The Saint Barbara Altarpiece is a medieval

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

attributed to

Master Francke Master Francke O.P. (or Meister Francke, Frater Francke, respectively German for "Master Francke" and Latin for "Brother Francke") was a North German Gothic painter and Dominican friar, born ca. 1380 in the Lower Rhine region or possibly Zutphe ...

. Its known

provenance Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...

starts at the medieval church in

Kalanti Kalanti ( sv, Kaland, officially ''Uusikirkko Tl'' during 1915–1936) is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality in Southwest Finland region, Finland. Kalanti is first mentioned in historical sources 1316. It was merged wi ...

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

where it stood until 1883. According to local

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

that was collected in the 19th century, the altarpiece was found floating in the sea outside Kalanti. The altarpiece is now located at the

National Museum of Finland The National Museum of Finland ( fi, Kansallismuseo, sv, Nationalmuseum) presents Finnish history from the Stone Age to the present day, through objects and cultural history. The Finnish National Romantic style building is located in central Hel ...

. The altarpiece is best known for the paintings depicting the legend of

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Acc ...

on the outside of its inner wings.

Gallery

File:Pyhän Barbaran alttarikaappi 1.jpg File:Meister Francke 002.jpg File:Meister Francke 001.jpg File:Pyhän Barbaran alttarikaappi 4.jpg File:Pyhän Barbaran alttarikaappi 5.jpg File:Meister Francke - Geißelung der hl. Barbara 2.jpg File:Barbara18.JPG File:Pyhän Barbaran alttarikaappi 8.jpg

References

category:Paintings of Saint Barbara Christian art about death History of Christianity in Finland Medieval art Paintings in Helsinki {{art-stub