Pfirtscher Altarpiece: Saint Ursula

Pfirtscher Altarpiece: Saint Ursula, painted in 1528 and held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections, depicts the legendary British princess who, according to medieval tradition, was martyred along with 11,000 virgin companions by Huns while on pilgrimage to Rome. Ursula was patroness of students, virgins, and the city of Cologne, where her cult was especially strong. Cranach portrays the saint as an elegant young woman holding an arrow, the instrument of her martyrdom. The Pfirtscher Altarpiece panels demonstrate that Catholic altarpiece commissions continued to sustain Cranach’s workshop even as Protestant patrons were generating new types of religious and political imagery.

The saint is rendered with Cranach's characteristic elegant figure type and clear linear style. The panel functions within the Pfirtscher Altarpiece program alongside related saints' images.