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Master Theoderic, a highly original artist, broke free of the styles that were dominated by Italian, Austrian and French art and tried to develop his own distinctive style. Painted between 1360 and 1365, the 30 icon-like portraits of the saints which decorate the Chapel of the Cross at Karlstein Castle are one of the most impressive results of these efforts. The robust features of the individual saints are impressively depicted.
Three-dimensional objects have been added, such as carved coats-of-arms, mounted in the manner of collages on the surface of the paintings. Ornamented with discs of gilded Venetian glass and strips of marble encrusted with semiprecious stones, the chapel seems like a Byzantine treasure chamber. It is possible that this room and the adjacent 'privatorium' were intended by the Emperor to create a vision of his future Eastern empire.
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