Ascension of Christ
- Subject
- Late Gothic retable depicting scenes from the lives of Mary and Jesus
- Author, school, workshop
- Wit Stwosz (ca. 1448-1533)
- Contributor
- -
- Style
- Late Gothic
- Date
- 1477-1489
- Type
- Altarpiece in the form of a pentaptych
- Material and technique
- Wood/carving, gilding, polychrome
- Size
- 2,5 × 2,3 m
- Signatures and inscriptions
- -
- Identity number
- -
- Department
- -
- Links/analogies
- -
- Owner
- Saint Mary's Basilica in Krakow
- Copyright
- Saint Mary's Basilica in Krakow
- Location
- Saint Mary's altar (by Wit Stwosz) in the presbytery
- Description
- The composition of this scene is centripetal. The apostles, together with Mary, surround the rock from which Christ has just ascended to the Father, while reverence, fear and the sadness of separation make them keep looking up to see the Master in the now empty sky. The unravelled robes overlap to form a swirling swirl, as if the witnesses to the Ascension were themselves floating in the air in some mystical dance. This is the end of Christ's earthly journey, but a trace of his physical presence remains: at the top of the mountain the footprints of his bare feet, miraculously imprinted in the hard rock, are clearly visible.
