Saint Christina of Bolsena stands on a millstone to which she was tied and thrown into a lake, but she miraculously survived because the stone floated. Her companion, Saint Ottilia of Alsace displays her eyes, to show her blindness was cured; she was a Benedictine nun.
This painting and 'Saints Genevieve and Apollonia' were the outsides of the shutters of 'The St Catherine Altarpiece' in Dresden. It was one of the first works Cranach painted after having entered the service of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony in Wittenberg in 1505.
Key facts
Artist
Artist dates
1472 - 1553
Full title
Saints Christina and Ottilia
Date made
1506
Medium and support
Oil on lime
Dimensions
123 x 67 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1987
Inventory number
NG6511.2
Location in Gallery
Other paintings in the group: The St Catherine Altarpiece: Reverses of Shutters
Painting
Lucas Cranach the Elder
1506
