Das Gottesurteil, Kaiser Heinrich II und Kaiserin Kunigunde

Wolfgang Katzheimer the Elder's Das Gottesurteil, Kaiser Heinrich II und Kaiserin Kunigunde, painted in 1503 and now in the Bavarian State collections, depicts the ordeal by fire in which the Empress Kunigunde of Luxembourg proved her chastity to her husband Emperor Heinrich II by walking barefoot over red-hot ploughshares unharmed. This legend was central to the cult of the imperial couple, who were both canonized — Heinrich in 1146, Kunigunde in 1200 — and whose veneration was particularly strong in Bavaria, where they founded the Diocese of Bamberg. Katzheimer, a Bamberg painter, worked in the service of local religious culture and civic pride, producing this narrative image for a community with deep investment in the imperial saints' legend.

The narrative scene depicts the dramatic ordeal moment with the empress walking the heated ploughshares before assembled court witnesses. Katzheimer's composition is organized for narrative legibility, with the crowd arranged to frame the central action. The palette is warm and descriptive, rendering court costume with care.