Vatican Museums

Stilleben mit Herrgottswinkel (Still life with shrine to Our Lord) may be dated to between 1909 and 1910, when Gabriele Münter, after years of travelling and study, moved to Murnau with her companion Kandinsky. Her interest in the art and craft of popular tradition originated in that period; it was a true passion that inspired her to collect works of a religious nature such as wooden sculptures, ceramic objects and paintings on glass. The painting depicts a secluded area in the house at Murnau, containing objects dear to her that also appear in other compositions, such as a wooden crucifix, an image of the Virgin Mary, and a copy of the “Black Virgin” of Niedermünster, while at the sides of the cross there are two paintings on glass, both of popular production, which form a sort of household shrine reserved for images of a sacred nature.