Altarpiece of Roudnice

On the central panel is a grandiosely composed scene with the Death of the Virgin Mary as the „last prayer“, an iconography that was progressive and topical at the time of the painting’s origin. On the inner sides of the wings are presented Our Lady of Mercy with aristocratic supplicants and Christ of Passion with supplicants of somewhat lower social status under his cloak. The paintings on the wings’ outer sides are rougher, painted directly on the wooden surface without the chalk layer; they represent Our Lady of Sorrows and the Man of Sorrows as „vir dolorum“ with a scourge and a birch rod. The patron family is depicted in the lower part of the wings: the wife and the four daughters are below the Virgin and the husband and the four sons are below Christ. It is impossible to decide whether the altarpiece is an epitaph or a votive image. However, in addition to the strong emphasis on intercession and heavenly protection (the doubled motif of the protective mantle), the theme of the central panel suggests the altarpiece may have served as an epitaph.