Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings Inscribed (recto, on hats of executioners) in pseudo-Greek and pseudo-Hebrew
Gallery Label This panel was orginally part of an altarpiece to which two panels in the Städtisches Museum at Trier—a "Beheading of John the Baptist" (with "Harbouring the Pilgrim" on the reverse), and "The Feast of Herod" (with "Feeding the Hungry" on the reverse)—also belonged. When the altarpiece was closed, the "Acts of Mercy" could be seen while the opened altarpiece showed the gold-ground paintings with scenes from the life of John the Baptist and Saint Lawrence. Since "Acts of Mercy" depicted in the art of this period commonly numbered six, three panels are probably missing from the wings of the altarpiece, one with the "Baptism of Christ," and two other scenes from the life of Saint Lawrence. There is no indication of the contents of the central panel. An altarpiece by the same hand is in the Nonnberg at Salzburg, where this panel may also have been painted.
Notes This painting was originally part of an altarpiece to which two panels in the Städtisches Museum Simeonstift, Trier, also belonged: "The Beheading of John the Baptist" (verso, "Harboring the Pilgrim") and "The Feast of Herod" (verso, "Feeding the Hungry"). When the altarpiece was closed, the Acts of Mercy would be visible, and when open, the scenes from the lives of Saints John the Baptist and Lawrence. At that time, most depictions of the Acts of Mercy included six, not seven, scenes, so three panels are probably missing from the wings of the altarpiece, one with the Baptism of Christ, and two with additional scenes from the life of Saint Lawrence. The central panel is also lost.
Provenance [Paul Lindpaintner, Berlin, by about 1952–55; sale, Lempertz, Cologne, November 23, 1955, no. 37, as by a Salzburg Master about 1460, for 10,000 marks to Linsky]; Mr. and Mrs. Jack Linsky, New York (1955–his d. 1980); Mrs. Jack Linsky, New York (1980–81)
Exhibition History Munich. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. "Unbekannte Kunstwerke im Münchner Privatbesitz," October 10–?, 1954, nos. 493, 493a (as Salzburg school, about 1460).
Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum. "Spätgotik in Salzburg: Die Malerei, 1400–1530," May 26–October 1, 1972, no. 92 (as by the Master of the Acts of Mercy, lent by Jack Linsky, New York).
References Unbekannte Kunstwerke im Münchner Privatbesitz . Exh. cat., Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. Munich, 1954, p. 58, nos. 493 (recto), 493a (verso), pl. 65 (verso), based on the opinion of Ernst Buchner, attributes it to a Salzburg painter and dates it about 1460.Zur spätgotischen Malerei Regensburgs und Salzburgs . Munich, 1959, pp. 11–15, figs. 17–19 (overall, recto and verso; detail, verso), attributes it to a Salzburg artist he calls the "Meister der Barmherzigkeiten" (Master of the Acts of Mercy) and dates it about 1460; states that at the time it was sold in Cologne in 1955, Walter Dieck, director of the Städtisches Museum Simeonstift, Trier, identified it as from the same altarpiece as two works in his museum [see Notes]; mentions that there are at least three missing panels of the altarpiece, and that at that time six acts of mercy were usually depicted rather than seven; notes that the female saint depicted on the verso of the MMA panel and on those in Trier is probably Elizabeth, but could also be Hedwig or Erentrud, founder of the Stift Nonnberg, a convent in Salzburg; calls these panels the artist's best works; assigns to the same painter an "Adoration of the Magi" with a "Presentation in the Temple" on the verso (Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich) and a triptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints (Stift Nonnberg); calls the artist contemporary with Master ES [active ca. 1450–67], not Martin Schongauer [born 1435–50, d. 1491].Deutsche Malerei der Gotik . 10, Munich, 1960, p. 96, identifies the MMA panel and the two in Trier as from the same altarpiece; attributes it to an unknown artist from the Bavarian Oberland and dates it to the sixteenth century based on the costumes; identifies the saint on the versos as Elizabeth.in Spätgotik in Salzburg: Die Malerei, 1400–1530 . Exh. cat., Salzburger Museum Carolino Augusteum. Salzburg, 1972, pp. 79–81, 115, 117–18, no. 92, attributes the Trier and MMA panels to the Master of the Acts of Mercy and dates the altarpiece to which they all belong to about 1465; in a proposed reconstruction of the altarpiece, mistakenly places "Giving Drink to the Thirsty" in the middle on the left, but "The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence" at the bottom on the left; suggests that the three missing panels are "The Scourging of Saint Lawrence," "Saint Lawrence Distributing the Treasures of the Church," and "The Baptism of Christ"; reads the letters on the cap of the torturer at lower right as "MESTE" for Master, and suggests that the inscription on the second torturer's head covering may give the Master's name; relates the work of the Master of the Acts of Mercy to the Regensburger Altar by Rueland Fruehauf the Elder, concluding that the Master preceded Frueauf and may have been his teacher; describes the style of the Master as a late phase of mid-century realism.
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