Master Paul’s (referred to in sources as “dominus Paulus sculptor” or “Paul Schnitzer”) magnum opus in Levoča was created between 1508 and 1517. It is the tallest of the surviving Gothic altars, measuring over eighteen metres in height. Its predella, a deep chest, contains a multi-figure composition of the Last Supper. In the centre is the figure of Jesus with St. John and St. Peter, while the other apostles sit along the shorter sides of the table. John rests his head on Christ’s chest, while Judas sits opposite Jesus with a purse thrown over the frame. One of the apostles (James) sitting on Jesus’ right has a cap on his head. Some see him as a self-portrait of the altar’s creator, Master Paul. The Last Supper from the Levoča altar is very similar to the same scene in the predella of the high altar in the Church of St. John the Baptist and St. Martin in Schwabach, Franconia, which suggests that it may have served as a model for Master Paul. Nevertheless, the spatial layout of the scene differs in the two altars.
The side walls of the Levoča predella feature coats of arms, with the Hungarian coat of arms of King Władysław Jagiellończyk on the left and the coat of arms of Levoča on the right. The coat of arms of the King of Hungary, placed on a shield divided into five fields, shows, in order: the Árpád stripes (four silver stripes on a red background symbolising the four main rivers of historical Hungary), a two-armed cross on a triple hill, then the coat of arms of Dalmatia in the form of three golden, crowned leopard heads, and finally a crowned lion with golden claws. In the centre of the shield is the White Eagle. The coat of arms of Levoča features a double-barred cross on a triple hill, supported on both sides by two crowned, rampant lions.
The workshop run by Master Paul in a house on the Levoča market square was extremely productive. Several dozen works, both handmade and workshop pieces, have survived to this day, bearing the unmistakable hallmarks of his style. Paul is last mentioned in 1537.
Levoča, parish church (Basilica) of St. James the Greater, Predella of the high altar, 1508–1517
© Mykyta Platonov, Kacper Trzmiel / Pracownia Digitalizacji MNK | NMK Digitization Studio
Cat. 1.6
