Epitaph of the Prague Goldsmith Nicholas Müller

Spranger created this epitaph (from the Greek epitaphion – an artwork commemorating a deceased person) for his father-in-law – a goldsmith and trader from the Lesser Town, Nicholas Müller (second from the left), whose daughter Christina (at the very right) he married. The goldsmith’s wife is represented here in a mourning black hat and with a prayerbook. The main subject of the composition is the Resurrected Christ depicted as a winner over death. Christ is standing on a sarcophagus, into which his body was put after it was deposited from the cross. One of his feet is resting on a serpent and a glass globe, which contains Adam’s skull – the victory over the first sin committed by Adam and Eve is thus symbolically suggested. Christ’s body is distinctly S-turned – called figura serpentinata, this pose is typical of this painter’s figures. Another epitaph by Spranger has survived – that of the painter Michael Peterle, dated 1588 (originally from St Stephen’s Church in Prague), which is of inferior quality, though.