Madonna and Child (1978), Austria

Madonna and Child (1739) by Martino Altomonte. Collegiate Church Wilhering, Upper Austria.

The collegiate church in Wilhering was born out of a crisis. The Cistercian monastery, founded in 1146, was never rich. When a fire destroyed the church and monastery on 6th June 1733, the establishment ran into great economic difficulties. The abbot had an arduous task of carrying out the reconstruction, despite being tight on finances.

Since building a brand new church would have been costlier, only the pillars of the burnt down one were torn down and the side walls were raised and vaulted. The interiors could be done only in stages. One of the first works was the high altar painting, done by 80-year old Martino Altomonto at only half the remuneration. The abbot liked the painting so much that he ordered two more altarpieces for the side altars.