Prodigal Son

Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Gew 3716/3919/3717
Dorsal/back sheet with scenes from the parable of the Prodigal Son

In the historical inventories of the movable property of St. Sebald Church in Nuremberg, there are numerous entries on tapestries, which were used in many ways in parish churches in the late Middle Ages. These entries show that the patrician Anton I Tucher (1412-1476) and his wife Barbara Stromer (died 1484) had two antependia made for the altar of St. Nicholas in St. Sebald Church, in addition to the dossal (also known as dorsel or dosel).

This dossal shows the story of the Prodigal Son in 14 scenes, the first five of which have only survived through watercolour copies in the "Monumenta". The other nine scenes are preserved in the GNM in three individual pieces. Their story is set in front of a meadow with rich vegetation. The scenes are clearly distinguished from one another by columns placed in the landscape. After the seventh scene, i.e. exactly in the middle of the dossal, a courtly lady presents the Tucher and Stromer family coats of arms as the holder of the coat of arms.

The "pancklach" is first documented in 1533 in the inventory of the sacristy of St. Sebald and was replaced by a new dossal in 1634 due to its poor condition. Until the third quarter of the 15th century, Nuremberg had used tapestries made in the city itself. Products from Flanders were increasingly preferred towards the end of the century. The dossal is one of the rarest tapestries from the late Middle Ages woven in Nuremberg.

Andrea Mayerhofer-Llanes