Page "Albrecht Altdorfer" Paragraph 11

Also, he often painted scenes of historical and biblical subjects, set in atmospheric landscapes.

His best religious scenes are intense, with their glistening lights and glowing colours sometimes verging on the expressionistic.

They often depict moments of intimacy between Christ and his mother, or various saints.

His sacral masterpiece and one of the most famous religious works of art of the later Middle Ages is The Legend of St. Sebastian and The Passion of Christ of the so called Sebastian Altar in St. Florian's Priory ( Stift Sankt Florian ) near Linz, Upper Austria.

When closed the altarpiece displayed the four panels of the legend of St. Sebastian ’ s Martyrdom, while the opened wings displayed the Stations of the Cross.

Today the altarpiece is dismantled and the predellas depicting the two final scenes, Entombment and Resurrection were sold to Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in 1923 and 1930.

Both these paintings share a similar formal structure that consists of an open landscape that is seen beyond and through the opening of a dark grotto.

The date of completion on the resurrection panel is 1518.