Now look ahead at the winged altar. It is the jewel of the Rock Church.
The altar was created around the year 1400, making it even older than the church itself. The artist is known among experts as the Master of the Oberstein Altar. His workshop was likely located in Mainz. His work is considered a prime example of the expressive painting style of the Upper Rhine region around 1400.
This masterpiece was nearly lost. For a long time, it hung forgotten and in deplorable condition high up in the gallery. It was not until the early twentieth century that its significance was recognized. The altar was professionally restored. In 1927, it was unveiled to the art world for the first time at a major exhibition in Darmstadt. Since then, it has regained its place of honor here at the front.
In the central panel, you can see the Crucifixion of Christ. Yet this is no quiet devotional image. Before you unfolds a dense throng of dozens of figures, scenes, and details. It almost resembles a medieval “hidden object” picture.
Angels hover above Christ. They catch the blood flowing from his wounds in chalices. To the left of the cross, a group of women supports Jesus’s mother, who has fainted. Next to them, John, the beloved disciple, wipes away her tears with the corner of his cloak. In the lower right corner, two men are casting lots for Christ’s garments.
At the foot of the cross, a particularly small figure kneels. He wears a white robe. He is the unknown patron who commissioned the painting. He appears strikingly small and humble. To this day, no one knows who originally paid for the work.
Two details deserve special attention. The first are the banners. So the Middle Ages already had something like speech bubbles—only elegantly curved. On one, the Roman centurion confesses: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.” Another, further to the left, belongs to a mocker from the crowd: “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross.” Two voices. Two attitudes. Right in the middle of the same painting.
The second detail is the two thieves on the left and right of Jesus. One mocked him. The other repented. An angel hovers above the good thief. He receives his soul, depicted as a small, naked human figure. A little devil holds the other’s soul in his claws. The painter chose this depiction quite deliberately.
The side panels also tell a story. They depict four scenes from the Passion narrative: Jesus before the high priest Caiaphas, Jesus before Herod, the mocking before Pilate, and the nailing to the cross.
If you have a chance to get a closer look later, take some time to study this painting. There is hardly a figure in it that does not tell its own little story.