Lenten cloth by Lisa Huber in the Admont Abbey Church
The new Lenten cloth by artist Lisa Huber will be blessed in Admont Abbey Church on Ash Wednesday, 14 February 2024 at 18:30. It will hang until Whit Monday - i.e. throughout the Easter period - as the victorious Paschal Lamb (a symbol of the risen Christ) can also be seen on it.
Lisa Huber, Lamb of God take away the sin of the world...
Lenten cloth, woodcut hand print, unique piece, oil/on canvas, 2021/ 2022.
5.13 m x 3.10 m (background colour, green); motif: 5 Tondis 1.30 m, the 4 Evangelists and the Lamb of God.
Lisa Huber, * 1959 in Villach (A), Lisa Huber lives and works in Berlin, Vienna and Carinthia.
1979-1981 School of Arts and Crafts Graz,
1981/82 Painting and sculpture with Josef Pillhofer, Graz,
1982 to 1988 University of Applied Arts in Vienna.
1990 DAAD Scholarship Berlin
1997 Cité de Art Paris Scholarship, 6 months
1999 Austrian Graphics Prize of the Province of Tyrol; Erwin Ringel Art Prize, 1st prize; Promotion Prize of the Province of Carinthia; Strabag Culture Prize
2017 Cultural award winner of the city of Villach
During the preparations for the anniversary year, Abbot Gerhard Hafner, who is also the parish priest of Admont, considered acquiring a Lenten cloth for the collegiate church. He immediately fell in love with this Lenten cloth by Lisa Huber. It bears the title "Lamb of God take away the sin of the world ..." and was created in the artist's workshops in 2021/22 in an elaborate 1 1/2-year work process.
Lisa Huber, who is also represented in the abbey's collection with oversized silhouettes, works in the traditional technique of woodcut, among others. She has also used this technique in this huge Lenten cloth, which makes it an artistic speciality. There are no other Lenten cloths that have been created using the woodcut technique. The canvas, which is over 5 metres long, was not printed by machine, but in one piece by hand. With this special woodblock printing technique, Lisa Huber has achieved the impression of painted motifs and created a unique piece in a class of its own.
Lisa Huber's Lenten cloths have already been on display in Klagenfurt and Babenberg Cathedrals, St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna and Worms Cathedral. Abbot Gerhard Hafner expressed his appreciation for the Lenten cloth, which has become at home in the Admont collegiate church, with the following words: "The most important message I have to proclaim as a priest is the Word of God, especially the Gospels, as Jesus speaks directly to us in the Gospels. At every Holy Mass, we stand up - out of reverence for the words of Jesus - when the Gospel is proclaimed. Moreover, the Gospel is translated into German: Good News. In the times in which we live, we literally hunger for good news, for hope, for words that lift us up and give us courage, and this is what our Lord Jesus Christ brings about with his message.
In addition, this Lent book corresponds with my abbot's staff, on which the 4 evangelists are depicted, and the lectionary cover, where the 4 evangelists can be seen with their symbols: Mark as a lion, Matthew as an angel, Luke as a bull, John as an eagle.
Thanks to the artist Mrs Lisa Huber for this successful and appealing work of art."
