A trip out to see the "Asam" churches

Franz had off on Wednesday, and I'd done most of the stuff I needed to do to get a demo working, so we hit the autobahn to check out a couple of things off the beaten path. While I'm not one to go 'see' a church, Franz had this focussed on just 2 chapels that the 2 brothers Asam architected in the early 18th century.
The first was in the tiny town of Rohr. Inside, the main altar has this enormous work of the Asam brothers. Things that characterize the work is the backlighting 'crown', and the 'floating' Maria. Franz put it quite well - this was in the early 18th century before television and special effects, and the way this is constructed, the Maria has no visible support/strings/beams from the gallery of the church. In that context, I imagine it was quite a powerful work.


The second church was in the cloister Weltenburg, near the small town of Kehlheim. Inside the Asam chapel at Weltenburg, Franz points out one of the 'signatures' that the Asam brothers use. They put a figure of one or the other of themselves in the sculptures. In this case, one of the brothers looks down on the chapel in his 18th century dress, somewhat amused. He's one of 10 figures holding up a 'crown' above the main floor of the chapel.

He also explained the meaning and light-play of this chapel, and in context, it is again quite amazing. The chapel where the 'sinners' sit is quite dark, almost murky, as the souls of the sinners obviously. St. George is here slaying the dragon and saving the virgin, clearing the way for the sinners who want to head into the 'light'. Again, this 3-d and play of backlight is pretty stunning, and probably lost to many today.