Lot 322 Dα

In November 1930, the minister of the interior of the Empire, Wilhelm Frick from Thuringia, parliamentary party leader of the NSDAP in the Reichstag since 1928, had all the rooms of the castle of Weimar cleared including Ernst Barlach's works. The defamation of his oeuvre by the Nazis was heralded. (cf. Ulrich Bubrowski, "Ich bin entschlossen zu trotzen... " Die Tode Ernst Barlachs, in: Ernst Barlach. Beeldhouwer, Tekenaar, Grafikus, Schrijver 1870-1938, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen 1994/1995, p. 375). There were no more public commissions. Barlach also terminated his poetic oeuvre. The severity of the political and personal situation, the intense moment of reflection finds expression in the motif of the impressive, large-scale figure of Christ.
The austere artistic intention of this plain draped figure and the introverted moment are characteristic of Barlach's work. While this abstract stylisation is reminiscent of Romanesque models, the appeal as well as the gesture of the receiving, open hands is vibrant and vivid. The ideas of enlightened Christianity as well as the concept of salvation through the incarnation of God are illustrated here. Following the plaster model created in 1931 (Laur 473), a bronze was produced in 1938, the year of Ernst Barlach's death. Posthumously, 14 unnumbered pieces have been cast since 1950.