The Breathing Instrument: An Iconographic Study of the Concert of Angels in Master Matthias’s Isenheim Altarpiece

The Concert of Angels panel of the Isenheim Altarpiece is prominently portrayed in a central position of the retable painted by the German master known as Matthias Grünewald. Yet, both the elusive iconography of the Concert and its prominent placement within an altarpiece portraying the history of Christian salvation have continually puzzled critics and art historians. The Concert of Angels panel draws upon Christian metaphors for music which have been largely forgotten, resulting in an obscured iconographic message. This study explains the iconography of music in the Concert panel to reveal a visual discourse on Christian redemption between the panels of the altarpiece, particularly between the Concert of Angels panel and the celebrated Crucifixion scene in the final presentation of panels. By examining the musical iconography presented in the Concert of Angels panel and placing the piece within its socio-historic-religious context, the seemingly obscure iconographic references become an ingenious visual language for the Christian celebration of salvation within the context of the entire Altarpiece program.