Lantfried, Waldram und Eliland, die Gründer des Klosters Benediktbeuern

Jan Polack created this panel depicting Lantfried, Waldram, and Eliland, the legendary founders of Benediktbeuern monastery, around 1494. The work was part of an altarpiece for the ancient Bavarian monastery, which traced its founding to the eighth century. Polack's commission for Benediktbeuern was one of several major monastic altarpieces he produced in and around Munich. This work belongs to the High Renaissance, when the innovations of the preceding century were synthesized into works of monumental clarity and ideal beauty.

Oil on panel with Polack's vigorous figure drawing and narrative directness. The three monastic founders are depicted with individualized features against a landscape setting characteristic of Bavarian altarpiece painting.