Altarpiece: Tryggelev Church
- Artist: Gitte Buch
- Installed: 2014
Tryggelev Church
The area around the church represents an outstanding example of a historic cultural environment. You have a wonderful view of the church, the old church barn and the neighbouring vicarage. Right here you can you can see 800 years of building-, cultural- and local history.
God and Man in One
As the finishing touch to a total renovaion of Tryggelev Church the parish council asked local artist Gitte Buch to paint a new altarpiece for the church. The theme depicted on the new altarpiece was based on the motif that adorned the church's old altarpiece. The motif shows Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar. In Buchs abstract painting the woman and Jesus have been merged into one figure, which is lit by a strong white light shining from above – man and God have become one. Buch also makes subtle references to the history of the church and the local community in the painting; the curved shape on which the figure stands refers to both the pre-reformation altar dedicated to Mary, and an old rib bone that was found in the church. The hints of flint flakes in the lower left corner of the painting refers to Langeland's past and the diversity of Stone Age finds that have been made here.
On the altarpiece you can aslo see a vase, that appears nearly transparent, this represents old pottery - the old way of life. Tne vase is an element that recurs in many of Buch's works and has done so for many years.
”Over the years Gitte Buch has created her own personal iconography. Pictorial elements appear periodically, disappear only to return later: the boat, the tree, the vase, fossils, the sky, the earth and water. Depictions of the seasons and their meanings can also be included in this list… The colour palette is often on the warm end of the scale, gold with hints of ocher and intense reds, but more often it is white, pale yellow, turquoise, blue and green shades that dominate.” – Preben Winther
Read more about Gitte Buch here.
