Christ before Pilate; The Resurrection

Ludwig Schongauer, younger brother of the great printmaker Martin Schongauer, painted this 1479 panel depicting Christ before Pilate and the Resurrection. The Schongauer family workshop in Colmar was one of the most important artistic centers in the Upper Rhine region. Ludwig's painting, though less celebrated than Martin's engravings, demonstrates the refined style of the Colmar school on the eve of the Renaissance.

The oil on fir displays the precise, linear style of the Upper Rhenish school with detailed rendering of figures and architectural settings. The compartmented composition separates narrative scenes with the clear visual logic characteristic of late Gothic altarpiece design.