About the Artist Werner Tübke

Werner Tübke (1929–2004), alongside Bernhard Heisig and Wolfgang Mattheuer, is one of the founders of the Leipzig School. His unmistakable old-masterly style draws on the tradition of the Renaissance and Mannerism, setting him clearly apart from the currents of the avant-garde. Tübke's work is defined by multi-figure allegorical and historical compositions executed with the utmost painterly precision. His magnum opus, the monumental Peasants' War Panorama in Bad Frankenhausen, measures roughly 14 by 123 metres — one of the largest paintings in the world, often called the "Sistine Chapel of the North." After an apprenticeship as a painter he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, where he later taught as a professor; he was one of the few East German artists to win broad recognition in the West as well.