Special exhibition

The Museum zu Allerheiligen will receive a visit from on high shortly before Easter. A selection of fifteen medieval sculptures from the E. G. Bührle Collection will travel to Schaffhausen, where they will be shown alongside the high-quality Gothic sculptures from the museum’s own collection. The sculptures from the collection of the industrialist Emil Bührle (1890–1956) form a small, little-known section of this important collection known above all for its famous French Impressionist paintings.

These figures of saints were carved by craftsmen mostly from southern Germany between 1400 and the early sixteenth century, when religion permeated all areas of life. For one last time before the Reformation, churches and chapels as well as monasteries and noble households were decorated with large numbers of precious devotional images.

The central themes of the Incarnation and Passion of Christ, the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, and the saints as ideals and intercessors for people bring the religious world of the late Middle Ages to life. The expressiveness of the carved sculptures ranges from the delicate charm of the Virgin Mary to the harrowing naturalism of the Passion scenes. The exhibition aims to convey the emotion of people at the time as they stood before saints and biblical figures that gave them protection, comfort, and hope.

A group of works by the well-known Swiss photographer and video artist Annelies Štrba (*1947) also depict the Virgin Mother. Her interpretations of pictures of the Madonna envelop these works removed from their religious context with a magical aura of the here and now. Štrba captivatingly touches on the delicate and simultaneously unshakable presence of this ancient Christian image and opens the viewer’s gaze to the spiritual dimension of medieval art with her unusual visual creations.

Booklet in English
A free booklet on the exhibition will serve as an exhibition guide and offer in-depth background information. Available in German and English.
The English booklet was made possible thanks to the generous support of the company Garmin Switzerland GmbH Schaffhausen

Opening hours: Tue. – Sun., 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The exhibition is made possible by Sturzenegger-Stiftung Schaffhausen
Additional support is provided by GARMIN Ltd., Schaffhausen