Dendrochronological investigations of beech wood from trees grown on widely scattered sites within the Federal Republic of Germany revealed a good cross-dating of the tree-ring series over large distances. The master charts of beech and oak from the same site were similar. These results led to the establishment of a beech wood chronology for the penod 1343 to 1535 through the absolute dating of beech wood panels used by L. Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and his fellow artists in comparing their mean chronology sequence with the corresponding oak chronology. A terminus post quem was determined for thirty beech panels. For beech wood, it may be assumed that panel making generally involved the utilization of the entire cross-section of a stem except for its bark. This technique differed from that for contemporary oak panels, which regularly had their sapwood cut off. See also 22-30 and 22-583 for related studies on the use of dendrochronology in the dating of paintings. -- AATA