Stetter Wilhelm. Verso with large Maltese cross, old label and provenance information. In the archway above left dated 1516. Above archway inscribed with Maltese cross, "F" (for "Frater"?) and right "W" (Wilhelm). Overpaintings and retouchings. Lower left and right corners with additionsFor a long time it was unclear who is behind the initials W. S.. Since the unknown painter left the Maltese cross as an additional sign on many paintings, he was called "Master W. S. with the Maltese cross" by Walter Hugelshofer. Other researchers adopted this name. In 1952, Jean Rott finally identified the anonymous man as Wilhelm Stetter (c. 1487-1552), who had entered the Order of Knights of St. John in Strasbourg in 1509 and was ordained in Basel in 1512. In Strasbourg, where he spent his entire life, he took care of the art treasures of the Knights of St. John as a curator. Rott was able to refer to an inventory of the Kommende in which numerous paintings were described in 1741 by the then custodian Francois-Joseph-Ignace Goetzmann and Stetter's name was mentioned as their painter. Many of his paintings are probably commissioned works for the order. A good thirty paintings, most of them signed, are known by him, the last of which is dated 1548. The painting offered for auction "Emperor Constantine Carries the Holy Cross to Rome" (88x80 cm) is dated in the archway to the year 1516. Thus, it is one of the earliest works of the painter, still oriented to the late medieval painting, but already showing influences of the early Renaissance by Hans Baldung Grien. According to legend, in 312 A.D., on the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge outside Rome, the Roman Emperor Constantine recognized a cross in the sky that promised him victory, whereupon he had the sign placed on the flags of his troops. After the victory, Constantine is said to have promoted Christianity. Pendant to the work "Kreuzprobe durch Kaiserin Helena" (Hugelshofer, plate 29, fig. 2 - Goetzmann no. 11 - Jean Rott no. 4), as well as listed in the catalog raisonné of the entry on Wilhelm Stetter in the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (AKL). Both panels were acquired by a Lucerne collector at an auction in 1946 and are in various private ownerships. We would like to thank Dr. Bernd Konrad, Reichenau (Germany) for his confirmation and assistance in cataloging this work.... Height: 88cm Width: 77.5cm. Oil on wood