Master of the Aachen Altarpiece, 'The Crucifixion Altarpiece', about 1490-5

This altarpiece was commissioned by the family of Hermann Rinck, who was burgomaster (or mayor) of Cologne three times in the 1480s. Rinck had died by 1496 – the painting was commissioned in his memory and in the belief that it would speed up the journey of his soul to heaven. The artist remains anonymous; he is named after this painting. The altarpiece is in the form of a triptych (a painting made up of three panels). Its two side panels – or shutters – are in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. The altarpiece was dismantled and the panels separated some time between 1810 and 1820.

The central panel, which is in the National Gallery’s collection, shows the Crucifixion, while the shutters depict the episodes leading up to the Crucifixion and those that followed it. The left-hand panel shows two events: Christ’s trial under Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor in Jerusalem, and his torture before his crucifixion. Known as the Flagellation, Christ was tied to a pillar and brutally whipped from all sides. The right-hand panel shows a scene known as the Lamentation, when the Virgin, her companions and Saint John the Evangelist mourned over Christ’s dead body. In the background – in the hills above the main scene – is the culmination of the story for Christians: Christ’s bodily resurrection from the tomb and triumph over death.

When the altarpiece was cleaned in 1963, paintings were discovered on the reverse of the shutters. They had been painted over, probably when the panels were exported from Germany in the nineteenth century. They show Rinck and his wife Gertrud Von Dallem (identified by their coats of arms) with three of their sons in prayer before the miraculous Mass of Saint Gregory the Great. The legend tells how Gregory had prayed to convince a monk that Christ’s body and blood were truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. As he celebrated Mass at the altar, Christ miraculously stepped out of the image on the altar and into the chalice with the wine.