The Bernau Altarpiece [predella]: St Nicholas legend

Title

[cda 2016]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2016]

The four paintings of the predella are dedicated to Nicholas, the bishop of Myra. He is one of the most folkloristic saints of the Middle Ages. Veneration of this saint introduced customs that are still practiced today on the day of St Nicholas.

[... On the first panel] he throws

[... On the first panel] he throws lumps of gold through the window of a poor gentleman so that he may use it as a dowry for his three daughters and save them from the fate of prostitution. The small room shows a bed in which three girls sleep. Their shoes are placed on the step in front and their dresses hang on a rod behind. The father has opened the door silently to catch sight of the benefactor: the old, bearded man wearing a mitre and cope decorated with precious stones and holding a crosier, who appears on all four panels.

In the second painting he thwarts the execution of two innocents condemned to death, according to the legend it was originally three. They are already being threatened by the executioner's sword.

When a famine broke out in his diocese of Myra in Asia Minor Nicholas sent a ship containing corn to the town. The ship was miraculously refilled so that it arrived at its destination without any loss. Here the valuable cargo is unloaded in the presence of Nicholas.

The last panel depicts the healing of the lame at the grave of Nicholas. This is represented by a giant, undecorated sarcophagus that fills the entire pictorial space. A cripple sits in the foreground a second holds his hand under a hot oil spring rising from the grave. In the Middle Ages oil was considered to be a cure against all forms of illness.

[Sachs 1989, 115, 116]

Attributions: Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Anonymous Master from the Cranach Workshop

Attributions

Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Sachs 1989]
Anonymous Master from the Cranach Workshop	'unknown, formal member of the Cranach Workshop' [Heydenreich, cda 2016]

Production date: about 1515-1519

Production date

about 1515-1519

[cda 2017]

Dimensions: Dimensions of painted surface: 115.5 x 155.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of painted surface: 115.5 x 155.5 cm
[Heydenreich, cda 2016]

Signature / Dating: None

Owner: St. Marien zu Bernau
Repository: St. Marien zu Bernau
Location: Bernau bei Berlin

CDA ID: DE_StMB_NONE-001g
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_StMB_NONE-001g/

Provenance

High altar of the church of St. Marien zu Bernau
1942 dismantled for restoration and stored in the Bode-Museum, Berlin; lost during the war
1946/47 rediscovered in the attic of a school in Berlin
29.12.1957 reconsecrated in the church of St. Marien zu Bernau
[Sachs 1989, 15]

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Knüvener 2011

Author	Peter Knüvener
Title	Die spätmittelalterliche Skulptur und Malerei in der Mark Brandenburg
Volume	Bd. 14
Journal	Forschungen und Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege im Land Brandenburg
Place of Publication	Worms
Year of Publication	2011
Pages	221-229

Show Literature

Sachs 1989

Author	Hannelore Sachs
Title	Der Flügelaltar von St. Marien zu Bernau
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1989

Show Literature

Schade 1974

Author	Werner Schade
Title	Die Malerfamilie Cranach
Place of Publication	Dresden
Year of Publication	1974
Link	http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schade1974

Show Literature

Braunsdorf 1958

Author	Ingeburg Braunsdorf
Title	Der Hochaltar von St. Marien in Bernau
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1958

Show Literature

Jerchel 1939

Author	Heinrich Jerchel
Editor	Brandenburgische Provinzialverbande
Title	Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Niederbarnim
Series	Die Kunstdenkmäler der Provinz Brandenburg
Volume	3, 4
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1939

Show Literature

Kugler 1830

Author	Franz Kugler
Title	Denkmäler der bildenden Kunst des Mittelalters in den preußischen Staaten
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1830

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The following [text] presents a little known example of religious art, which with its 39 carved figures and 68 painted panels is 8 meters high and 5 meters wide and is as such the largest carved altarpiece in Mark Brandenburg, an area that is otherwise not renowned for its art treasures. [...]

[Sachs 1989, 7]

The Lives of Christ and the Virgin displayed on Sundays. When the inner wings are closed a screen displaying 32 panels is visible. These are brightly coloured and painted on a gold ground. The Live of Christ is illustrated with scenes each containing only a few figures. The Passion is shown in a central position on the reverse of the two wings that close the shrine and thrust forward by the depth of the shrine. Preceding events are shown on the outer wing panels to the left and right.

