Benedictine Abbey, Oratory
Location, Object
Village of Einsiedeln, municipality of Einsiedeln, Canton of Schwyz. Abbey of Benedictine monks; 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 1678/1679 by Hans Georg Kuen, decorated 1682/1686; restored 1998–2001.
Emblems (15)
Context
Vaulted ceiling with stucco decorations (by Pietro Neurone), al secco paintings and emblems in stucco frames. There are four emblems in each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd bay, and three in the fourth bay where the cartouche above the organ is empty. The accompanying eight ceiling paintings in the two side aisles show saints and angels and are by the same artist.
Authorship, Date
Painted by Johannes Brandenberg (1661–1729) of Zug in 1682; completely repainted in 1902/1903, restored in 1945 and 1998/1999.
Significance
Religious emblems, probably related to the fact that the room was once a sacristy and used for theological disputations.
Source
No printed source has been identified.
Literature
KdS SZ new ed. 3.1: 466–469; KF 2: 421; Räber 1945/46; Graf 1974: 154-155; Carlen 1977: 43, 46, 48, 92–93.
The Oratory is on the 1st floor above the Beichtkirche.
view from south.
view from south with emblems 2nd bay (nos. 5–8) and 1st bay (nos. 1–4) above the entrance in the north.
view from entrance (north) with emblems of 2nd bay (nos. 5-8), 3rd bay (nos. 9-12) and 4th bay (nos. 13-15).
view from north-east corner of side aisle.
nave, 1st bay with emblems nos. 1–4.
nave, 2nd bay with emblems nos. 5–8.
nave, 3rd bay with emblems nos. 9–12.
nave, 4th bay with emblems nos. 13-15.
A trombone in a radiating light.
Vox Verbi.
Human ears falling from the sky.
Interroga Maiores.
Arrows shot at a target.
Omnes ad unum.
A fire.
Ferventer.
Two crossed keys.
Recludunt claves.
Weapons (swords, spears, a club) arranged around a wreath.
Certans coronatur.
Four sheep on a meadow.
Pascua invenient.
A phoenix in its burning nest.
Vivit post mortem.
A book with seven seals in a shaft of light.
Lux intus.
A burning candle.
Omnibus ardeo.
A soldier guarding an entrance.
Verum custodiunt.
A fruit tree.
Placant solvendo.
Crowns, a sceptre and jewelry tumbling from a silver plate.
Desere habebis.
A white lily in a garden.
Deliciæ sponsi.
Five burning oil lamps between a heart-shaped string of flowers.
Soli Christo.
Copyright note: Added 2018, revised 2026. All photos taken by the author, September 2016. Floor plan reproduced from Carlen 1977: 9.