Lot and His Daughters

Altdorfer dated this painting 1537 on the tree trunk, a year before he died, and it looks very little like the forest pictures he was known for. The story is from Genesis. After the destruction of Sodom, Lot's daughters got their father drunk so that they could have children by him. In the 16th century the episode was often painted, and it gave artists a reason to show large nudes. Here the daughter stretches out full length on a green cloth, holding a wine glass, while old Lot leans in beside her. In the distance on the right, Sodom is still burning. The smooth bodies point toward the international Mannerist style rather than the Danube school. An inscription on the back names an early 17th-century owner, the Nuremberg lawyer Nikolaus von Gülchen.