Apostles: Paul, Thomas, James the Greater

The relief shows a group of apostles shown in richly gilded and silvered tunics and cloaks with characteristic attributes. St Paul is depicted as a bearded old man that holds the hilt of the sword in his hands with which he was beheaded. Slightly behind stands a young, beardless St Thomas, supported by the spear with which he was pierced. In contrast, St James the Greater is depicted in pilgrim's clothes: he wears shoes, a pouch by his side and a hat adorned with a scallop shell – commonly known as a James shell, a symbol of Christian pilgrims.

The sculpture is one of four surviving elements of the Passion Altar from St Mary's Church in Dąbie (now a district of Szczecin). It was most likely placed in the predella of the altar together with reliefs of similar composition depicting other apostles. The concept of the three-person sculptural group and the formal features of the sculpture are associated with the work of Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460-1531), a prominent South German sculptor active at the end of the Middle Ages. This is supported in particular by the image of St John the Baptist. The St James statue is reminiscent of the stone statue of the same saint from St Mary's Chapel in Würzburg. South German artistic inspirations, suggesting the origins of the makers of the presented altarpiece, are evident in many works of this artistic workshop, conventionally referred to as the Szczecin technique. The altarpiece from Dąbie is considered to be the initiating work of the late medieval artistic centre of Szczecin.

Other surviving reliefs of the Passion Altarpiece from Dąbie – Group of Apostles: Bartholomew, Simon, Andrew (inv. no. MNS/Szt/8), Lamentation (inv. no. MNS/Szt/170), The entombment of Christ (inv. no. MNS/Szt/169) – together with the relief in question, are presented in the permanent exhibition Mystery of Light. Medieval art in Pomerania.

Kinga Krasnodębska