Opening Collection presentation Bern's Lost Altar. Niklaus Manuel and the Panels of Dominican Church in Bern

Niklaus Manuel is one of the prominent figures in the period of transition from the Middle Ages to the early modern age. He was a painter, statesman, reformer, Swiss mercenary, commander- in-chief, founder of the Manuel dynasty, and many other things as well. Three panels ascribed to his hand have survived as part of the Museum of Fine Arts Berne Collection. They originally belonged to a lost altarpiece of the former Dominican church in Bern, now called Französische Kirche (French church). What actually happens to pictures when their meaning undergoes a radical change? Whereas they were "sacred fixtures" while housed in a church, at the Museum of Fine Arts Berne they are kept and cared for as the works of an important artist. This small presentation of the collection addresses these topics.