The late baroque St. Egid church in Klagenfurt, Austria, may seem to many like just another church from the 17th century. However, hardly anyone would expect artist Ernst Fuchs to have created an entire psychedelic chapel in this historic building. Expressive and mysterious paintings combine biblical scenes with New York skyscrapers, motorbikes and the moon landing. The key to interpreting this intricate work lies in its sounding name – the Chapel of the Apocalypse. Interestingly, there is also a Polish theme among the psychedelic colours.
From Gothic to Baroque
Klagenfurt am Wörthersee (hist. pol. Celowiec) is Austria’s sixth-largest city. The capital of mountainous Carinthia has many Renaissance and medieval monuments, despite the severe destruction of the Second World War. However, the city’s outstanding building is the Baroque Stadtpfarrkirche St. Egid (St. Hedwig’s Parish Church), which hides a spectacular work of art in the former sacristy.
The church stood on this site as early as the 13th century and was built in the Gothic order with Romanesque elements. However, the two-towered church did not survive to the present day, and in 1690 the church was demolished due to its disastrous state of repair. The religious wars of the 16th century did not damage the structure of the building, but fires and earthquakes wreaked havoc.
The temple was rebuilt in the early 18th century, but in the Baroque style. The classic Baroque façade was enhanced by a tower rising to 91.7 metres. What’s more, the tower is topped with an onion-shaped cupola. Inside, one massive nave impresses with its wealth of decoration. The stucco pilasters are topped with gold capitals, and the vaulting is a key element of the decoration. The lunette vaulted ceiling is like a huge canvas onto which Josef von Mölk and Josef Fromillier have applied spectacular frescoes. Some of the paintings are trompe l’oeil, or illusionist painting, which creates an impression of three-dimensional depth.
Chapel of the Apocalypse
Of course, sculptures, paintings and altars were created over the next two centuries, but nothing could have prepared the sacred artists for what began to emerge in 1989. The south sacristy was given over to the Viennese artist Ernst Fuchs, about whom you can read more HERE. Fuchs’ paintings, which were created over a period of more than 20 years, are an excellent example of the original Viennese school of fantasy realism. The expressive, psychedelic colours and figures work perfectly as a means of apocalyptic communication. The rather mysterious figures and scenes are the author’s interpretation of the Apocalypse of St John.
Fuchs believed in total art (Gesamtkunstwerk), which explains his versatility in terms of painting, sculpture and architecture. For this reason, all the walls and vaults are covered with allegorical paintings. Classical scenes from Revelation, such as the Archangel Michael fighting the seven-headed dragon and the beasts being subjugated, immediately catch the eye. The vault also features the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the armies of the world engaged in battle. In this seemingly chaotic work, it is even possible to trace a chronological sequence of events in agreement with the original text. The book, sealed with seven seals, is opened by a lamb with a human face, and then the horsemen in question ride out. Earthquakes occur, the world is overturned and the stars fall. Fuchs presents the vision of the seven trumpets and continues the familiar story of the Apocalypse.
The entire chapel can be viewed in a 360 view HERE
The fall of humanity
However, what sets this interpretation of the Apocalypse apart from others is the inclusion of themes related to the modern world. Falling symbols of human power and its achievements have been superimposed on the biblical annunciation. Astronauts depart from a burning New York and the masses throng around the Statue of Liberty. Interestingly, New York City appears in several other places, and the Chrysler Building, the World Trade Center towers and the Citigroup Center described on WhiteMad can be spotted among the people falling from the sky. Other falling human achievements include the sinking Titanic, satellites, fighter jets, cars and motorbikes.
An interesting feature is a series of paintings starting at the bottom of the burning New York City. Going upwards, astronauts and planets can be seen, and at the very top there is a group of nude women along with motorbikes and cars. The vault in turn features allegorical symbols of human corruption, pride and self-indulgence. Hovering over all this decay is the Whore of Babylon and her seven-headed dragon. The opposite of this scene is the one at the other end, where the New Jerusalem emerges from the sky in the form of a cubic light. Interestingly, an effigy of Pope John Paul II also appears in the chapel, which provides an interesting contrast to the fallen present.
Germanic Dali
The psychedelic apocalypse extends over 160 sq m of space, and Fuchs spent three months each year in Klagenfurt to complete the work. It was only in 2010 that Fuchs’ last major work was completed. In turn, the baroque chapel gained a new painting, a foreshadowing of the apocalyptic work on the sacristy. The painting ‘The Last Supper’ was kept in Fuchs’ typical aesthetics, and another trace of the artist in the historic chapel is a sculpture depicting an angel.
This spectacular work of art is breathtaking and confirms Salvador Dalí’s words to Fuchs: “You are the Dalí of the Germans, and I am the Romanesque Dürer!”. Admittedly, Fuchs’ fame has never equalled that of Dalí, but his works can surpass those by the eccentric Spaniard. More of this type of total artwork can be admired at the Ernst Fuchs Villa in Vienna, which I wrote about HERE.
The photographs of the chapel by Gert Eggenberger were made available through the kindness of the Klagenfurt city administration.
Source: Klagenfurt
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