Martyrium der 10'000 Ritter
Nelkenmeister·1508
Historical Context
The Nelkenmeister (Carnation Master) painted this Martyrdom of the 10,000 Knights around 1508 for the National Museum Zurich. This dramatic subject depicting the mass martyrdom of Christian soldiers on Mount Ararat was popular in German-speaking lands, especially in Switzerland and the Rhineland. The tempera-on-panel medium required a carefully gessoed surface and was painted in fine, precise layers, yielding a luminous, jewel-like surface of great durability.
Technical Analysis
The panel handles the challenging multi-figure massacre scene with energetic composition and vivid narrative detail, characteristic of the Swiss-German painting tradition around 1500.
