Einsiedeln (SZ), Benedictine Monastery: Oratory

LOCATION, OBJECT
Village of Einsiedeln, municipality of Einsiedeln, Canton Schwyz. Abbey of Benedictine monks; founded in the 10th c., completely rebuilt in the late 17th and early 18th c. Northern tract, 1st floor: Oratory (Oratorium), former Students’ Chapel and originally the sacristy of the Beichtkirche situated below, built 1678/79 by Hans Georg Kuen and decorated 1682/86; last restored 1998-2001. Not open to the public.

EMBLEMS (15)
Context
Vaulted ceiling with stucco decorations (Pietro Neurone), al secco paintings and emblems in stucco frames. There are four emblems in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd bay, and thee in the fourth bay where the cartouche above the organ is empty. The accompanying eight paintings in the ceiling of in the two side aisles show saints and angles and are by the same artist. 

Authorship, Date
Painted by Johannes Brandenberg (1661-1729) of Zug, 1682; completely painted over in 1902/03, restored in 1945 and 1998/99.

Significance
Religious emblems, probably related to the fact that room was once a sacristy and also used for theological disputations.

Source
No printed source has been identified.

LITERATURE
Kdm SZ new ed. 3.1: 466-69; KF 2: 421; Räber 1945/46; Graf 1974: 155-54; Carlen 1977: 43, 46, 48, 92-93.

Diagram (click to enlarge)