Votive Panel with the Assumption

Exhibit of the Month 2 / 2016

Votive Panel with the Assumption

Votive Panel with the Assumption, known as Mostecká, Master I. W., 1538. Tempera on wooden panel, 125 x 127 cm. Depiction of the Assumption (St. Mary Assumed, carried on a crescent moon by angels to heaven) and six targets with Marian legend. Long-term loan in the relocated dean's church in Most, temporarily on display at the exhibition “Without Borders. The Art of the Ore Mountains between Gothic and Renaissance” at the Valdštejn Riding School in Prague.

The exceptionally extensive and fruitful workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), active in Saxon Wittenberg since 1505, saw dozens of apprentices and collaborators throughout the first half of the 16th century, some of whom later became independent and established their own studios.
 
Among them is also Master I. W. (active 1520/25 - 1540/50), who is often ranked among Cranach's most capable epigones and can be considered one of the main disseminators of the Cranach style in Czech territory. His dependence on the work of his master is evident even from a brief comparison; however, it is possible to recognize a certain degree of his own invention in his work, manifested especially in decorativeness, stylization, and flatness, which do not detract from the representativeness of his works and thus create an easily recognizable style.

To this day, the appearance and name of Master I. W. are unknown, as well as the location of his workshop. Literature most frequently mentions the possibility that he was Jan Wrtilka from Loun, which fits well with the geographical distribution of the known master's works, ranging from Prague through Mělník, Litoměřice, Most, Osek, Kadaň to Plzeň.