Altdorfer, Albrecht: The 1520 St. Florian altarpiece

Panels from the 1520 St. Florian altarpiece (painted between 1516 and 1525) in the monastery of St. Florian in Enns (Linz), Austria. This is a later, different altarpiece from The Legend of St. Sebastian and the Passion of Christ.

The two panels in the Uffizi since 1914 (The Departure of St. Florian and The Martyrdom of St. Florian) make up a series (incomplete) with six others representing the story of St. Florian. The other pictures are located in Monaco and in Nuremberg. The scenes, bathed in the light of the moon which gives a fairy-tale feel, show the life of Florian, up to his martyrdom on the bridge. The suffering shows clearly in the facial expression, and the evilness and meanness of the jailers dressed in red and black is obvious too. The landscape is depicted with such finesse that Altdorfer often made the landscape the sole subject of his pictures.

The Departure of Saint Florian (Saint Florian Taking Leave of the Monastery)
1520; Oil on wood, 81.4 x 67 cm; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

The Martyrdom of Saint Florian
1520; Oil on wood, 76.4 x 67.2 cm; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy