The Death of Saint Clare

The Master of Heiligenkreuz Abbey's The Death of Saint Clare, painted around 1400 and now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, depicts the final moments of Clare of Assisi, the founder of the Poor Clares and one of the earliest followers of Saint Francis. The death scene — Clare surrounded by her sisters in religion, with Christ and the Virgin appearing to welcome her soul — combines devotional tenderness with an intimate domestic quality that was central to Franciscan spirituality. The master, named after the Cistercian abbey in Austria, represents the distinctive court style of the Viennese region around 1400, with particularly fine color and delicate figure painting.

The master uses a gold ground setting off pale, luminous flesh tones and richly colored habits and draperies. The composition is dense with figures arranged in close proximity, creating an intimate scene of collective mourning and spiritual consolation. Faces are individualized with unusual expressiveness for the period.