The worship of the child

The sixteen pictures of the huge high altar of the Cistercian church of Marienfeld were scattered into numerous museums after the abolition of the monastery. The tablet with the birth of Christ was on the inside of the left wing and was part of a cycle of the Virgin Mary. The Marienfelder altar is the main work of Johann Koerbeck, who was based in Coesfeld and Münster between 1432 and 1491. His painting is distinguished by a powerful, bright color. Its springy, in-depth landscape views are impressive. Great attention is paid to the architecture, which is reproduced spatially but without a perspective construction. Suggestions for the scene of worship come from earlier Westphalian painting and the work of Stephan Lochner. Without an example, the angel preparing the bed is in the annex room.