Altar cloth - from the Lutheran church in Banská Bystrica (Besztercebánya) with the scene of the baptism of Jesus

The middle decoration among a wreath of leaves depicts the scene of Christ's baptism it is framed by an inscription: CHARITAS KOCHLATZIN ANNO 1634. The busts of the four evangelists are in the middle of the sides: Matthew with the angel, Mark with the lion. Luke with the ox and John with the eagle. The busts are encircled by symmetrical bushes of flowers, which also decorate the sides and the corners. The altar-cloth used to belong to the Lutheran Church in Besztercebánya. In his study of the cloth, Imre Katona describes the history of the Kochlatsch family and refers to its companion piece, which dates back to 1636 and is now kept in the Lutheran Church in Pozsonyszentgyőrgy . He thinks the altar-cloth could have been made in either Pozsony Nyitra, Z61yom or in Vienna. He suggests that the four figures of the evangelists are portraits of Ttansylvanian princes. In this he is incorrect, since these portraits often appear on European Protestant altar-cloths. The portraits of the altar-cloth described above are elaborate copies of the woodcuts made by Crispin de Passe after Geldorp Gortzius. The altar-cloth in Pozsonyszentgyőrgy is absolutely identical with this one, apart from the inscription, although it was probably made in Vienna since its floral decoration differs from the usual Hungarian domestic embroidery. In both cases there are doubts as to their being Hungarian they are more probably part of a series made in a Viennese workshop.