Altarpiece of the Annunciation from Kisszeben

The eight scenes visible when the altar wings are closed represent events of the Virgin’s life from the Visitation to the Assumption in compositions that faithfully adapt to Dürer’s woodcut series. It is not self-evident why the Annunciation scene was selected to be carved for the shrine. The feast of Annunciation on March 25th is the only feast of the Virgin that is almost always in Lent. This meant that, contrarily to general practice, the most sumptuously decorated, richly gilded parts of the altarpiece were exposed to the congregation is Kisszeben at that time. When the altar is open, only carved figures can be seen whose style belongs to the circle of Master Paul, the maker of the high altar in St James’s church in Lőcse (Levoca), who was employed widely in the whole of Northeastern Hungary in the early 16th century. Comparing the high altar of Lőcse (erected in 1508) or other early works of Master Paul (e.g. the St Nicholas altarpiece from Nagyszalók [Vel’ky Slavkov] in our collection) with the Kisszeben sculptures, considerable differences can also be found. The faces of the latter are more angular and plane, the eyes are small and set far apart, the draperies have less plasticity and rather clothe the bodies in a fine web of lines. All this and further details such as the trefoil head of the shrine filled with renaissance leaf ornaments bring it closest to the high altar of St Martin’s church in Héthárs (Lipany). There is no consensus among researchers whether these works are to be attributed to an independent workshop or to the late period of Master Paul. As a recently found inscription reveals, the altarpiece in Héthárs was completed in 1526, which supports the latter presumption and offers a starting point for the dating of the Kisszeben altarpiece.