Konrad Witz

Konrad Witz painted with a solid realism unusual for his time. His figures are sturdy and heavy, like carved statues, and he paid close attention to the way light falls, casting clear shadows and making surfaces of metal, stone and cloth look real.

He was born in Rottweil in south west Germany and worked mainly in Basel, where he joined the painters’ guild in 1434. His main surviving works are altarpieces: the Heilspiegel Altarpiece, most of which is in the Kunstmuseum Basel, and the Saint Peter Altarpiece of 1444 in Geneva. One panel of the latter, The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, sets the scene on Lake Geneva and is thought to be the earliest faithful portrayal of a real landscape in European painting.

Abishai Kneeling Before David comes from the Heilspiegel Altarpiece. Look at the gleam of armour and the strong shadows.