Rome: In a serene corner behind the walls of the Vatican, near the tomb of St Peter, a remarkable artistic and spiritual moment has unfolded. A large altarpiece by German painter Michael Triegel, originating from Naumburg in eastern Germany, has been installed in the Church of the Teutonic Cemetery (Campo Santo Teutonico), symbolizing a bridge between centuries of art, faith, and human stories.
The painting’s journey began with an encounter in 2018 when Triegel, a Catholic artist from Leipzig, met a homeless man named Scheffler outside a church in Rome’s Trastevere district. “By giving him alms, I thought I was easing my conscience. But in his eyes, I saw an entire life,” Triegel recalled. Inspired, he asked Scheffler to pose, painting him from below, a perspective traditionally reserved for emperors and popes.
Scheffler’s face later emerged in Triegel’s 2020 altarpiece for Naumburg’s Evangelical Cathedral. Incorporating fragments from an unfinished work by Lucas Cranach, the Renaissance master of the Reformation, the piece depicts the Madonna and Child surrounded by ten saints, with the Apostle Peter bearing Scheffler’s features.
In an extraordinary turn of events, the altarpiece now stands beside Scheffler’s grave in the Teutonic Cemetery. After his tragic death from exposure beneath St Peter’s colonnade in 2022, Scheffler, though Lutheran, was laid to rest in this historic burial ground managed by the German Archconfraternity. “For me, this borders on the miraculous,” Triegel said, reflecting on earlier controversies when the altarpiece’s removal from Naumburg Cathedral was delayed due to UNESCO heritage restrictions.
The Naumburg Altarpiece, intended to complete a project begun by Cranach in the 16th century, will remain in Rome for two years. Its presence represents a rare convergence: the secularized region of eastern Germany meeting the spiritual heart of Catholicism. The project was realized in collaboration with the rector and Archconfraternity of the Campo Santo Teutonico, as part of an unprecedented ecumenical partnership requested by the Naumburg Cathedral Chapter.
The altarpiece reflects this inclusive vision: alongside the Virgin and Child are saints from diverse eras, including Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, while the Apostle Paul carries the visage of a rabbi Triegel met in Jerusalem. The artist explains that his aim is “to heal, at least in part, the wounds of the 16th century, and to return sacred art to the service of worship and prayer.”
Triegel’s relationship with Rome stretches back decades. Born in an atheist state, his first trip abroad after the Berlin Wall fell in 1990 was to the Eternal City. In 2010, he was commissioned to paint a portrait of Pope Benedict XVI, one of the rare contemporary artists to receive such an honor. Four years later, he formally joined the Catholic Church.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI monitored the progress of the Naumburg altarpiece from his Vatican residence, offering Triegel his prayers and apostolic blessing. Now, seeing the painting installed beside Scheffler’s tomb in a church closely associated with the late Pope, Triegel perceives a profound sense of providence. “This work, even its earlier controversy, has become a moment of healing, encounter, and closeness,” he reflected.
The Cranach–Triegel Altarpiece is on display in the Church of the Campo Santo Teutonico, adjacent to St Peter’s Basilica. It is open to all visitors Monday through Saturday, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., a departure from its previous restriction to Archconfraternity members and German-speaking pilgrims.