Historically unique

The wooden bridges with their triangular works of art

Each of Lucerne’s wooden bridges features an exceptional cycle of paintings. Scenes are depicted from the Bible, the lives of the patron saints of Lucerne, Swiss national history and the Dance of Death.

Cycles of paintings in a rare form

The creation of the cycles of paintings for Lucerne’s wooden bridges is unparalleled. The paintings were financed in a special way.

The three cycles of paintings of Lucerne’s wooden bridges are unique in the world. Picture stories in public spaces and triangular paintings are rare in the history of art. How these cycles of over 460 paintings in all were planned and executed is also unusual.

The approach taken was developed around 1550 when the first cycle of paintings on the Court Bridge was created. The City Council – in this case the ecclesiastical and secular authorities – decided to furnish the Court Bridge with paintings. They were to hang in the gables, where they would be protected from the elements, and tell churchgoers biblical stories.

Pictures from the Court Bridge’s cycle of paintings

Jacob’s dream of a ladder to Heaven
At night, the biblical figure of Jacob lays down to sleep beside a road. In a dream, he sees a ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven. Angels are ascending and descending on it. God speaks to him and tells him that he wants to protect him and his family.

The women and the truth
Three valets of the Persian king Darius hold a competition on the question of “What is the greatest thing?” One writes: “It is wine.” The second: “It is the King.” The third: “It is women, but above all else it is the truth.” He wins the prize.

Parable of the wise and foolish virgins
Ten virgins approach the groom with their lamps. Five are foolish and take no oil with them, five are wise and have brought oil. The groom invites the wise virgins into the wedding hall, but the foolish ones remain before the closed door.

Pilate is warned by his wife
Jesus appears before Pilate. The wife of Pilate sends a message: “Have nothing to do with this man, he is innocent. I had a terrible dream last night because of him.”

A public-private partnership

The City Council paid for a small number of paintings itself. It also selected the developer for the content of the paintings, the composer of the verses and the painters. Council members’ families were then invited to sponsor paintings, choose from a given set of themes for the pictures, designate a painter and pay for the paintings. In exchange, the bottom corners of the panels would bear their name and the family’s coat of arms. Thirty years later, all the around 240 paintings had been completed.

So well received were the results that shortly afterwards a second cycle for the Chapel Bridge was embarked upon. The City Council stipulated expressly that the sponsors had to choose themes from a list and commission the paintings, and that the concept behind the cycle could not be changed. Finally, the last cycle of paintings for the Chaff Bridge was created in the same way and completed around 1637.

Over 460 triangular paintings...

... were originally hung on Lucerne’s
wooden bridges.

Composition with main and secondary scenes

The themes are depicted on the panels in such a way that the triangular shape of the paintings is used creatively. The main scene is in the foreground. At the top of the triangle is an architectural perspective or a distant landscape. In the more dramatic depictions, the main figure assumes a dominant position at the tip of the triangle. Besides the main action, there are often smaller secondary scenes that are set back, or the same figures may appear several times.

Two to four lines of verse on the black picture frames explain the theme, though the content of the verse does not always match the image. The verse writers obviously did not always confer closely with the painters.

This picture from the Chapel Bridge shows “The Killing of Amasa.”

The verse writers obviously did not always confer closely with the painters.
Heinz Horat, art historian and author

Pictures from the Chapel Bridge’s cycle of paintings

It doesn’t go quite so well with the dragon
The Nidwaldner Struth Winkelried is banished for manslaughter. He offers to slay a threatening dragon so as to win back his citizenship. Struth slays the dragon in Ennetmoos, but the hero is poisoned by the dragon’s blood. (According to scientific numbering: Panel 026)

Thanks to the Emperor, they were allowed to blow their horns
Chroniclers report that, in 811, Emperor Charlemagne fought in Provence against the Moors. His son Roland was captured. Because the Lucerners had particularly distinguished themselves, Charlemagne allowed them to blow “Great War Horns” (Harsthörner), which Roland loved. (According to scientific numbering: Panel 025)

The Musegg procession
An annual procession is held in honour of the Mother of God. The Musegg procession takes place on 25 March and becomes the most important ecclesiastical event of Central Switzerland. (According to scientific numbering: Panel 039)

The Night of Murder of Lucerne
The Night of Murder of Lucerne probably took place on 24 July 1343. The saga is known under the name “The Night of Murder of Lucerne”, when a shrewd boy saved the Confederates from an attack by supporters of Austria. (According to scientific numbering: Panel 037)

Family research

With their coats of arms and names on the gable paintings, the sponsor families have a prominent presence. Both men and women are mentioned by name. This means that the paintings are an important source of family history. Which public functions did the men exercise? Who were the women, who were often not named in other historical documents? If you take a close look, you will find the answers.

Templates from the Vatican?

Where the idea actually came from to furnish Lucerne’s wooden bridges with paintings is not completely clear. Raphael’s art at the Vatican could have provided a stimulus.