St Barbara Altarpiece from Osek, Execution of St Barbara (central part)

The Monogrammist IW was the most distinct follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder in Bohemia. He is supposed to have been trained in the Saxon workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, and by 1525 he already had a sought-after workshop in Bohemia, which for three decades supplied paintings to important patrons in Central and North-Western Bohemia. A distinct model in Cranach is apparent even in the late work of this studio, the Altarpiece of Osek. Some of the compositions are directly derived from Cranach’s prints (apostle figures, details of the central part), others are just their loose variations. The altarpiece was commissioned for the Cistercian monastery in Osek, this is why iconography characteristic of mining is used (St Barbara), supplemented by representations of the founders of the Church (SS Peter and Paul), and protectors against the plague (SS Roch and Sebastian). The outer wings bear the coat-of-arms of Richard Kozelka of Hřivice, who from 1547 was the administrator of the Osek monastery.