Lot Essay
A virtually identical composition is found on a smaller relief in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Inv. no. A.24 - 1947), the only significant difference being that in the present relief the crown of thorns replaces a charger and a sponge. That piece has been convincingly associated with a relief of the Creation of Adam in the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg, and both have been cautiously attributed to the workshop of Thomas Schwanthaler (Reichersberg am Inn, loc. cit.). The jagged rocks and boldly swirling clouds of the present relief suggest that it is the work of another hand.