Full title | Saints Christina and Ottilia |
---|---|
Artist | Lucas Cranach the Elder |
Artist dates | 1472 - 1553 |
Series | The St Catherine Altarpiece: Reverses of Shutters |
Date made | 1506 |
Medium and support | Oil on limewood(?) |
Dimensions | 123 x 67 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1987 |
Inventory number | NG6511.2 |
Location | Room 2 |
Art route(s) | C |
Collection | Main Collection |
This painting, which shows Saints Christina and Ottilia, was part of a multi-panelled altarpiece made by Cranach in 1506, shortly after he was appointed court painter to the Elector of Saxony, Friedrich the Wise.
Saint Christina of Bolsena was a third-century virgin martyr. When she renounced her pagan faith and converted to Christianity, her father ordered her torture – but every attempt was thwarted and Christina remained miraculously unharmed. She stands on the stone to which she was tied before being thrown in a lake. Despite the heavy weight, she floated. She was eventually killed by beheading.
Saint Ottilia of Alsace was a Benedictine nun whose blindness was miraculously cured during her baptism into the Christian faith. She went on to bring her brother back to life after their father accidentally killed him, and was the founder of numerous monasteries.
This panel, which shows Saints Christina and Ottilia, was originally the outer face of one of the shutters of a multi-panelled altarpiece made by Cranach in 1506, one of his first and most important commissions for the electors of Saxony. The painting has since been separated from the inner face of the shutter.
Little is known about the life of Saint Christina. She was an early Christian virgin martyr, born in the third century. Her father intended her to be a pagan priestess, and surrounded her with gold statues of pagan idols – she destroyed them after being visited by an angel who told her to embrace Christianity. When her father discovered her conversion to Christianity, he had Christina tortured: she was grilled by fire, tortured on a wheel and shot by arrows. God thwarted all of these attempts to harm her, but she was eventually beheaded. Cranach depicts her standing on the stone to which she was tied before being thrown in a river (she miraculously floated).
Saint Ottilia was born into a noble family, but her father discarded her for being a blind girl; she was taken away and raised by peasants. When she was taken to a monastery aged 12 and baptised into the Christian faith, her eyesight was restored. On discovering this, her brother brought her back to the family home, so enraging their father that he accidentally killed the boy. Ottilia miraculously revived him and then left the family once again. When her father later fell ill, she returned to him and nursed him. She is the patron saint of good eyesight and the region of Alsace. Cranach depicts her in the black robes of a Benedictine abbess; she was abbess of the convent of Hohenburg and also founded a number of monasteries. A pair of eyeballs rests on the book she holds: a representation of her God-given sight.
The altarpiece was almost certainly made for the chapel of the electors in the castle at Wittenberg. Electors Friedrich the Wise and, possibly, Johann the Steadfast are depicted in the central panel of the altarpiece as witnesses to the martyrdom of Saint Catherine. The inner face of each shutter depicts a group of three female saints.
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Saints Christina and Ottilia
The St Catherine Altarpiece: Reverses of Shutters
These paintings were originally part of a multi-panelled altarpiece with wings that could be closed to cover the central panel. As the backs of the wings could sometimes be seen, they were also decorated; that’s where these four figures, of Saints Genevieve and Apollonia, and Saints Christina and Ottilia, once appeared. These images have since been separated from the inner faces of the wings.
This altarpiece was one of the first commissions Cranach made for the electors of Saxony and was almost certainly displayed in the electors’ chapel in the castle at Wittenberg. The central panel, now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden, depicts the martyrdom of Saint Catherine witnessed by Elector Friedrich the Wise and possibly Johann the Steadfast.
These paintings were originally part of a multi-panelled altarpiece dedicated to the martyrdom of Saint Catherine. Its side panels could be closed to cover the central image and as the backs of these wings could sometimes be seen, they were also decorated. That’s where these four figures once appeared, although they have since been separated from the wings' inner faces.
This altarpiece was one of the first commissions Cranach made for the electors of Saxony and was almost certainly displayed in the electors’ chapel in the castle at Wittenberg. The central panel, now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden, shows Electors Friedrich the Wise and, possibly, Johann the Steadfast as witnesses to Saint Catherine’s martyrdom. The inner faces of the wings each show a group of three female saints. On the left shutter Saints Dorothy, Agnes and Cunigunde are depicted; on the right are Saints Barbara, Ursula and Margaret.
Saints Genevieve and Apollonia appeared on the reverse of the wing showing Saints Dorothy, Agnes and Cunigunde. Saint Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, holds the candle that miraculously relit after the devil blew it out while she was praying in a church. Saint Apollonia, patron saint of those with dental problems, had her teeth pulled out with pliers as torture for her commitment to her Christian faith.
Saints Christina and Ottilia were shown on the reverse of the other shutter. Saint Christina of Bolsena was tortured by her pagan father and martyred for her conversion to Christianity. Her father’s many attempts at torture, including throwing her into a river with a millstone tied to her, were all miraculously thwarted. Saint Ottilia was born blind but her sight was restored when she was baptised into the Christian faith. She revived her brother after he was accidentally killed by their father, and went on to found Augustinian monasteries.

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