Jabach Altarpiece

The Jabach Altarpiece comprises two pairs of oil on lime tree panel paintings by German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, executed around 1503–1504.

The altarpiece was probably commissioned by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, for a chapel in his castle at Wittenberg, perhaps in occasion of the end of the plague in 1503.

[1] It is named after one of its owners, Everhard Jabach, in whose family chapel it was still hanging in the late 18th century, before being split up and scattered to different locations.

The left panel depicts the prophet Job seated on a dungheap, with a desperate expression on his face, after Satan has defied him to keep his allegiance to God even in the most tremendous afflictions.

His wife, dressed in Renaissance garments, is pouring dirty water above him, while a small devil flees in the far background.