[2] According to church registers, the Lutheran congregation of Schneeberg paid 357 guilders and three groschen for the altarpiece.

In the course of the Baroque re-design in 1705, it was "altered in a tasteless way", namely dismantled into parts to be re-installed in the church outside the altar area.

Among the Biblical themes depicted on both the insides and outsides of the wings include the scene of the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, Crucifixion of Jesus, Resurrection of Jesus, Last Judgment, along with the Old Testament stories of the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah, with local rulers of Saxony depicted kneeling in prayer.

Since the congregation walked around the altar during the Eucharist to receive the bread on one side, and the chalice containing the wine on the other, in accordance with the rites of Lutheranism, the back panel also painted for this purpose with the central picture showing the reception of the believers in the 'Kingdom of Heaven' with Christ's victory over death at the top, and the damnation of the evil shown below.

Josef Heller describes the altar as “one of the most comprehensive major works with excellent execution” which represents the Lutheran approach to the sacred imagery and liturgy, along with the Protestant theological concept of 'Law and Grace' by reflecting the devotional forms of Nordic art of the 15th and early 16th centuries.