Sts. Catherine, Hubert and Quirinus (Last-Judgement-Altar)

Sts. Catherine, Hubert and Quirinus (Last-Judgement-Altar), at the Bavarian State Painting Collections, forms part of Stefan Lochner's Last Judgment Altarpiece—a major commission for a Cologne church that represents one of the most elaborate undertakings of mid-fifteenth-century German panel painting. The wings of this altarpiece depict individual saints and groups of holy figures, each painted with the refined luxury typical of Cologne's wealthy ecclesiastical patronage. Saints Catherine, Hubert, and Quirinus each carry their identifying attributes, signaling the specific devotional concerns of their patrons.

Each saint occupies a clearly demarcated spatial zone, their figures rendered in the Cologne tradition of fine, decorative line and luminous color. The gold ground is elaborately tooled, and the saints' vestments are painted with the richly detailed textile patterns—brocade, embroidery—that Lochner's workshop executed with particular skill.