The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: St Nicolas saves the Sailors from the Stormt; A Knight with his Horse before St Nicolas' Altarpiece [right inner wing, 1st transformation]

Title

[cda 2017]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2017]

The outer wing panels of the altar depict Christ's passion, while the inner wing panels (the 1st transformation) illustrate the Legend of St Nicolas. The shrine contains almost life-size wooden statues of various bishops, among them St Nicolas.

Like in Döbeln the church patron St Nicolas is the centre piece of

Like in Döbeln the church patron St Nicolas is the centre piece of the open altar. Beside him rank Erasmus [...] and a bishop holding a book and a ciborium (?) (Donatus of Arezzo?). The wings of the shrine contain saints Barbara and Margaret on the left and on the right Christopher, the patient bearer of 'divine burden', and a saint whose attribute is now lost (Leonard?). The predella contains a relief representation of the Nativity with a painted scene of the Annunciation to the Shepherds in the background.

The St Nicolas series, which is the most complete version in Saxony, faithfully illustrates the stages of the saint's life. However some of the more popular miracles are missing.

This panel depicts:

- upper field: St Nicolas strides out over the sea to save sailors from a storm.

- lower field: a knight is shown with his horse in front of St Nicolas' altarpiece. He holds his right hand over a pile of money, which he promised to give the saint in gratitude for being saved together with his horse when they jumped over the Danube to escape their pursuers. According to the legend he cannot lead his horse out of the church until the agreed sum has been left on the altarpiece.

[Sandner 1993, 146-148]

Attribution: Master of the Döbeln Altarpiece

Attribution

Master of the Döbeln Altarpiece

Der Gehilfenanteil ist beträchtlich. [with significant assistance]
[Sandner 1993, 146]

Production date: about 1519

Production date

about 1519

[Lorenz 1856, 7, 100]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support (clear dimension): 254 x 84 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support (clear dimension): 254 x 84 cm
Dimensions including frame: 268 x 108.1 cm
[cda 2017]

Owner: Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
Repository: Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
Location: Grimma

CDA ID: DE_FKG_FKG001E
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_FKG_FKG001E/

Connected Works

Provenance

according to the Grimma chronicles the work was installed for the price of 220 gilders in 1519 (the sum can only refer to a part payment) [Lorenz 1856, 7, 100]
after the Church of St Nicolas was demolished in 1888 the altar was moved to the Friedhofskirche (cemetery church) (considerably altered in 1910); evidently the decorated superstructure did not fit in the low space and is now lost.
[Sandner 1993, 146]

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Sandner 2021

Author	Ingo Sandner
Title	Die Werkstattpraxis Lucas Cranach des Älteren
Publication	in Dagmar Täube, ed., Lucas Cranach der Ältere und Hans Kemmer. Meistermaler zwischen Renaissance und Reformation [Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum]
Place of Publication	Munich
Year of Publication	2021
Pages	71-81

Show Literature

Sandner 1993

146-148, 345

Fig. p. 147

Author	Ingo Sandner
Title	Spätgotische Tafelmalerei in Sachsen
Place of Publication	Dresden, Basel
Year of Publication	1993

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

According to [Hentschel 1951, 71-100] the sculptor was also responsible for the statues of Friedrich the Wise and Johann the Steadfast in the chapel in Wittenberg Castle. This would support the hypothesis that the whole work was created in Wittenberg in cooperation with the Cranach workshop. […]

The painted scenes from the Legend of St Nicolas are without doubt by the same Cranach pupil, who in about 1515/16 painted the Highaltar for the Church of St Nicolas, Döbeln. However the contribution from assistants is considerable. The scenes of the Passion are by a completely different hand, but the assistance can be recognized of artists who probably worked on the wing panels of the altars in Gleisberg and Boritz.[…]

A number of artists - at least three - were responsible for the execution of the panels. The authorship by the master who had already worked for Döbeln is not only recognisible in the recurring representation of the Legend of St Nicolas, but also stylistically. The head types, the treatment of the water and the clouds, the landscape and the colour of the draperies all indicate his hand. Typical characteristics of the underdrawing confirm this judgement. There is however no doubt that the compositional and dramatic concentration of the work in Grimma is less accomplished than that in Döbeln. […]

The images from the Passion recall those of Cranach’s workshop without necessarily stemming from there. Although the assistance of the artist from Freiberg cannot be distinguished, the stiff, almost linear forms of Christ’s arrest and flagellation recall the style of his apprentices assisting in Gleisberg and Boritz. Cranach’s influence appears mainly limited to the Crucifixion, and the Presentation of Christ. Kurt Degen [Degen 1953] has already pointed out the close relationship between the Crucifixion and Cranach’s version [DE_KSG_GM704].

[Sandner 1993, 146-148]

The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: St Nicolas saves the Sailors from the Stormt; A Knight with his Horse before St Nicolas' Altarpiece [right inner wing, 1st transformation], about 1519

Images

Technical studies

09. 2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush; probably in two stages; an initial design was executed with a diluted medium and subsequently reinforced with darker lines

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing (probably after a pre-existing design

- thinner to somewhat broader lines

- occasional hatching-strokes

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; the lines delineate the main contours, and describe essential details and facial features; occasional representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made to forms during the painting process; numerous small changes for example the coins on the altarpiece, the candle to the right, the construction lines, the sleeve and the hoof of the horse.

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Master of the Döbeln Highaltar (Valentin Elner?)

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2017]

photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
photographed by Ingo Sandner

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

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