The Schneeberg Altarpiece is a Lutheran winged altarpiece created in 1539 by Lucas Cranach the Elder for the Church of St. Wolfgang in Schneeberg in Saxony, Germany.
The altarpiece was commissioned in 1531–1532 by the Elector of Saxony John I of Saxony and installed in the church in 1539, making it the first Protestant altarpiece of Reformation which is considered a Saxon masterpiece of art.
Schneeberg Altarpiece
Open polyptych
Ascension of Jesus
Altar table
St. Wolfgang's Church, Schneeberg
St. Wolfgang's Church in Schneeberg is one of the largest hall churches of the Late Gothic in Saxon region of Germany. It was built in the early 16th century on parts of a small, earlier building and is an early example of a Reformation church building. Due to its dominant position on the summit of the Schneeberg hill, which in previous centuries had been riddled (durchörtet) with mining pits and galleries, it became known as the "Miners' Cathedral" (Bergmannsdom). The parish of St. Wolfgang in Schneeberg owns this summer church as well as the hospital church, the Church of the Trinity, Schneeberg on the Fürstenplatz as their winter church. In addition the parish of St. George & St. Martin, Griesbach, also belongs to the Lutheran-Evangelical parish of Schneeberg.
View of the church from Gleesberg