Das Heilige Grab

 

The Holy Grave

 

The words Das "H' Grab appear in German meaning the "The Holy Tomb" or The Holy Sepulcher.

 

19th Century Black Forest or Alsatian Reverse Glass painting (Hinterglassmalerei). Beautiful old glass.

 

Reverse painting on glass (German Hinterglassmalerei), or back painting, as it is sometimes also known, is a technique of painting an image, in reverse order, on the back of a piece of glass.

 

The resulting works are wonderfully luminous and became very popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th century when many people decorated their homes with colorful handpainted religious imagery done in this manner.

 

The work requires an extraordinary technique, in which the entire painting must be executed in reverse, with the foreground first, and the background last.