Focus on Dresden Altarpiece and explain the History.
The painting was one of the first commissions received from Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, together with the Seven Sorrows Polyptych and the Portrait of Frederick III of Saxony. Dürer knew the elector during the latter's short stay in Nuremberg in April 1496.
The work was destined to the chapel in the Wittenberg Castle and, initially, should include only the central panel with a Virgin and Child. The use of tempera (in an area where oil painting was already common) was perhaps connected to the need of a quick completionIn 1503–1504, perhaps in the wake of a plague, two side shutters were added: these were painted with St. Sebastian, patron of the infected, and St. Anthony the Abbot, the protector against ergotism. The dating and the attribution of the side panels is disputed.
Portrait of Frederick III of Saxony Wittenberg Castle oil painting Seven Sorrows Polyptych ergotism Frederick III, Elector of Saxony