The Entombment of Christ [Epitaph for Georg Niemeck]

The Niemecks, also called Kellner, belonged to one of the most important families in the town. in 1521 at the behest of the mayor A. Niemegk the painting of "The Virgin" which hung above the high altar of the parish church was removed. From 1555 Georg Niemeck was town treasurer and from 1561 town judge. The childless married couple council man Caspar Niemeck and his wife Anna made their considerable fortune available to the reformers. Caspar Niemeck died on the 7.11.1562 at the age of 45. After his death his widow married Lukas Hetzner, with whom she had three children. She died in 1572.

The Cranach workshop produced numerous elaborate commemorative monuments for the Niemeck family. Three of these, large paintings attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger, hung in the parish church [...]

The work depicting 'The Deposition', now in Nischwitz was recorded by the Wittenberg church historian Mentzius in1604 as being on the second north pillar of the church in Wittenberg. [...]

The eventful history of the church and Nischwitz castle is remarkable during this time:

• according to an inscription on the west gable the present church was rebuilt in 1667, after the gothic church built in 1512 under Bishop Johann von Saalhausen was vacated in 1648 due to the destruction caused by the 30 years war.

• 1713-21 construction of a three story mansion by M. D. Pöppelmann

• in 1726 (Pentecost) the castle was hit by lightning and burnt to the ground

• 1745-50 the present Rococo style summer residence was built by J. Ch. Knöffel

• in 1752 the church and the white and pink stucco marble altarpiece were completed

• in 1763 reconstruction was begun, after 1780 completed

The painting could have been acquired by one of the following landlords or have been passed down by the first owner when the later owners acquired the estate:

• until 1653 the von Gaudelitz family

• 1664 Heinrich von Rosenfeld, an architect from Leipzig

• 1692 Georg Heinrich, his son and dean of Meissen

• 1708 Gustav Carl Freiherr zu Racknitz, royal polish and electoral chamberlain and stable master

• 1721 Fridericke Charlotte von Wend, wife of the Lüneburg electoral colonel

• 1739 Amalie Sophia von Walmoden, her daughter and later Duchess of Yarmouth

• 1743 Heinrich von Bruehl, Imperial Count and his ancestors

• 1778 -1801 Dr. Lastrop

• 1817 Cristian Friedrich von Ritzenberg auctioned the castle and its contents

At this time both owners wished to buy new objects. According to documents held by the church community in Nischwitz it is certain that: on the 23.06.1841 the landowner and church patron Ferdinant Eduard Theodor von Ritzenberg (1792-1849), judge in Nischwitz, Röcknitz, Dehnitz, Bennewitz, Grubnitz, Nepperwitz and Pönitz, declared to Pastor Richter, the minister of Nischwitz that he wished to bequest to the church a painting of great artistic quality, depicting a deposition. He also wishes to finance the redecoration of the chancel, the altar and the baptistery font. However the inner walls and ceiling of the church must first be white washed. One month later the work was completed by the master bricklayer Schröpel for 34 Th 8 Gr. In this manner the church community of Nischwitz became owners of this Cranach painting in 1841.

[Harold Gaulitz, written correspondence, 10.04.2013]