Christian II, King of Denmark

Christian II, King of Denmark

Titles

Christian II, King of Denmark

[cda 2018]

Georg (the bearded), Duke of Saxony

[cda 2010]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]
[Klein report, 03.03.2016]
[Maedebach, Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972, No. 18]

A bust-length portrait of an noble man (Christian II, King of Denmark ?), facing right against a blue background. He is wearing a fur-trimmed cloak over a red-black robe and a white undergarment with an embroidered collar. He has a decorated hat on his head and a chain with a

A bust-length portrait of an noble man (Christian II, King of Denmark ?), facing right against a blue background. He is wearing a fur-trimmed cloak over a red-black robe and a white undergarment with an embroidered collar. He has a decorated hat on his head and a chain with a golden fleece pendant around his neck.

[Herrschaft, cda 2015]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, revised 2010]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

Production dates
1524
about 1524

Production dates

1524

[dated]

about 1524

[Maedebach, Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972, No. 18]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 29.7 x 22.5 (without additions) x 0.75 cm (original panel/1.7 cm (including cradle)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 29.7 x 22.5 (without additions) x 0.75 cm (original panel/1.7 cm (including cradle)

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

  • Dimensions of support: 29.8 x 23.8 cm

  • [Maedebach, Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972, No. 18]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the top right edge: winged serpent and dated '1524'; in yellow paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia on the top right edge: winged serpent and dated '1524'; in yellow paint

  • [CDA 2011]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • on the left of the top edge: 'Herzog Georg von Sachsen. obyt, 1539'; in yellow paint Reverse:
  • handwritten '47317' …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • on the left of the top edge:

  • 'Herzog Georg von Sachsen. obyt, 1539'; in yellow paint

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: - handwritten '47317' (= Munich number)

    • adhesive label '3553' (= Linz number)
    • Stamp 'Eigentum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland'
    • handwritten KVC

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

Owner
Federal Republic of Germany
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_BRD-KSVC_M326
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-KSVC_M326/

Provenance

  • 1943 the panel was confiscated in a criminal case against two detectives in the SS and police court in Metz (Expertise by Ernst Buchner, General Director of the Collection of the Bavarian State (Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlung))
  • 1944, 28 June: air raid shelter in the Führer's building in Munich for the planned collection in Linz)
  • 1945 Central Collecting Point Munich
  • 1949 Minister President of Bavaria, then in the possession of the Federal Republic of Germany, mü47317[1]
  • 1966 on permanent loan to the collection in Coburg (Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg)
    [1]http://www.badv.bund.de/DE/OffeneVermoegensfragen/Provenienzrecherche/Provenienzen/Daten/47000_47999/47317.html
    [Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

See also the entry in the Lost Art-database, Stiftung Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste: Lost Art-ID 220169; http://www.lostart.de/DE/Fund/220169 (accessed 17 Dec. 2019).

For further discussion see also 'Description/Interpretation'

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 130-135 23 Pl. p. 131, Fig. 1
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Weschenfelder 2018 A 14
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg.
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Pages7-23
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972 No. 18
EditorHeino Maedebach
TitleGraphik aus dem Kupferstichkabinett der Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg. Beiheft: Lucas Cranach d. Ae. und seine Werkstatt: Gemälde
Place of PublicationCoburg
Year of Publication1972
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

If the date '1524' is correct, the sitter cannot be identified as Georg the bearded, as according to written records the Elector did not have a beard until after the death of his wife Barbara in 1534.

[Weschenfelder 11.05.2011]

  • Christian II, King of Denmark, 1524

Images

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Documents

Technical studies

2018Technical Examination

Support

- limewood

- three vertically aligned boards: board I: 9.5 cm; board II: 7.5 cm, board III: 5.5 cm

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

Paint Layers and Gilding

- cracks in the paint run through the insignia and date; the paint consists of coarse grains of vermillion and ochre, suggesting that it may be orginal

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

03.03.2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species: limewood (Tilia sp.).

[Klein report, 03.03.2016]

  • examined by Peter Klein

09. 2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools / Materials:

- dry drawing material, dark chalk

Type/Ductus:

- partially freehand underdrawing; possibly with traced lines in the face

- thin lines, predominately long and unbroken

Function:

- rough indication for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and define features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- a few alterations made during the painted version to clearly define form: the sitter’ beret

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible

Comments:

- possibly after a preparatory drawing or even transferred from a pre-existing design (traced?)

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

  • additions left and right with a width of 0.5 cm have been inprofessionally glued to the original panel

  • a cradle consisting of tangential maple wood vertial members and oak wood horizontal members was glued to the reverse.

  • the original panel was thinned, exposing numerous open woodworm channels.

Paint layers:

  • fine network of cracks

  • the inscription at the top left is located on top of the paint layers; the letters are Baroque in stlye and of a late date; they were probably added in the 17th century.

Varnish:

  • the glossy resin varnish was probably applied repeatedly with a brush

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 130]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Christian II, King of Denmark', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-KSVC_M326/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Christian II, King of Denmark', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BRD-KSVC_M326/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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