THE ST. WOLFGANG ALTARPIECE (BENEDICTINE ORDER, TIROLEAN ART, HIERONYMUS DE WERDEA; AUSTRIA)

The Saint Wolfgang Altarpiece is one of the last fifteenth-century carved and painted altarpieces still intact and in its original location. Its contract as well as a large number of theological writings, letters, and other historical documents from the commissioning monastery are also extant. Because of this extraordinary situation, it is possible to study the relationship between this major monument of late-mediaeval art and its specific context. This study is the first attempt to approach the monument from this point of view. With the intention of establishing a clearer picture of the individuals by and for whom the altarpiece was commissioned, the author was fortunate to discover literary parallels to certain aspects of the altarpiece\u27s apparent theological program in the Vienna manuscript collections. They were written by an individual yet to be associated with the project--Hieronymus de Werdea, the prior of Mondsee during the time of the commission. This discovery makes it possible (1) to clarify the individual roles of the artist, Michael Pacher, the patron of the project, Abbot Benedict (Eck), and the altarpiece\u27s theological programmer, (2) to further our understanding of the meaning and intended function of the altarpiece at conception, and (3) to relate Hieronymus de Werdea to the commission for the first time