The Four Evangelists, from the Münnerstadt Retable

After the Thirty Years’ War, the Münnerstadt high altar retable was replaced with a baroque altarpiece. Virtually all of the figures were preserved, however, and reused in a variety of new contexts. The four evangelists are artistically of outstanding quality, and in 1706, recently covered with silver leaf, they were placed in new positions on the pulpit. St. Matthew and St. John are presented in robes reminiscent of antiquity, and in this way are marked as disciples of Christ and witnesses to his works and ministry, in contrast to St. Mark and St. Luke, pupils of Peter and Paul, who are seen in the apparel of medieval scholars, wearing birettas on their heads. Riemenschneider’s representation of differing responses to revelation includes a wealth of well-observed visual detail.