Anointing the Feet of Jesus in the House of Simon, the Pharisee

Lucas Moser's sole surviving documented panel — the Tiefenbronn Altarpiece of 1431 — contains this scene of Mary Magdalene anointing Christ's feet in Simon the Pharisee's house, a subject from Luke 7 that gave the altarpiece dedicated to Magdalene its narrative centrepiece. Moser's famous inscription on the altarpiece complaining that art is in decline and none values it ('schri kunst schri und klag dich ser') is the most personal statement by any German painter of the period. The scene in Simon's house is notable for its detailed architectural setting, which includes an attempt at rational interior perspective unusual in German painting of 1431.

Moser employs the Flemish-influenced oil technique at an early date for German painting, with careful attention to the banquet setting — tablecloth, vessels, food — rendered with descriptive precision. The perspectival recession of the architectural interior is ambitious if imperfect, showing awareness of the Italian perspective revolution without full systematic command. Figure modelling is solid and individuated.