Modern imagery

The journey of the Lenten cloth: work of art in the 3rd church

Michael Hedwig studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where he also taught until 2022. He has his studio in Vienna.

(Bild: Michael Hedwig)

Michael Hedwig from East Tyrol covers the altar in St. Andrä with biblical motifs in modern imagery.

The fasting of the eyes has a long tradition, especially in Carinthia, but hunger cloths can also be seen in East Tyrol, which covered altars from Ash Wednesday to Easter. At Bruck Castle in Lienz, for example, there is the valuable Virgen Lenten Shroud from 1598.

And in the parish church of St. Andrä in Lienz, the Lenten cloth created by Michael Hedwig will be hung for the second time this year. The artist from Lienz painted it in 2010 as a commission for the Innsbruck cathedral parish - with acrylic on cotton, which offers an impressive picture surface measuring eleven by seven meters. Hedwig's Lenten cloth was also used in the St. Michael's Church in Vienna for three years as an artistic and religious work.

It combines two biblical motifs: the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, who describes how dead bones come out of the earth and are awakened to new life by the spirit of God, and the transfiguration of Jesus, which is proclaimed as the Gospel in church on the 2nd Sunday of Lent.

This Lent, Hedwig's cloth is draping the altar of the parish church of St. Andrä in his home town.

(Bild: Michael Hedwig)

The Lenten cloth can be seen in St. Andrä in Lienz from Ash Wednesday (church service at 7 pm) until Holy Saturday, April 19th. Hedwig will be exhibiting other works at the Bildungshaus Osttirol from March 5 to 9.