'Ecce Homo'

The present composition is based on Albrecht Dürer's woodcut Ecce Homo of circa 1498 and was possibly part of a series of altarpieces produced between 1520 and 1525 for the Stiftskirche in Halle, which included scenes from the Passion and were painted after designs by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The paintings were executed by several studio assistants, including Lucas Cranach the Younger and Simon Franck, a pupil of Cranach the Elder (see A. Tacke, Der katholische Cranach: zu zwei Grossaufträgen von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Simon Franck und die Cranach-Werkstatt (1520-1540), Mainz, 1992).