An Allegory of the Old and New Testaments
About this artwork
The images and inscriptions provide a painted sermon. The central theme, encouraged by the Reformation, is the contrast between the unforgiving Old Testament Law (LEX) on the left, and the forgiving Grace of the New Testament (GRATIA) at the right. Man (HOMO)'s failure to obey the commandments God gave to Moses, led to sin (PECCATUM) and death (MORS - the skeleton). However, man is forgiven and achieves salvation (VICTORIA NOSTRA) through Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection. Man sits between the Old Testament prophet Isaiah and St John the Baptist, who points the way forward to Christ 'the Lamb of God' (AGNUS DEI).
Updated before 2020
-
artist:Hans Holbein the YoungerGerman (1497/8 - 1543)
-
title:An Allegory of the Old and New Testaments
-
date created:Early 1530s
-
materials:Oil on panel
-
measurements:Panel: 50.00 x 60.50 x 0.40 cm; framed: 64.20 x 74.20 x 6.40 cm
-
object type:
-
credit line:Purchased by Private Treaty with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the National Heritage Purchase Grant (Scotland) 1981
-
accession number:NG 2407
-
gallery:
-
depicted:
-
subject:
-
glossary:
-
artwork photographed by:Antonia Reeve
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger
Holbein is best known in Britain for his splendid portraits of Henry VIII, the king's wives and prominent figures of the Tudor Court. His international acclaim as a painter and draughtsman was established through portraits he made of the Dutch scholar Erasmus. Holbein also painted religious and...