Crucifixion

In 1449 Conrad Laib, a painter newly settled in Salzburg, dated a Crucifixion almost two metres square and packed with onlookers, which now hangs in the Upper Belvedere. This much smaller panel, attributed to the Master of Laufen and painted in the same region around 1445 to 1450, crowds its Calvary as densely.

The two thieves are roped to their crosses and blindfolded. Between them Christ hangs with a lance at his side and a sponge raised on a pole. A man in armour lifts his hand, and the scroll beside him reads in Latin, "Truly this was the Son of God," the words the Gospel gives to the Roman centurion. Mary Magdalene clings to the foot of the cross, with the Virgin, John and the holy women grieving close by. Below them all, three children are busy with a dog.