The Crucifixion and Christ in Limbo were the interior wings of an altarpiece. The exterior wings depicted Christ as the Man of Sorrows and the Virgin Dolorosa and were painted in grisaille on a yellow background, according to Alfred Stange. The overall composition of the altarpiece is known from documentation and photographs taken in 1966 before the panels were separated and the exterior images lost. The present two panels are based on Dürer’s depictions of these scenes in his Small Passion, albeit with some changes. In The Crucifixion, for example, the artist introduced a background landscape that is divided by the central element of the cross. In contrast to Dürer’s print, this anonymous artist located Christ’s feet on the same level as the heads of the Virgin and Saint John and, in the lower part, replaced the skull in Dürer’s scene with some wooden wedges. Another difference is the way the haloes are painted, as here they take the form of glowing nimbuses around the heads of some of the figures. In the scene of Christ in Limbo, the most obvious departure from Dürer’s version is the importance given to the devils in the lower right zone, as well as the more pronounced musculature of the figures.

NH

16th Century16th Century - Germanic paintingPaintingOilpanel
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