Charity

Charity

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels, Paris 2010/11, 232, no. 150]

Charity - the personification of benevolence- is depicted as a woman breast-feeding an infant. She is embraced by another child. A young boy sits on the ground in front of her and touches her leg. She sits on a stone block beneath an apple tree. A section of a mountainous

Charity - the personification of benevolence- is depicted as a woman breast-feeding an infant. She is embraced by another child. A young boy sits on the ground in front of her and touches her leg. She sits on a stone block beneath an apple tree. A section of a mountainous landscape is visible in the background.

[Herrschaft, cda 2015]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, online database, accessed 19.11.2021] [Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels/Paris 2010/11, 232, no. 150]

Production dates
about 1540
1540

Production dates

about 1540

[Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels/Paris 2010/11, 232, No. 150]

1540

[Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, online database, accessed 19.11.2021]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 50 x 34 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 50 x 34 cm

  • [Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels, Paris 2010/11, 232, no. 150]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the left on the tree trunk: winged serpent with dropped wings, facing right; in black paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the left on the tree trunk: winged serpent with dropped wings, facing right; in black paint

Owner
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Repository
Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Location
Antwerp
CDA ID
BE_KMSKA_43
FR (1978) Nr.
FR406A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/BE_KMSKA_43/

Provenance

  • Tiberghien Collection, Brussels
  • 1841 bequest from van Ertborn to the Koninklijk Museum

[Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels/Paris 2010/11, 232, no. 150]

Exhibitions

Brussels, Paris 2010/2011, no. 150

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Paris 2011 232 150
EditorGuido Messling
TitleCranach et son temps [Paris, Musée du Luxembourg]
Place of PublicationParis
Year of Publication2011
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010 232 150 p. 232
EditorBozarbooks & Lannoo, Guido Messling
TitleDie Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Die Welt des Lucas Cranach", Palast der Schönen Künste, Brüssel, 20. Oktober 2010 - 23. Januar 2011]
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 152 No. 406A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Cat. Antwerp 1957 63
EditorWalther Vanbeselaere
TitleMusée Royal des Beaux-Arts Anvers. Catalogue descriptif. Maitres anciens
Place of PublicationAntwerp
Year of Publication1957
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 326A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
Glaser 1923 233
AuthorCurt Glaser
TitleLukas Cranach
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1923
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/glaser1923
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

'From 1529 onwards depictions of Charity on her own appeared amongst Cranach’s works. In these paintings Cranach isolated (and monumentalized) a subject, which before was usually integrated into a series of virtues and vices. Cranach was also an innovator in that his Charity allegories were more or less nude figures, since the transparent veil offered nothing more than a symbolic fig leaf and at the same time helped to heighten the visual pleasure.'

[Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels, Paris 2010/11, 232, no. 150]

  • Charity, about 1540

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • irr
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail

Technical studies

10. 2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium and brush; in combination with dark chalk

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing?

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe the essential details; representation of volume?

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form; small changes (e.g. ear of the child breast feeding)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Charity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/BE_KMSKA_43/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Charity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/BE_KMSKA_43/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.