Around 1484 -1530 · Bernese Renaissance, Dance of Death and Reformation

Niklaus Manuel Deutsch goes through painting, war, theater and politics: his nervous figures make the Bernese Renaissance an art of moral conflict and transformation.

Probably born in Bern around 1484, Niklaus Manuel adopted his father's name, Manuel, and added Deutsch as the equivalent of the old family surname Aleman. An artist with multiple professions, he paints altarpieces, draws for stained glass, engraves on wood and often signs NMD. His language combines the precision of Swiss drawing, the inventions of the German Renaissance and a taste for elegant or disturbing figures. The famous Danse Macabre painted on the wall of the Dominican convent of Bern, now extinct but known through copies, brought death to face every rank in society. Manuel also served as a mercenary during the Italian campaigns, an experience which fueled growing criticism of the military system. Member of the councils of Bern, diplomat, poet and playwright, he became a major player in the Reformation in the city. His satires attack the trade in indulgences and ecclesiastical abuses. After the religious turn of 1528, political activity took precedence over painting, bringing together image, speech and civic action in the same career. The "Niklaus Manuel Deutsch" selection offers its own journey on this subject. His reading favors atmosphere.

In Manuel Deutsch, death does not erase social differences: it summons them one by one to better reveal their fragility.