Carefully staged work of chivalric self-aggrandisement: The barons of Hohenklingen are depicted in front of the stable in Bethlehem, the same size as the Three Wise Men.
The legends of the saints are written without footnotes. They can’t be checked and verified. The significance of these legends lies in the moral ideal that lives on in elaborate portrayals as a gentle entreaty to follow their saintly example.
In Brazil, illustrator and graphic artist Oswaldo Goeldi is considered a master of the art of expressionist xylography – the art of engraving on wood. In Switzerland, the work of this Swiss-Brazilian dual national is yet to be discovered.
The ancient sculpture of Laocoön and his sons is a turning point in the artistic representation of man – but the piece is also an object of projection for constantly changing ideals of masculinity.
The German Prince Leopold III had a fondness for stained glass. On a shopping expedition to Switzerland, he purchased some valuable specimens which can be seen in Wörlitz today.
A drinking bowl from Stein am Rhein is among a trove of precious glass finds dating from the Roman era. The piece itself is spectacular, but the circumstances of its discovery are just as remarkable.
Two German painters, contemporaries, reacted to the ‘age of catastrophe’ of 1914-1945 in very different ways. One painted a harsh and objective depiction of the world he saw. The other persisted in a rural idyll. Both approaches are political.
On 1 April 1944, Schaffhausen was mistakenly bombed. The municipal museum lost more than 80 paintings. Then, artworks to match the scale of the losses started arriving from all over Switzerland. Even now, this level of cultural donation is testament to the huge solidarity compatriots felt for the stricken city.
