The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: St Nicolas donates gold; St Nicolas as Protector of Pilgrims [interior of outer left wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Caiaphas; Ecce Homo [exterior of outer left wing, 2nd transformation]

The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: St Nicolas donates gold; St Nicolas as Protector of Pilgrims [interior of outer left wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Caiaphas; Ecce Homo [exterior of outer left wing, 2nd transformation]

Title

The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: St Nicolas donates gold; St Nicolas as Protector of Pilgrims [interior of outer left wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Caiaphas; Ecce Homo [exterior of outer left wing, 2nd transformation]

[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

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 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 (on the inner side):

- upper field: St Nicolas throws a lump of gold through a poor man's window to save his daughters from the shame of being sold to a brothel.

- lower field: St Nicolas is shown as the protector of seafaring pilgrims, who were given oil by a reputed pious woman to paint the walls of the church. The promised miraculous power was a swindle and the flaming barrels on the water serves as a warning against heathen practice.

on the exterior:

- upper field: Christ before Caiaphas

- lower field: Ecce Homo (or the Presentation of Christ)

[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): 253 x 89.2 cm (verso: 267.9 x 88.5 cm)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support (clear dimension): 253 x 89.2 cm (verso: 267.9 x 88.5 cm)

  • Dimensions including frame: 268 x 107.1 cm

  • [cda 2017]

Owner
Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
Repository
Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
Location
Grimma
CDA ID
DE_FKG_FKG001F
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_FKG_FKG001F/

Overall view of the piece
Connected Works

The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: Nicolas is made bishop of Myra; The Miracle of the Man run over by a Wagon [left inner wing, 1st transformation]
  • The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: Nicolas is made bishop of Myra; The Miracle of the Man run over by a Wagon [left inner wing, 1st transformation], about 1519
  • DE_FKG_FKG001D
  • Painting
  • Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
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]
  • 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
  • DE_FKG_FKG001E
  • Painting
  • Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: the Miracle of the Wheat; The Miracle of the Golden Chalice [interior of outer right wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Pilate; Christ carrying the Cross [exterior of outer right wing, 2nd transformation]
  • The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: the Miracle of the Wheat; The Miracle of the Golden Chalice [interior of outer right wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Pilate; Christ carrying the Cross [exterior of outer right wing, 2nd transformation], about 1519
  • DE_FKG_FKG001G
  • Painting
  • Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: The Arrest of Christ; The Mocking of Christ, [left fixed wing, 2nd transformation]
  • The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: The Arrest of Christ; The Mocking of Christ, [left fixed wing, 2nd transformation], about 1519
  • DE_FKG_FKG001H
  • Painting
  • Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma
The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: The Flagellation; The Crucifixion, [right fixed wing, 2nd transformation]
  • The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: The Flagellation; The Crucifixion, [right fixed wing, 2nd transformation], about 1519
  • DE_FKG_FKG001I
  • Painting
  • Friedhofskapelle Heilig Kreuz, Stadt Grimma

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 79
AuthorIngo Sandner
TitleDie Werkstattpraxis Lucas Cranach des Älteren
Publicationin Dagmar Täube, ed., Lucas Cranach der Ältere und Hans Kemmer. Meistermaler zwischen Renaissance und Reformation [Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2021
Pages71-81
Show Literature
Sandner 1993 146-148, 345 Figs. p. 147, 376
AuthorIngo Sandner
TitleSpätgotische Tafelmalerei in Sachsen
Place of PublicationDresden, Basel
Year of Publication1993
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 donates gold; St Nicolas as Protector of Pilgrims [interior of outer left wing, 1st transformation]; Christ before Caiaphas; Ecce Homo [exterior of outer left wing, 2nd transformation], about 1519

Images

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Technical studies

09. 2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- dry, black drawing material, dark chalk

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; delicate, fine lines delineate the main contours, and describe essential details and facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes.

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made during the painting process; small changes for example the window next to the head of Caiaphas.

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible

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

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

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Entry with no author
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