Konrad Witz (ca. 1410-1446) was the first German painter to depict a fully developed three-dimensional space and landscape that is topographically recognizable. His figures have a hieratic monumentality and power.

Konrad Witz was born in the village of Rottweil in the Black Forest. He went to Basel, presumably attracted by the great Church council in progress since 1431. He entered the painters' guild in Basel in 1434. The following year he became a citizen. In 1441-1442 Witz was paid for paintings he executed for the city, and he bought a house in 1443. He died in 1446.

Fate has been unkind to the three major enterprises of Witz, all originally altarpieces composed of many panels, for none is intact today. The earliest certain work is the Mirror of Salvation Altarpiece (ca. 1435), an agglomerate of panels depicting scenes from the Old Testament and Roman history which prefigure man's salvation, for example, the scenes...