When the second set of wings is closed the altarpiece displays a final screen consisting of series of almost square panels. The images seem more colourful because the medieval gold ground has been abandoned here. Generally only one saint is represented in a realistic landscape by either an event from his/her life or the martyrdom. On the altarpiece this third thematic cycle presents the most motifs if we include the Legend of St Nicholas that is always visible on the predella and the carved figures in the shrine and on the superstructure. The cult of the saints, which evolved out of the medieval belief in the intercession of the saints between God and Mankind, spread like the cult of the Virgin in the late Middle Ages.[...]. Written sources from the time of the Christian persecution by the Romans is the basis for the saints legends, which over the centuries were assumed by popular poetry, and frequently enriched by motifs from pagan myths.

[Sachs 1989, 81-99]

Die Datierung des Bernauer Altars wird mit der Fertigstellung des Chorneubaus der Marienkirche 1519 in Zusammenhang gebracht,(Fußnote 1289) ein denkbares, wenngleich etwas spät anmutendes Datum. Auch im Hinblick auf die nahezu fehlende Rezeption der Cranachgrafik wäre eine frühere Entstehung denkbar.

[Knüvener 2011, 227]

Connected Works

The Bernau Altarpiece [predella]: St Nicholas legend, about 1515-1519

Images

Technical studies

02. 2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

Scenes from the Legend of St Nicolaus

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- detailed and freehand underdrawing after a pre-existing design

- thin to broader lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; the lines define the main contours, describe essential details and facial features; no representation with hatching strokes

Deviations:

- corrections were made to forms during the painting process; small changes (e. g. the arms of the daughters)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible (not Cranach workshop)

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- detailed and freehand underdrawing after a pre-existing design

- thin to broader lines

Function:

- only relatively binding for the final painted version; the lines define the main contours, describe essential details and facial features; no representation with hatching strokes

Deviations:

- corrections were made to forms during the painting process; numerous small changes (e. g. the position of the leg and the head of the executioner)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible (not Cranach workshop)

St Nicholas Feeds the Starving

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- detailed and freehand underdrawing after a pre-existing design

- thin to somewhat broader lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; the lines define the main contours, describe essential details and facial features; not representation of volume with hatching strokes

Deviations:

- corrections were made to forms during the painting process; small changes

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible (not Cranach workshop)

The Healing of the Lame

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush; an initial design may have been executed with a stylus

Type/Ductus:

- relatively detailed and freehand underdrawing after a pre-existing design

- thin to somewhat broader lines

Function:

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

Deviations:

- corrections were made to forms during the painting process; small changes

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible (not Cranach workshop)

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

photographed by Ingo Sandner
photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Condition Reports

Date1989

The dimensions of the shrine are 285x260 cm, those of the wing panels 285x130 cm; the carved figures in the shrine are 60-65 cm in height. The painted panels are upright rectangles measuring 55x65 cm and are framed by a band that is 2 cm in width and is decorated with a pattern on the Passion scenes. The four images on the predella are each 50 x70 cm. The original polychromy on the shrine has to a greater extent been preserved. However, the wood exhibits extensive loss in the ornaments: the figures are frequently missing their attributes, along the hems of the robes the imitation precious stones made with wooden nails and rosettes have largely been lost. The shields for the coats of arms on the central superstructure are empty.

[Sachs 1989,15]

written by Hannelore Sachs

Conservation History

Date1950 - 1957

woodworm damage

The conservation treatment was carried out ca. 1950 - 1957 by Dr. Härtzsch in Berlin. The information is cited from a thesis by Ingeburg Braunsdorf on the Altarpiece in Bernau, Berlin Humboldt-Universität 1958 (type-written)

[Sachs 1989, 15]

restauriert von Härtzsch

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'The Bernau Altarpiece [predella]: St Nicholas legend', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_StMB_NONE-001g/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'The Bernau Altarpiece [predella]: St Nicholas legend', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_StMB_NONE-001g/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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