Death of the Virgin (central panel of the Pretschlaipfer Triptych)

Around 1480, a good death was something people prepared for. Illustrated handbooks on the art of dying circulated widely in the German-speaking lands, telling the living what to do at a bedside. This panel stages the death of the Virgin as such a scene. Mary lies back on a bed spread with green cloth, her eyes closed. An apostle dressed like a bishop, in a jewelled cope, places a candle in her hand, the light traditionally given to the dying to hold. Beside him a young apostle carries a holy-water bucket with its sprinkler. Others pray or read aloud from books, while one kneels at the foot of the bed with a tall processional cross. In front stands a low table with an everyday still life, a pewter jug, a drinking glass, a round box and a book fastened with metal studs.