Portrait of a Lady and her Son

Portrait of a Lady and her Son

Title

Portrait of a Lady and her Son

[cda 2017]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017, 292, No. 186]

With a growing interest in Early German Art about 1800 attention was also focused on Cranach's paintings. Numerous surviving versions of these portraits of a sumptuously dressed duchess and her son are attributed to Franz Wolfgang Rohrich (1787-1834). As early as 1840 Graf von Raczynski reported in `Geschichte der neueren

With a growing interest in Early German Art about 1800 attention was also focused on Cranach's paintings. Numerous surviving versions of these portraits of a sumptuously dressed duchess and her son are attributed to Franz Wolfgang Rohrich (1787-1834). As early as 1840 Graf von Raczynski reported in Geschichte der neueren deutschen Kunst on the existence of more that forty reproductions by the Nuremberg artist. Today numerous, almost identical, versions have survived in Wörlitz, Weimar, Munich, Paris, St Petersburg as well as in many private collections. As a result of the different dating of the paintings various suggestions have been proposed for the sitters: Duchess Katharina of Saxony with her son Moritz, Duchess Sophie of Saxony with her son Johann Friedrich I and Electress Sibylle with her son Johann Friedrich II the Middle. Whereas 19th century sources discuss the copies by Rohrich and the search for the original painting, more recent study in art history recognizes Rohrich's double portrait as an independent invention. The intimate depiction of the mother and son was viewed as contrary to the artistic conventions at Cranach's time. However recent technical examinations seem to suggest that the painting in the Royal collection, London is in fact the original painting from the Cranach workshop.

[Heydenreich, Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017, 292, No. 186]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder (and Workshop)
Franz Wolfgang Rohrich

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder (and Workshop)

[Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017, 292, No. 186]

Franz Wolfgang Rohrich

[Cust 1904/05B, 354]

Production date
about 1515 - 1525

Production date

about 1515 - 1525

[Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017, 292, No. 186]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 52.7 x 38.8 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 52.7 x 38.8 cm

  • [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

on the hat: 'MERNNU 14[...] W[...] IL NIMOS'

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • on the hat: 'MERNNU 14[...] W[...] IL NIMOS'

Owner
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, London
Repository
The Royal Collection, London
Location
London
CDA ID
UK_RCL_403373
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_403373/

Exhibitions

Düsseldorf 2017, No. 186

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017 292 No. 186
EditorGunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Cranach. Meister - Marke - Moderne", Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 08. April 2017 - 30. Juli 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Heydenreich 2017 A
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleCranach? Fragen der Zuschreibung im Lichte kunsttechnologischer Untersuchungen
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/7316/7870/1704/Heydenreich_2017_Cranach_Fragen_der_Zuschreibung.pdf
Pages72-81
Wiemers 2015
AuthorMichael Wiemers
TitleFranz Wolfgang Rohrichs Cranach-Fälschungen
Publicationin Kulturstiftung Dessau-Wörlitz, ed., Cranach im Gotischen Haus in Wörlitz, Exhib. Cat. Wörlitz
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages229-236
Kretschmann 2001 69-76
AuthorGeorg Kretschmann
TitleFaszination Fälschung. Kunst-, Geld- und andere Fälscher und ihre Schicksale
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2001
Zupancic 1992 110
AuthorAndrea Zupancic
TitleFälschungen altdeutscher Tafelmalerei im frühen neunzehnten Jahrhundert. Zur Phänomenologie der Kunstfälschung. [Dissertation, Bochum]
Year of Publication1992
Holst 1934
AuthorNiels von Holst
TitleNachahmungen und Fälschungen altdeutscher Kunst im Zeitalter der Romantik
JournalZeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte
Issue3
Year of Publication1934
Pages17-45
Cust 1904/1905 B 354
AuthorLionel Cust
TitlePaintings by L. Cranach. Notes on pictures in the Royal Collection VI
JournalBurlington Magazine
Issue6
Year of Publication1904
Pages353-360

Research History / Discussion

The extreme flatness, the incorrect proportions and the oil gilded dress are as unlikely to be found on an original work by Cranach as the composition of the figures represented here.

[Zupancic 1992, 110]

  • Portrait of a Lady and her Son, about 1515 - 1525

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • irr
  • x_radiograph
  • detail
  • conservation

Technical studies

2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing, only occasionally visible

- thin to somewhat broader lines

Function:

- only roughly binding for the final painted version; (where visible) the lines define the main contours and describe some essential details (hands); no representation of volume

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made to forms during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

Lucas Cranach the Elder or workshop

[Sandner, Heydenreich, Smith-Contini, cda 2017]

  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • created by The Royal Collection, London

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of a Lady and her Son', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_403373/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of a Lady and her Son', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_403373/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.