Konrad Witz

Konrad Witz (c. 1400–c. 1446) counts among the most radical revivalists of painting in the first half of the fifteenth century. While his achievements testify to his knowledge of the Old Netherlandish painting of his time, they also constitute Witz’s extraordinarily original signature. The uncontested highlight of his work is the Geneva Altar (1444), which features the Biblical scene of Peter fishing embedded in a veduta-like view of Lake Geneva – the first topographically accurate, identifiable landscape in the history of German painting. There is hardly any doubt among researchers that the approximately twenty panels for four commissioned altars were made by Witz himself. All the more diverse, then, are the opinions about his education, career, sphere of influence, and successors. This publication discusses new theses with respect to Witz’s artistic background.