Altarpiece of Veit Stoss in Kraków

Mary's Basilica in the city of Kraków. The altarpiece was carved between 1477 and 1489 by the German-born sculptor Veit Stoss (known in Polish as Wit Stwosz) who lived and worked in the city for over 20 years. In 1941, during the German occupation, the dismantled altarpiece was shipped to the Third Reich on the order of Hans Frank – the Governor-General of that part of occupied Poland. It was recovered in 1946 in Bavaria, hidden in the basement of the heavily bombed Nuremberg Castle. The High Altar underwent major restoration work in Poland and was put back in its place at the Basilica 10 years later.

It is recorded as the work of Veit Stoss. Materials recorded for it are oakwood, larch wood and limewood. It is associated with Poland. The record gives 1477 as its date of establishment or first appearance. It is associated with Northern Renaissance and Late Gothic. Recorded genres are religious art and Gothic sculpture. The recorded subject matter is Death of the Virgin. It is recorded in the collection of St.

• Illustration — April 1946: German workmen and U.S. GI guards in Bavaria get a last look at the main figurehead from the altarpiece

A few weeks prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and the German occupation of Poland, the Poles took the altarpiece apart and stored its main statues in crates dispersed across the country. The crates were located by a Nazi unit called the Sonderkommando Paulsen, plundered and transported to the Third Reich, likely to Berlin. The panels were also found and sent to Germany. They were put in the basement of the Nuremberg Castle. At the castle, Polish prisoners sent messages to members of the Polish resistance that the revered altarpiece was hidden there. The altarpiece survived the war in spite of heavy bombardment of Nuremberg, and was discovered by Count Emeryk Hutten-Czapski, who was attached to the Polish 1st Armoured Division, and it was returned to Poland in 1946, where it underwent major restoration. It was put back at St. Mary's Basilica in 1957. The altarpiece was restored several times in its history, not only after the end of World War II. For the first time, it was renovated before 1600, then in 1866–1870, 1932–1933, 1946–1949, 1999 and finally, in 2017. St. John Cantius in Chicago, a historic church in the 'Polish Cathedral' style contains a detailed copy of this masterpiece. This one-third scale copy is the largest and most detailed work of its kind, and was commissioned in 2003 as a tribute to the immigrants from the former Galicia region of southeastern Poland who founded the parish in 1893.

• Illustration — Left wing • Illustration — Centre of the altarpiece • Illustration — Right wing