Triptych with The Lamentation of Christ (center), St. Barbara (left wing), St. Catherine of Alexandria (right wing), The Annunciation (reverse wings) Austria

Triptych with The Lamentation of Christ (center), St. Barbara (left wing), St. Catherine of Alexandria (right wing), The Annunciation (reverse wings)

c. 1500

Master of the Krainburg Altar

(Austrian, active c. 1485–1510)

Austria

Center: oil on poplar; Wings: oil and gold leaf on poplar panel

Center: 45.7 x 33 cm (18 x 13 in.); Wings: 51 x 15.9 cm (20 1/16 x 6 1/4 in.)

John L. Severance Fund 2022.86

Location: 111 German and Austrian Gothic

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Did You Know?

The Master of Krainburg was active in the area of today's Slovenia and should therefore be called the Master of Kranj in Slovenian.

Description

The triptych shows an exact representation of Jerusalem. The model is a woodcut by Erhard Reuwich for the publication Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, by Bernhard von Breydenbach, published in Mainz in 1486. This book became a bestseller, reprinted thirteen times over the next three decades. The painter who was active in today’s Slovenia around 1500 adapted this for his depiction of the Lamentation of Christ.