Presentation of the Virgin Mary
- 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
- This quatrefoil, like the next one with the scene of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, attracts attention with its original layout. Only here did Stwosz divide the composition into two parts thus breaking up its compactness. It has been suggested that these may be the oldest fragments of the settee, prepared by the master earlier as a sample of his skill, a model intended for approval by the founders. There is no evidence for this, but the panels testify that the work on the altarpiece was a complex process. The master kept changing concepts, his talent matured and old ideas were superseded by new ones.
