This double-sided panel shows on one side The Beheading of John the Baptist and on the other Providing Shelter to Strangers. The work is a fragment of an altarpiece shutter, in which the John the Baptist scene would have been oriented to the interior, visible in the altarpiece's open state.
Three other double-sided panels were recognized as part of the same altarpiece. These panels also depict acts of mercy on the exterior, and scenes from the life of St Lawrence and St John the Baptist on the interior. The dismantled altarpiece was attributed to an unknown master in Salzburg named after this ensemble as Master of the Acts of Mercy.
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