Glorification of the Cross by Adam Elsheimer
c. 1605, Oil on copper, 48,5 x 36 cm - Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt.

Scan and text courtesy of The Web Gallery of Art

The cross as the focal point of the "gloria del paradiso" is revered by the saints and the elect of the heavenly realm who surround the cross on banks of clouds.  On the right, we recognize the patriarchs, including Moses, Abraham and King David.  We also see Jonas sitting on the fish, looking up towards the cross, and St. Catherine and Mary Magdalene in a sisterly embrace.  In the foreground, there is a disputation between St. Sebastian and Pope Gregory, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, with the first Christian martyrs St. Stephen and St. Laurence.  The cross, clutched by a kneeling female figure who is probably an embodiment of Faith, is surrounded by angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, above which we can make out the Evangelists and Apostles.  At the head of a procession of angels streaming into the dazzling light of the background, which is flooded with an overwhelming brightness, we can see the Coronation of the Virgin.

Elsheimer's unique art is evident in the astonishing illusion of remarkable breadth achieved by this small panel painting.  Here, space is no longer simply a problem of continuously reduced scale, but also one of simultaneous graduation of colour and the distribution of light and darkness.  This creates interlocking areas of colour and light which, though perceived by the eye, nevertheless take on the quality of a vision.  This painting, originally part of a triptych, is widely regarded as Elsheimer's greatest masterpiece.

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