form would be very similar to many churches in the new world. Rectangular in shape, reasonably simple gothic windows, a single spire rising up to alert the locals to its presence; but located within that relatively humble shell are altars with altarpieces of incredible beauty and artistry. 

First though, a little bit about the history of the church. The church was founded in the fourteenth century and during that time it a Eucharistic miracle happened here, leading to many of the faithful to begin make pilgrimages here -- and thus also leading to the growth and expansion of the church itself. Eventually a monastery of women was established here -- an order of Augustinian hermits -- to help support the church, but regrettably by the late eighteenth century, the monastery would be dissolved, no doubt a casualty of the political turmoil of the times.

I will say that the church has an impressive main entrance and an equally impressive vaulted roof, so it is not that is has no other noteworthy features, but I've purposefully chosen to keep our focus here for today on the beautiful woodcarvings of the pilgrimage church, specifically the two late gothic (or possibly Renaissance) era altarpieces. Regrettably, little concrete historical information is readily available about them, but I think we can rest content to simply enjoy them for their artistic content and liturgical beauty. We begin with the high altar with its triptych. 

THE HIGH ALTAR

At the top is found a rood scene with Christ crucified in the centre, surrounded by Our Lady and St. John to either side. Also visible are St. Sebastian and one other unidentified saint who appears to likely be S. Rocco.

The core of the altarpiece is the image of the Virgin and Child. Do not also fail to notice, however, the beautiful image of the Lamb with the seven seals from the Book of Revelation.

The side door panels are done in beautiful, painted bas reliefs showcasing images from the life of Christ and the Virgin. Here we see depicted the Nativity, the Visitation, the Presentation/Circumcision and Christ teaching in the 'Temple.

Detail showing the Presentation / Circumcision.

SIDE ALTAR

While the high altar is gorgeous,  the church also contains a particularly beautiful side altar with a small but noble altarpiece attached to it. In many regards, it was actually this particular work which most drew my attention to this church, perhaps for reason of the colouring, but also because of the particular refinement of the carving and the expressiveness of the figures shown therein. 

Like the high altar, it is a triptych, with the two panel doors able to be closed at appropriate times of the liturgical year. No doubt there is some sort of imagery on the backside, perhaps Lenten symbolism for times like Passiontide. 

Turning back to the front of the altarpiece however,  the central panel carving is particularly interesting. At first glance one would naturally assume it is showing us the Virgin and Child, but then you notice a second infant figure. This figure looks smaller and is more feminine. This leads me to think this may well be intended to depict St. Anne holding both the infant Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. 

Since we may never get the opportunity to revisit this church, I'd be remiss to not show you a few other odds and ends of medieval and renaissance wood carving that can be found here. 

The Virgin and the Apostles

It is difficult to know who these four saints specifically are, but I am less concerned with that than showing how beautifully they are rendered with their ample gilding. 

The types of pieces we find here in St. Oswald's all represent 'gothic' work at its very finest I think, and it is this style that should be emulated in modern approaches to neo-gothic work. 

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