In Germany, the period between the Middle Ages and the early modern age saw marked changes in artistic expression. In the 15th century elaborate architectural experiments took shape, and between 1430 and 1500 the fine arts followed. Realism invaded artistry, and artists studied chiaroscuro in their paintings, as well as space and perspective. Accuracy was more important than embellishment. In Konrad Witz’s Annunciation, for instance, the Virgin Mary sits in a wooden chamber, unadorned, a woman of the present not the past. With 130 objects and key works from Germany, this exhibition proposes the Late Gothic era as a revolutionary step on the road to modernity. —E.C.