Deposition in the tomb
- 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 Passion Triptych, i.e. three scenes from the Saviour's Passion on the outside of the right movable wing, closes with the Entombment. In these compositions, the artist's knowledge of 15th-century Dutch painting came to the fore in a special way. The medieval system of training for the artist included the important injunction of a journeyman's journey. The future master completing his education had to go on a journey, the length of which was regulated by local guild laws (usually two to four years). We do not know where Stwosz travelled to, but there are many indications that his destination was the Netherlands. His works bear surprising similarities to the paintings of local painters and, in particular, to the works of Roger van der Weyden.
