Herrenberg Altarpiece

It was built as a high altar for the collegiate church in Herrenberg in the state of Württemberg, now part of southwest Germany.

Ratgeb's idiosyncratic and expressive style of painting was, for a long time, little appreciated and it has only recently been appropriately recognized.

In 1891, the town council sold the altarpiece to the "State Collection of National Antiquities" in Stuttgart "in view of its, in places, unattractive images".

Of the double winged altar, four panels, painted on both sides, the corner elevations and the three-part back of the predella have survived.

The eight large panel pictures simultaneously show 24 scenes from the Passion story, from the life of Mary and from the Acts of the Apostles.