Mos Nicolae

The Mos Nicolae by the Meister des Wimpfener Quirinusaltars, painted around 1490 and now in the Sammlung Dursch, depicts Saint Nicholas of Myra, the fourth-century bishop whose legendary generosity — including the secret provision of dowries to poor girls through gifts of gold thrown through windows at night — established him as the patron saint of children, sailors, merchants, and the giving of gifts. Nicholas was among the most universally invoked saints in late medieval Christendom, with a vast devotional literature and an equally vast visual production. The anonymous Swabian master, working within the limited resources of a provincial altarpiece workshop, produced this image of Nicholas as part of a larger program of devotional panels for churches and chapels in the diocese of Rottenburg. The Sammlung Dursch's collection of works by this master preserves an important record of late medieval Swabian devotional painting.

The master renders Nicholas in bishop's vestments with the three golden balls that are his most common attribute — referring to the dowry gifts — presented with the formal dignity of a devotional saint panel. The Swabian workshop style combines clear figure presentation with the measured, accessible palette appropriate to altarpiece devotional painting.