Exile in Rome: Altar from Naumburg now in Italy

After years of dispute over its location, an altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) from Naumburg Cathedral in Saxony-Anhalt has found temporary exile in Rome. The work of art, which was badly damaged in the 16th century and completed again a few years ago by the Leipzig painter Michael Triegel, is now in a church right next to St. Peter's Basilica. It is to remain there until the fall of 2027 - in the hope that a solution to the dispute will have been found in Germany by then.

The Cranach-Triegel Altarpiece has been the subject of debate for years. Its actual home is the Protestant Naumburg Cathedral, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. However, some experts are of the opinion that the modernized altar in the west choir of the church impairs the view of the high medieval founder figures. There are even fears that the cathedral could lose its Unesco title as a result.

Location after 2027 still unclear

In July, the state government of Saxony-Anhalt announced that the altar would have to be removed from the west choir following criticism from an international council of experts. This led to the idea of loaning it to Rome. There it can now be seen in the Catholic Church of St. Mary on the grounds of Campo Santo Teutonico. The cemetery there, which is administered by a lay confraternity, contains graves of German Catholics from several centuries.

The altar with the new painting, in which Triegel also painted figures from the modern era such as the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), who was executed by the Nazis, is now more than 1,300 kilometers away from its original destination. It is still unclear what will become of it after the two years in Rome.

German homeless man as model for St. Peter figure

When it was set up in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica, there was a big surprise: Triegel had used a German homeless man named Burkhard Scheffler, who often spent the night under the colonnades of St. Peter's Square, as a model for the St. Peter figure in the painting (wearing a baseball cap). The man froze to death there in 2022. At the request of Pope Francis, he was buried in the German cemetery - the first Protestant ever to be buried there. The altar is now just a few meters away from his grave. Until recently, no one was aware of this.

The original sacred work of art was created by Lucas Cranach the Elder between 1517 and 1519. During an iconoclasm during the Reformation Wars, the central section with the depiction of the Virgin Mary was destroyed in 1541. The side wings were preserved. Half a millennium later, Triebel was commissioned to redesign the central section. The model for the Virgin Mary was his then 16-year-old daughter. In July 2022, the altar was shown for the first time in Naumburg Cathedral.