Pope Cyriacus gives the papal tiara to his successor

The Master of the Cologne Legend of Saint Ursula depicted Pope Cyriacus giving his tiara to his successor around 1494, as part of the Ursula legend cycle for which this anonymous Cologne painter is named. According to the medieval legend, Cyriacus was so moved by Ursula's pilgrimage that he abandoned the papacy to join her company and share her martyrdom in Cologne. The scene of papal succession was theologically sensitive — the legend's historical credibility was already being questioned in the period — but its devotional function remained strong in Cologne, where Ursula's relics were a major pilgrimage draw at the church of Saint Ursula. The Cologne school maintained a high level of devotional painting well into the 1500s, serving the wealthy ecclesiastical establishment of this great Rhineland city.

Oil on panel with the careful craftsmanship characteristic of established late fifteenth-century workshops. The work demonstrates competent handling of standard devotional or narrative subjects.