Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Titles

Crucifixion

[cda 2013]

Lamentation of Christ

[Exhib. Cat. Torgau 2004, No. 565]

Painting on hardwood, appears to be limewood

Medium

Painting on hardwood, appears to be limewood

[Heydenreich, cda 2013]

Mary Magdalene is sunk at the base of the central cross and embraces the shaft. Christ's loin cloth wafts outwards. The Virgin stands to the left and St John to the right of the thieves crosses, which project diagonally into the pictorial space. The Virgin wears a blue robe and

Mary Magdalene is sunk at the base of the central cross and embraces the shaft. Christ's loin cloth wafts outwards. The Virgin stands to the left and St John to the right of the thieves crosses, which project diagonally into the pictorial space. The Virgin wears a blue robe and a white headscarf, St John is dressed in the traditional red.

Dark clouds have drawn together in the sky symbolizing Christ's death. Only above the horizon are stripes of yellow and red light visible.

[Görres, cda 2013]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 75]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Torgau 2004, 565]

Production dates
about 1520 - 1530
about 1518 - 1520

Production dates

about 1520 - 1530

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 75]

about 1518 - 1520

[Exhib. Cat. Torgau 2004, 565]

Dimensions
Dimensions of painted surface: 39.3 x 26.5 x 1 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 39.3 x 26.5 x 1 cm

  • Dimensions including frame: 47.4 x 33.6 x 2.4 cm

  • [Heydenreich, cda 2013]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

on the gold ground:
'MORTE MIHI VITAM MORTVA VITA DEDIT'
[cda 2013] Reverse: - on the panel:
in …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • on the gold ground:

  • 'MORTE MIHI VITAM MORTVA VITA DEDIT'

  • [cda 2013]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: - on the panel:

  • in white chalk: 'Collm'

  • in blue pen: 'Collm'

  • Frame:

    • top corner join (join between the original and the new member):

  • label with figurative representation (a minister receives a young man at his garden gate)

    • below:

  • another label, only remnants

  • [Heydenreich, Report August 1997]

Owner
Ev.-Luth. Kirchspiel Wermsdorf
Repository
Stadt- und Kulturgeschichtliches Museum Torgau
Location
Torgau
CDA ID
DE_COL_NONE-COL001
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_COL_NONE-COL001/

Provenance

  • permanent loan of Ev.-Luth. Kirchspiel Wermsdorf (Collm)
    [cda 2017]

Exhibitions

  • Torgau 2004, No. 565

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Torgau 2004 565
EditorHarald Marx, Eckhard Kluth, Cecilie Hollberg
TitleGlaube und Macht. Sachsen im Europa der Reformationszeit. 2. Sächsische Landesaussellung Schloss Hartenfels Torgau
Volume1-2
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication2004
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 12
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Gurlitt 1905 77
AuthorCornelius Gurlitt
TitleBeschreibende Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Königreichs Sachsen. Band 27: Amtshauptmannschatz Oschatz (I. Teil)
Volume27
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1905
Link http://digital.slub-dresden.de/id308971191
Show Literature
Buchwald 1901 160
EditorD. Georg Buchwald
TitleNeue Sächsische Kirchengalerie. Ephorie Oschatz
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1901
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

When the painting was created Ernst von Gaudelitz (c. 1460 - c. 1527) was the Church patron of the Church of Collm. According to statements preserved in two funeral sermons from 1631 and 1632 he was brought up in the court of the Saxon electors, was groom of the bed chambers, Hoftruchsess (highest court official, responsible for the management of the palace, supervision of the personal, the kitchen and the table). As court counciller of the Ernestinian saxon Elector Friedrich II. the Wise (1463 - 1525, ruled 1486 - 1525) he travelled with him in 1493 on a pilgrim journey to Palestina and attended almost all imperial diets, was a member of the teutonic knights, was in personal contact with Luther and was employed among others to implement Lutheran church improvements in large courts in and outside Germany. He assisted John the Steadfast in the suppression of the peasants' revolt. He was buried in Collm.

That such a figure did not commission a larger painting can at least be doubted.

[Harold Gaudlitz, unpublished research 2013]

  • Crucifixion, about 1520 - 1530

Images

Compare images
  • overall

Technical studies

08. 1997Technical Examination

Support

- hardwood, presumably limewood

- a single board with the grain running vertically; the painted side has been carefully smoothed

- no damage visible

- the reverse has been smoothed horizontally with a block plane (max. width of the grooves only c. 2 cm)

- the edge of the panel has been bevelled slightly (c. 0.9 ‑ 1.0 to c. 0.8 cm)

Framing

- original frame

- the deep gilded profile is original except for the left member and as such belongs to the few preserved examples of frames of this type. The left member is a later addition (oak wood). The corner joints are simple mortise and tenon joints and the inner side is mitred. On the reverse all four corners are reinforced with nails, which are not original. The front was reinforced with canvas.

- the gilding including the inscription were renewed at a later date: the profile originally gilding over red bole (later matt gilding), the outer ledge, inner chamfer and sides were painted black, the reverse has no finish, the water gilding originally silver leaf (blackened metal on red bole visible), is repainted with grey paint and the inscription was renewed in black 'MORTE MIHI VITAM MORTVA VITA DEDIT.'

[Heydenreich, Report August 1997]

  • written by Gunnar Heydenreich

Condition Reports

Date08. 1997

The painting is in good but partially instable condition with acute flaking. There are some small paint losses in the paint layer at the centre. The surface has a matt appearance. There are some small retouches.

The hair of Mary Magdalene is abraded and overpainted. The craquelée essentially follows the vertical direction of the grain. The green glaze on the collar and the floor appears brownish.

[Heydenreich, report August 1997]

  • written by Gunnar Heydenreich

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Crucifixion', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_COL_NONE-COL001/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Crucifixion', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_COL_NONE-COL001/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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