Thread by @MikeStuchbery_

Yesterday I travelled about 45 minutes away to @Kunsthalle_Ka in Karlsruhe, to visit an exhibition of the works of Hans Baldung, also called Grien.

The exhibit, 'Heilig / Unheilig' (Sacred / Profane) tells the compelling story of an Early Modern genius. /1 #gogrien

Information about Baldung isn't as complete as it could be, but we do know that he was born in around 1484 in what is today South-West Germany.

From a well-to-do family, he was able to pursue an apprenticeship as an artist with none other than Albrecht Dürer. /2

Dürer 'invented' the celebrity artist, and Baldung was his most gifted apprentice.

The exhibit does a great job of showing Baldung's (unconscious?) attempts to surpass his master, such as with these 'Christ as Man of Sorrows'.

Baldung's work is on the left. /3

Baldung & Dürer got on well, no falling out, and there's even a a lock of Dürer's hair in the exhibition, sent to Baldung as a momento.

After his apprentice, he moved to Strasbourg, completing lots of religious commissions - like this 'Mater Dolorosa' (1516). /4

As an artist who knew many Humanist scholars, Baldung painted lots of motifs from the classical and medieval world, such as these various 'Death and the Maiden' images. /5

Here's where things get really interesting though. Baldung began to feature witches in his work - sexy witches, in fact. This was before major witch persecutions, and there's a lot of debate as to what he was trying to say here, what his fascination was. /6.

I mean, maybe it's just me, but I think this detail from 'Two Witches' (1523) is one of the sexiest glances in art.

Baldung was turning what was feared into something else entirely. /7

What's clear is that Baldung loved women - in all their phases and forms. He was not overtly misogynistic in his depictions as some cintemporaries could be, and I find an affectionate, earthy eroticism to many. /8

Sorcery and magic was a constant theme in his works. One of his last works, 'The Groom Bewitched' (1544) depicts himself as a horse groom, bewitched by an evil crone at the window. /9

Baldung's genius, I feel, is in his vivid embrace of mannerism, his talented engraving (taught to him by THE master), and his choice of subject matter, juggling the sacred and profane.

('Beheading of St Dorothea', 1514) /10

Baldung died in 1545, in Strasbourg. He was 61.

The @Kunsthalle_Ka exhibition is fantastic, a real blockbuster. If you're in the area, it's well worth your time. /FIN kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de/blog/heilig-un…