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Created: second half of 16th c. Material, technology: oak Size: 108 x78 cm Description: The main appeal of the painting lies in its rich iconographic program. Left under the cross is the crouching figure of the Holy Mother, on the other side the monumental Evangelist is shown. A conspicuous iconographic element is the red snake winding around the cross and the forward falling skeleton with the broken arrow in its hand, which derived from medieval art and assumed new meaning during the Reformation. To the right of Christ, a female figure personifying grace can be seen amidst the clouds with a child and lamb; the figure on the other side is perhaps an allegory of Iustitia. On the stem of the cross three groups of symbolical birds nest. In the middle, the pelican feeding its young with its blood as a symbol of Divine love; on Christ’s right, there is the white phoenix nesting in fire; as the Physiologus says, it burnt itself only to resurrect on the third day; to the right, the motif of an eagle soaring towards the sun - another symbol of Christ - is fragmentary. |  |
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