The Baptism of Christ

The Baptism of Christ

Title

The Baptism of Christ

[CDA 2012]

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

Medium

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33]

The painting depicts the baptism of Christ in the foreground on the right. St John kneels behind Christ on the bank. The scene is linked to the representation of a group of nobility and important reformers.

The woman in regal dress is Margarete of Brandenburg and she turns to her

The painting depicts the baptism of Christ in the foreground on the right. St John kneels behind Christ on the bank. The scene is linked to the representation of a group of nobility and important reformers.

The woman in regal dress is Margarete of Brandenburg and she turns to her brother Johann of Küstrin. Her husband Johann IV of Anhalt is depicted on the left edge in the foreground. His brother Georg (with a book in his hand) and Joachim stand beside him. Georg is flanked by Luther and Melanchthon. The head of Lucas Cranach the Elder appears between Johann of Anhalt and Luther. The townscape in the background shows Dessau, which is identified by the castle and the Marienkirche.

[see Elke A. Werner, Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33] [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937, no. 139]

Production date
1556

Production date

1556

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 62 x 82 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 62 x 82 cm

  • [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia lower right: serpent (with dropped wings) and date '1556'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia lower right: serpent (with dropped wings) and date '1556'

Owner
Hohenzoller dynasty, Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia
Repository
Grunewald hunting lodge
Location
Grunewald
CDA ID
DE_SPSG_GKI2087
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SPSG_GKI2087/

Provenance

  • probably commissioned by Joachim of Anhalt
  • 1818 acquired in Berlin from an unknown source
    [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1937, no. 139
Berlin 2009/10, no. IV.33

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Rhein 2015 48
AuthorStefan Rhein
TitleLucas Cranach der Jüngere und Philipp Melanchthon. Zu den Spuren einer Wittenberger Beziehung
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages42-51
Show Literature
Waterman 2015 285, Fn. 26; 286
AuthorJoshua P. Waterman
TitleThe Artistic Emergence of Lucas Cranach the Younger
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages280-289
Show Literature
Werner 2015 13
AuthorElke Anna Werner
TitleLucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder. Zur Einführung
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages8-16
Show Literature
Wolf 2015 169-175, 177 Figs. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
AuthorAnja Wolf
TitleDie 'Taufe Christi' von 1556. Einblicke in die Arbeitsweise Lucas Cranachs des Jüngeren
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages168-179
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009 A 224-225 No. IV.33 Fig. IV.33
EditorStiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg
TitleCranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern. Kirche, Hof und Stadtkultur
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Show Literature
Most, Wolf et al. 2009 90-91
AuthorMechthild Most, Anja Wolf, Jens Bartoll, Peter Klein, Undine Köhler, Eva Wenders de Calisse
TitleZur Maltechnik der beiden Cranach und ihrer Werkstatt. Ergebnisse der technologischen Untersuchung der Bildtafeln der Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten
Publicationin Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Evangelische Kirchengemeinde St. Petri-St. Marien, eds., Cranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern, Exhib. Cat. Berlin
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Pages86-97
Show Literature
Schulze 2004 159-160 Fig. p. 279
AuthorIngrid Schulze
TitleLucas Cranach d. J. und die protestantische Bildkunst in Sachsen und Thüringen. Frömmigkeit, Theologie, Fürstenreformation
Place of PublicationBucha near Jena
Year of Publication2004
Show Literature
Rabenau 1997 15, 17
AuthorKonrad von Rabenau
TitleBildnisse von Philipp Melanchthon und Fürst Georg von Anhalt auf den Büchern der Reformationszeit
JournalDessauer Kalender
Issue41 (1997)
Year of Publication1997
Pages2-19
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 495, 497 No. 347 Fig. 274
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
Schade 1974 93-94 Plate 220
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDie Malerfamilie Cranach
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1974
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schade1974
Show Literature
Schade 1968 B 69-70
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDie Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d. J.
Publicationin Bozena Steinborn, ed., Ze Studiów nad Sztuka XVI Wieku na Slasku i w Krajach Sasiednich(Materialy z konferencji urzadzonej przez Muzeum Slaskie we Wroclaw 10 i 17 grudnia 1966 roku)
Place of PublicationBreslau
Year of Publication1968
Pages63-76
Show Literature
Börsch-Supan 1964 50-52 No. 54
AuthorHelmut Börsch-Supan
TitleDie Gemälde im Jagdschloss Grunewald
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1964
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 50 138 Pl. 114
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Seidel 1907 379
AuthorPaul Seidel
TitleDie Taufe Christi mit den Bildnissen des Markgrafen Johann v. Brandenburg-Küstrin, seiner Gemahlin Katharina von Braunschweig-Wolffenbüttel und seiner Freunde. Ölgemälde von L. Cranach d. J. 1556
JournalHohenzollern-Jahrbuch
Issue11,12
Year of Publication1907
Pages275-278; 269
Show Literature
Rumpf 1823 379
AuthorJohan Daniel Friedrich Rumpf
TitleNeuester Wegweiser durch die Königl. Preußischen Staaten. Ein Handbuch für Fremde und Einheimische. Beschreibung der aeussern und innern Merkwürdigkeiten der Königlichen Schlösser in Berlin, Charlottenburg, Schönhausen in und bey Potsdam.
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1823
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

‚The painting is both a memory and confessional image. It not only recalls the marriage between Margarete and Johann of Anhalt, but also commemorates important people of the reformation, who had since passed away: Luther, Johann and Georg of Anhalt as well as Cranach who is celebrated here as the artist of the reformation.

This pictorial form was to become one of the most important Protestant confessional images and was frequently employed by Cranach the Younger for commissions from Anhalt.’

[Elke A. Werner, Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 224-225, IV.33]

  • The Baptism of Christ, 1556

Images

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Technical studies

01. 2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- dry drawing material, dark chalk; combined with a fluid medium and a brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- delicate, fine lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and describe essential details and facial features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made to forms during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2019]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Baptism of Christ', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SPSG_GKI2087/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Baptism of Christ', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SPSG_GKI2087/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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