Stationary Wings of the Heller Altarpiece with Sts. Lawrence and Cyriacus, ca. 1509 – 1510

About the Work

In 1507 the Frankfurt merchant Jakob Heller commissioned Dürer to paint the central panel and wings of a retable for the city’s Dominican church. Grünewald executed these panels to serve as fixed wings for the same. They depict two deacons: Lawrence with the grid on which he was burnt to death, and Cyriacus, an exorcist who freed a princess of her demon. The panels are masterpieces of grisaille painting, whose realistic appearance confronts the viewer with the question as to what he actually has in front of him – a work of painting, a sculpture, or nature itself?