SOUTHERN GERMAN, PROBABLY FRANCONIA, EARLY 16TH CENTURY | THREE FIGURES FROM A CRUCIFIXION GROUP

Private collection, Europe

The precise composition of this group, which depicts one of the three Marys and Saint John supporting the fainting Virgin, is repeated in at least three late-Gothic reliefs from diverse German locations: a Crucifixion in the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Münnerstadt from the circle of Veit Stoss (Bildindex Foto Marburg, no. B 15.279/10), the Crucifixion in the altarpiece of Kaysersberg (Alsace) made by Hans Bongart between 1518 and 1521 (Bildindex no. fmd489117), and an early 16th-century fragmentary relief in Marburg showing only the three figures (Bildindex, no. fmd483923). Though iconographically identical, each of the reliefs is stylistically distinct, indicating a common source, possibly from the circle of Rogier van der Weyden. The motif also appears painted on the outer wings of the High Altar at Blaubeuren, which was completed in 1494 (Bildindex, no. fm.1550835).