Albrecht Altdorfer, 'Christ taking Leave of his Mother', probably 1520

Christ taking Leave of his Mother

Albrecht Altdorfer

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The Virgin Mary has collapsed with grief after learning that Christ, her son, has accepted his inevitable death as the will of God and is making to leave for Jerusalem. The episode is not recorded in the Bible, but it appears in a fourteenth-century German devotional text as well as in Passion plays, specifically one performed in the town of Augsburg. The Augsburg play included a series of exchanges between Christ and his mother, with Christ reassuring her that he must accept his fate as she makes emotional pleas for him to avoid it.

Altdorfer’s fascination with nature reflected a growing trend for depicting the natural world in detail and abundance, leading eventually to the emergence of landscape painting as an independent subject, rather than just a background. This panel is dominated by an enormous tree depicted in a wild and unruly state. Beyond the arch, a great swirling cloud glows red in the evening light – an allusion to the blood Christ shed at the Crucifixion.

In-depth

The painting shows Christ, who had accepted his inevitable death as the will of God, comforting his mother, the Virgin Mary. Her grief is so intense that she has collapsed to the ground, where she is supported by Mary Magdalene. The women’s draperies are painted with such fluidity that they have the quality of rippling waves, mirroring the women’s anxiety and anguish. The Virgin’s white veil is the most disturbed of all the fabrics, drawing attention to her grim expression. Christ, however, serenely blesses his mother with his right hand. To the right of the scene is Saint John the Evangelist, equally calm, his expression compassionate as he gazes at the women. Next to Saint John is Saint Peter, shown as an elderly man, raising his hand in agitation, or perhaps farewell as the apostles separate.

The episode is not recorded in the Bible, but it is found in two fourteenth-century devotional texts: one Italian (Pseudo-Bonaventura’s Meditations on the Life of Christ) and the other German (Brother Phillipp the Carthusian’s Marienleben, which dates to about 1330). Both reflect a type of spirituality which emerged in the fourteenth century, encouraged by figures like Saint Francis of Assisi, which emphasised empathy with Christ’s suffering. Intimate stories of personal grief, like that of Christ taking leave of his mother, were appropriately relatable.

In the Marienleben, this episode was followed by Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. Riding on a donkey to emphasise his humility, Christ approached the city knowing that he would be arrested and killed. The event was reenacted on Palm Sunday in churches across Europe, but in Regensburg, where Altdorfer lived, the wooden sculpture of Christ riding a donkey was preceded by two scholars (who were, at this time, always men) dressed as the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist. Their role was to read lamentations beneath a reconstruction of Christ’s Crucifix.

Altdorfer may have been inspired by these liturgical rituals as well as the even more theatrical Passion plays (dramatic recreations of Christ’s trial and death at the Crucifixion). We know that in the town of Augsburg, the Passion play featured emotional exchanges between Christ, Mary and her companions: as the women lament and plead with Christ to evade death, he responds that he ‘must fulfil the Scriptures and also my father’s will’ by dying. He blesses his mother, as in Altdorfer’s painting, and instructs Peter and John the Evangelist to prepare for the Last Supper. Altdorfer probably had both the Passion play and the Palm Sunday procession in mind when making this work. Indeed, Christ’s dress and appearance resemble those of the sculpted Christs used in the processions – only his hands and feet are visible beneath a long simple tunic.

Altdorfer’s fascination with nature reflected a growing trend in painting for depicting the natural world in detail and abundance, leading eventually to the emergence of landscape painting as an independent subject, rather than just a background. This panel is dominated by an enormous tree, depicted in a wild and unruly state. The rocky foreground is painted in great detail – each stone is defined, with some cast in shadow by the women’s figures. The women themselves are grouped beneath an abandoned archway overgrown with foliage; it is as if the forest is taking over. On the rounded column topped by the spiked cone is a scene of the Flagellation, a foretaste of Christ’s torture before his death: his fate is so inescapable that it is carved in stone. Beyond the arch, a great swirling cloud glows red in the evening light – an allusion to the blood Christ shed at the Crucifixion.

