(active in Southern Germany?, mid-15th century)
The death of Saint Vitus, oil on panel, 58.5 x 26 cm, framed

Provenance:
Collection of Prince Joseph Clemens of Bavaria

Literature:
I. Lübbeke, Neun Personen suchen einen Maler, Die Veitsmarter im Wallraf-Richartz-Museum und zugehörige Tafeln, in: Wallraf-Richartz-Jahrbuch, vol. 75, 2014, pp. 37-50 According to recent research (cf the aforementioned literature), the painting can be attributed to the so-called “Master of the Saint Vitus scenes”, who was active around the middle of the 15th century. The master’s workshop is difficult to locate. The panel could have originated in southern Germany, but also in the Silesian region. It is placed in a series with three further works in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne (formerly the Collection of Prelate Alexander Schnütgen, Cologne), and in the National Museum, Warsaw, with which it may be compared, especially due to the physiognomy of the face and the design of the fur trim on the collar and cuffs of Saint Vitus.

The present painting is a fragment of a larger panel, which possibly depicts the death scene of the three holy martyrs, Vitus, Crescencia and Modestus. Saint Vitus is shown in isolation, he is wearing an elaborately decorated golden robe. Devoutly, he folds his hands in prayer and looks upwards. His round face, framed by finely painted curls, is surrounded by a golden halo.

Regarding the issues surrounding the „Master of the Saint Vitus scenes” and the possible reconstruction of the altarpiece from which the present painting comes, see the relevant essay by Isolde Lübbeke in Jahrbuch des Kölner Wallraf-Richartz-Museums, 2014.