MEYRING, Heinrich

The documented friendship between Meyring and the painter Carl Loth may account for certain affinities between some of Meyring’s sculpture and the work of the Tenebrist painters; knowledge of the figurative world of the painter seems to have fired Meyring’s imagination. This can be seen, for example, in the sculptural ensemble of the high altar in the church of San Mois�. The composition, centred on the mountain, is divided into stage scenes. The statues are grouped from the summit down its slopes to the bottom in order to suggest a narrative flow that articulates the biblical story. The Eternal Father, surrounded by angels, hands over to Moses the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai, while in Moses’s absence, following the instructions of Aaron, three figures prepare the jewelry that will be used for the golden calf. The story is concluded in the relief on the altar frontal with the episode of the Jews who after raising the golden calf onto the altar give themselves over to joyous abandon. The Eternal Father seems to refer back to Loth’s altarpiece in San Silvestro.

The story of the Eternal Father handing over to Moses the tablets of the law on Mount Sinai is concluded in the relief on the altar frontal with the episode of the Jews who after raising the golden calf onto the altar give themselves over to joyous abandon.

This group is sculpted in a measured and elegant manner, less common in other works of Meyring’s late period, with soft effects in the chiaroscuro passages, skilful rendering of detail, and, in some cases, light use of the drill.

The fa�ade of San Mois� was erected according to a design by Alessandro Tremignon and decorated at the expense of Girolamo Fini, who in 1668 had obtained permission from the chapter to embellish the fa�ade, reserved for him and his heirs, in honour of God and in memory of his brother Vincenzo, procurator of San Marco. In the funeral monument, the bust of Vincenzo in the centre is flanked by those of to other family members, whose virtue is alluded to in several other allegories, and a group of saints decorates the upper part of the fa�ade. The funeral monument is the work of the sculptor Heinrich Meyring.

The fa�ade of San Mois� is a turning point on account of its inversion of the value of architecture and sculpture. Sculpture is no longer subordinate to architecture, but integrated into it in a free relationship.