Leaf from the Simmern Missal

MAINZ: ECCLESIASTICAL CAPITAL AND CRADLE OF PRINTING

Another artist from the Housebook Master group painted this Crucifixion miniature from the missal of Duke Friedrich and Margarethe, elector and electress Palatine. The scene plays out against a dramatic, sweeping landscape. The stiff, still body of Christ contrasts with the contortions of the good and bad thieves surrounding him. What really catches the eye, however, besides the glittering coat of arms at the foot of the cross, is the vivid coloring of the clothed figures and the sensitive treatment of atmosphere. The fictive frame heightens the sense of a panel painting reproduced within the confines of a book.