The Visitation

The Visitation

Title

The Visitation

[Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. Sup3]

The panel depicts the encounter between the pregnant Virgin and Elizabeth, who is pregnant with St John the Baptist. The meeting is set in a landscape with a detailed and varied representation of vegetation.

[Görres, cda 2015]

Attribution
Master of the Pflock Altarpiece

Attribution

Master of the Pflock Altarpiece

[Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

Production date
about 1520

Production date

about 1520

[Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 110 x 75 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 110 x 75 cm

  • [Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

Signature / Dating

None

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P097
FR (1978) Nr.
FRSup003
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P097/

Provenance

  • Freiherr von Miltitz, Siebeneichen Castle near Meißen
    [Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

Exhibitions

Dresden 1899, No. 157
Kronach 1994

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995 66-67 24
EditorWalter Senger
TitleSenger Bamberg Kunsthandel. 25 Jahre Kunsthandel in Bamberg 1970-1995
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1995
Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994 366
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Sandner 1993 242, 302
AuthorIngo Sandner
TitleSpätgotische Tafelmalerei in Sachsen
Place of PublicationDresden, Basel
Year of Publication1993
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 160 Sup001
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
Gurlitt 1923 473-474
AuthorCornelius Gurlitt
TitleBeschreibende Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler in Sachsen. Amtshauptmannschaft Meißen-Land
SeriesBeschreibende Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler in Sachsen
Volume41
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1923
Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899 157
EditorKarl Woermann
TitleDeutsche Kunstausstellung Dresden 1899. Abteilung Cranach-Ausstellung. Wissenschaftliches Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Werke
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1899
Link http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002A2400000000
Schuchardt 1851 C 122-123 394
AuthorChristian Schuchardt
TitleLucas Cranach des Aeltern Leben und Werke. Zweiter Theil
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1851
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schuchardt1851bd2

Research History / Discussion

According to Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. Sup3 the panel together with the Nativity once decorated the inner side of the wing of a retable. The separated external side depicts the figures of Sts Catharine and Margaret and is now in the collegiate rectory St Peter and Alexander, Aschaffenburg [DE_BStGS_13224].

[Görres, cda 2015]

The four wooden panels, originally part of an altarpiece, depict the most significant events in the life of the Virgin: the Visitation, the Nativity, the Adorationof the Magi and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. The series, which decorated the inner sides of the wing panels, began at the top of the left wing with the Visitation: the encounter between Elizabeth and the Virgin represented here against the backdrop of a wild wooded landscape. The Nativity followed beneath showing the Virgin and Joseph, the ox and ass as well as three putti gathered around the crib. On the opposite side at the top was an Adoration of the Magi and beneath the Presentation in the Temple. All of these scenes number among the so-called ‚Seven Joys of the Virgin‘ and suggests it was probably a Lady altar, showing the Coronation of the Virgin on the central panel.

The individual panels are very well preserved and boast about 95% of undamaged original paint surface, the luminosity having survived the centuries.[…]

As early as half a century ago the distinguished art historians Max J. Friedländer and Jacob Rosenberg attributed the work to the Master of the Pflock Altar. This painter from the circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder is named after his major work the Family altar of the Pflocks in St Anne’s church in Annaberg-Buchholz. The panels were probably painted about 1520 during a period when the Master was working on the Pflock Altar and another of his important works the so-called Rochlitz Retable.

Despite his proximity to the work of Cranach the Master was capable of lending his works an individual character. In his assessment Ingo Sandner expresses an appreciation of the insufficiently studied Master. ‘Within a Saxon context this painter ranks among the best of his trade and of the Cranach apprentices who established their own workshops he is one of the most remarkable artists.

An expert opinion by Prof. Dr. Ingo Sandner, Dresden from the 28.12.1992 is available.

[Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1995, No. 24]

  • The Visitation, about 1520

Images

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