The Adoration of the Holy Trinity Landauer Altar

This Christian painting displays the beings of creation aligned in a hierarchical yet symmetrical order. At the center of this piece is a Trinitarian image, representing God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

At the center of the Trinity is a representation of God seated on a throne. Above him is a dove that signifies the holy spirit, while in front of him is his son—Christ. The two, the Holy Spirit and Christ, are His gift to the world. The elements of creation looking onto the Trinity and are arranged in a hierarchical order. At the top are the angels, followed by the saints, and lastly, men. This hierarchical order evident throughout the painting as the heavens are on a higher plane than the earth. The first talking point in this painting is the symmetrical divide. It’s evident between the new versus the old and the clergy versus the laity. This symmetrical divide shows that no matter what timeline you are from, the Trinity will always exist, and believers will look up to it.

Almost every character in the painting is bowing down and looking up to the focal point of the image—the Trinity. Inside this crowd, there are a lot of cameos and biblical references. The first one is a figure carrying two stone tablets—this could easily represent Moses and the ten commandments. Another reference from the bible is the crowd on the left carrying palm twigs. This is a commemoration of Christ's triumphant entry into Bethlehem. As if that is not enough, the holy grail also makes a cameo on this part of the painting. It's on the hands of one nobleman carrying a cup instead of a palm twig. Ideally, this cup could also reference a wedding Christ attended and turned water to wine. The last biblical reference is from one of the ladies holding a white lamb; this is a representation of two things, namely:

• The lamb caught in between the bushes when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son
• The lady's grip on the lamb is a metaphor arguing Christians to hold onto Christ the way the lady does

All in all, this painting is marvelous and full of hidden easter eggs and biblical references. It entirely lives up to its nickname, "a perfect jewel of art," and is easily Albrecht's most delicate piece. As if that is not enough, everything from the colour to the tone, everything is near perfection.