The group of comparatively minute kneeling figures at the bottom right corner are most likely members of the family that commissioned the painting, but they are, as yet, unidentified.

Want to find out more?

Delve deeper and explore the catalogue entry for this painting.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Christ taking Leave of his Mother
Artist: Albrecht Altdorfer
Artist dates: shortly before 1480 - 1538
Date made: probably 1520
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 141 × 111 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought with contributions from the Art Fund (Eugene Cremetti Fund), The Pilgrim Trust and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1980
Inventory number: NG6463
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 16th-century German Frame

Provenance

The painting is first recorded in 1809 in the possession of Prince-Abbot Coelestin Steiglehner (1739–1819), abbot of the Benedictine foundation of St Emmeram, Regensburg, scientist, climatologist and collector of bronzes, gems and paintings. It is listed in the inventory of Steiglehner’s estate on his death in 1819 as ‘No 1431 Ein Stück der Abschied Christi von sein Mutter auf Holz gemahlen von Albr. Altdorfer (1538) Gulden 500’ (‘… A piece of Christ Taking Leave of his Mother on wood painted by Albr. Altdorfer (1538) 500 guilders’); it was sold for 1,030 guilders to an unknown purchaser. By 1829 it had been acquired by the collector Count Joseph von Rechberg (1769–1833) and was noted as: ‘Christus Abschied von den Frauen oder er heilt eine Kranke? von Altdorfer aus d. Sammlung des Prelaten von St Emeran’ (‘Christ Taking Leave of the Women or the Healing of a Sick Woman? By Altdorfer from the collection of the Prelate of St Emeran’). The painting was subsequently sold at Berlin in October 1851 to the ecclesiastical historian and collector the Revd John Fuller Russell (1813–1884). It was auctioned at the Fuller Russell sale, Christie’s, London, 18 April 1885, lot 140 and sold for 23 guineas. The art historian and future Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, the Revd Robert Langton Douglas (1864–1951/2), bought the picture in 1904. Langton Douglas sold it to the mining magnate and collector Sir Julius Wernher (1850–1912); the picture was displayed with others from his collection at Wernher’s London residence, Bath House, 82 Piccadilly, where it hung on the staircase; it was inherited by his son, Sir Derrick Wernher (1889–1948). It was on loan to the National Gallery, 1945–9, and after 1949 hung at Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire. In 1980 it was purchased by private treaty sale from the Wernher Estates, through Christie’s, with the aid of contributions from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Pilgrim Trust and the National Art-Collections Fund (Eugene Cremetti Fund).

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Susan Foister, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800’, London 2024; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2014

Strange Beauty: Masters of the German Renaissance

The National Gallery (London)

19 February 2014 - 11 May 2014
2014

Making Colour

The National Gallery (London)

18 June 2014 - 7 September 2014
2020

Albrecht Altdorfer: A German Renaissance Master

Musée du Louvre

30 September 2020 - 8 March 2021

Bibliography

1854

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
1877

S. Colvin, 'Dürer and the Little Masters - Albrecht Altdorfer', The Portfolio, 1877
1900

T.S. Moore, Albrecht Altdorfer, London 1900
1908

J.A. Endres, Kalender Bayerische Kunst, Munich 1908
1923

M.J. Friedländer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Belin 1923
1923

H. Tietze, Albrecht Altdorfer, Leipzig 1923
1930

W.R. Valentiner, Das unbekannte Meisterwerk in Öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen, New York 1930
1930

M. Weinberger, Wolf Huber, Leipzig 1930
1939

O. Benesch, Der Maler Albrecht Altdorfer, Vienna 1939
1941

L. von Baldass, Albrecht Altdorfer, Vienna 1941
1954

F.W.H. Hollstein, German Engravings, Etchings and Woodcuts, ca. 1400-1700, Amsterdam 1954-
1959

K. Oettinger, Altdorferstudien, Nuremberg 1959
1963

F. Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer - Gesamtausqabe, Munich 1963
1965

