The Former Highaltar the Church of St Nicolas, Grimma: The Flagellation; The Crucifixion, [right fixed wing, 2nd transformation]

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]