The Master of Mondsee

The IN-SIGHT series of exhibitions was devised in order to analyze and present artists and works
from the Belvedere’s collection. The Mondsee altarpiece at the heart of the show is the only
established work by this painter, whose name, like so many medieval masters, is unknown. Eight
paintings have survived from the lost altarpiece and are distributed across three different
collections. The five most well known are in the Belvedere. Two panels were recently acquired
from private collections by the Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum in Linz and one work is in
the Liechtenstein Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna.
These two most recent acquisitions have filled a gap in public access to this important ensemble
of pictures, which had been separated and scattered following the dissolution of Mondsee
Abbey in 1791. The Gothic altarpiece itself—its framework and carvings— probably fell victim to
Mondsee abbey church’s earlier conversion into the Baroque style. This makes it all the more
fortunate that the paintings from the altarpiece wings escaped destruction and can now be
shown together for the first time.
The work is introduced from various perspectives and set in a “frame narrative” outlining the
historical context, the art of contemporaries, and various sources of inspiration for the subject
matter. Part of the exhibition is devoted to the commissioning of the altarpiece by Abbot
Benedikt Eck von Vilsbiburg, who appears as the donor in one of the paintings together with the
Mondsee coat of arms. Mondsee abbey church was rebuilt in Gothic style during his abbacy.
Earlier on Benedikt had commissioned Michael Pacher to create the high altarpiece at St.
Wolfgang pilgrimage church, an important influence for the Master of Mondsee.
A selection of comparative works demonstrate how the Master of Mondsee engaged with the
art of Michael Pacher as well as with prints and other visual sources. There are many indications
that the painter had a remarkably wide education and was familiar with Netherlandish art. But
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he absorbed these influences in a highly individual way giving rise to such an unmistakeable
style.
One chapter in the exhibition examines the painter’s highly detailed underdrawings revealed by
new infrared reflectographs from the Belvedere’s conservation department. These testify to the
Master of Mondsee’s skills as a draftsman and offer fascinating glimpses of the creative process
behind the images.