E. Ruhmer, Albrecht Altdorfer, Munich 1965
1975

F. Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer: Die Gemälde, Munich 1975
1977

P. Vaisse, 'Review: F. Winzinger, Albrecht Altdorfer: Die Gemälde, 1975', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, XL, 1977, pp. 310-24
1982

National Gallery, The National Gallery Report: January 1980 - December 1981, London 1982
1983

J. Mills and R. White, 'Analyses of Paint Media', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, VII, 1983, pp. 65-7
1983

A. Smith and M. Wyld, 'Altdorfer's "Christ taking Leave of His Mother"', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, VII, 1983, pp. 51-64
1983

A. Smith, Acquisition in Focus: Albrecht Altdorfer: Christ taking Leave of His Mother (exh. cat. The National Gallery, October 1983 - January 1984), London 1983
1985

A. Smith, Early Netherlandish and German Paintings, London 1985
1988

H. Mielke, Albrecht Altdorfer: Zeichnungen, Deckfarbenmalerei, Druckgraphik, Berlin 1988
1993

A. Wilson, National Art Collecting: A Celebration of the National Art Collections Fund, London 1993
1993

C. Wood, Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape, London 1993
1993

R. Billinge and S. Foister, 'The Underdrawing of Altdorfer's "Christ Taking Leave of His Mother', The Burlington Magazine, CXXXV, 1993, pp. 687-91
1994

E. Langmuir, The National Gallery Companion Guide, London 1994
1994

A. Thomas, An Illustrated Dictionary of Narrative Painting, London 1994
1994

M. Warnke, Political Landscape: The Art History of Nature, London 1994
1996

J. Warren, 'Bode and the British', Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen, 38, 1996, pp. 121-42
1997

D. Bomford, Conservation of Paintings, London 1997
1997

R. Billinge et al., 'Methods and Materials of Northern European Painting in the National Gallery, 1400–1550', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVIII, 1997, pp. 6-52
1999

R. Grosshans, 'Sir Julius Charles Wernher (1850-1912). Kunstsammler und Mäzen der Berliner Gemäldegalerie', Jahrbuch Preußischer Kulturbesitz, XXXVI, 1999, pp. 129-56
1999

L. Silver, 'Nature and Nature's God: Landscape and Cosmos of Albrecht Altdorfer', Art Bulletin, LXXXI/2, 1999, pp. 194-214
2000

F. Bosepflug, Le Christ dans l'art: Des catacombes au XXe siècle, Paris 2000
2000

M. Spring, 'Occurrences of the Purple Pigment Fluorite on Paintings in the National Gallery', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXI, 2000
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

A. Roy and M. Wyld, '"The Ambassadors" and Holbein's Techniques for Painting on Panel', in M. Roskill and J.O. Hand (eds), Hans Holbein: Paintings, Prints, and Reception, Washington 2001, pp. 96-107
2002

J. Bryant, 'The Wernher Collection at Ranger's House: The New Home for Britain's "Gilded Age" Treasury', Apollo, CLV/483, 2002, pp. 3-16
2002

D. Bomford et al., Underdrawings in Renaissance Paintings (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 October 2002 - 16 February 2003), London 2002
2003

R. Verdi (ed.), Saved! 100 Years of the National Art Collections Fund (exh. cat. Hayward Gallery, 23 October 2003 - 18 January 2004), London 2003
2024

S. Foister, National Gallery Catalogues: The German Paintings before 1800, 2 vols, London 2024

Frame

This is a sixteenth-century cassetta frame, probably of Northern European origin. The pinewood frame is water-gilt. The gilded surface, owing to its age, is covered in alligator cracks. The moulding follows a classic Italian style, with the outer moulding integrated into the base frame. The sides are painted in a red-pigmented colour. Originally intended for a landscape painting, the frame has been fully restored and resized. The frame retains its original hanging device, now serving as a decorative feature. A name, possibly ‘D. Jaume Julia’, is faintly inscribed in pencil on the reverse side, although the handwriting is difficult to decipher.

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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