Altarpiece with The Passion of Christ
Medium
oil and gold on wood
Dimensions
unframed: 74.3 × 69.8 cm · framed: 88.9 × 157.5 × 8.3 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Medieval Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession Number
1951.453.a
Tags
About this artwork
The visual focus of this altarpiece is the suffering and death of Christ on the cross. So-called Passion cycles in art include the events leading up to and following the Crucifixion, not only as single subjects but as scenes meant to be read in sequence. Passion cycles were promoted by the two great teaching orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, for whom this subject represented the main religious drama of their churches, and also by the German mystics who advocated private contemplation o...
About the Artist
Master of the Schlägl Altarpiece (German)
**German, Franconia (active ca. 1485–1500)** was an anonymous artist from the Franconian region of northern Bavaria, Germany, renowned for his contributions to late Gothic graphic arts. Little is known of his early life or training, as details about many anonymous masters from this era remain undocumented. Franconia, with its vibrant artistic centers like Nuremberg, fostered a rich tradition of re...