The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion

The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion

Title

The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

In 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion', Lucas Cranach the Elder chose to portray a scene of religious redemption. The crucified Christ, silhouetted against a darkened and troubled sky, is at the point of death; his last words from the cross are inscribed above him in German: 'VATER IN DEIN

In 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion', Lucas Cranach the Elder chose to portray a scene of religious redemption. The crucified Christ, silhouetted against a darkened and troubled sky, is at the point of death; his last words from the cross are inscribed above him in German: 'VATER IN DEIN HE[N]T BEFIL ICH MEIN GAIST' (Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit [Luke 23:46]). At that moment, a Roman centurion, astride a white charger, recognizes Christ's divinity and pronounces: 'WARLICH DISER MENSCH IST GOTES SVN GEWEST' (Truly, this man was the Son of God [Mark 15:39]).

The theme of 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion' especially appealed to Protestants because it clearly illustrated the doctrine of salvation by faith alone, the central precept of their creed. The centurion, clothed in contemporary armor, symbolized the 'Knight of Christ' who steadfastly defends his new-won belief despite all adversity.

[NGA online database, accessed 23.11.2021]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Flechsig 1900, 275]

Hans Cranach

[Flechsig 1900, 275]

Production date
1536

Production date

1536

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 50.8 x 34.6 cm (20 x 13 5/8 in.)

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the bottom right: winged serpent with dropped wings and dated '1536'

Signature / Dating

Inscriptions and Labels
  • across top:
    'VATER IN DEIN HE[N]T BEFIL ICH MEIN GAIST'
    (Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit)

  • at …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • across top:
  • 'VATER IN DEIN HE[N]T BEFIL ICH MEIN GAIST'

  • (Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit)

    • at top of cross:
  • 'I.N.R.I'

    • centre, below Christ's feet:
  • 'WARLICH DISER MENSCH IST GOTES SVN GEWEST'

  • (Truly, this man was the Son of God)

Owner
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
Repository
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
Location
Washington
CDA ID
US_NGA_1961-9-69
FR (1978) Nr.
FR378C
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/US_NGA_1961-9-69/

Provenance

  • Dr. Demiani, Leipzig, by 1899 [1]
  • (sale, Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, 11 November 1913, no. 40)
  • Mrs. Jenö Hubay, née Countess Cebrian Rosa
  • sold after her husband's death in 1937 to Mathias Salamon
  • acquired 1947 by Aladar Feigel, Budapest; George Biro [2]
  • sold 1952 to (Dominion Gallery, Montreal)
  • sold 1952 to (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), jointly owned by (Pinakos, Inc) [3]
  • purchased February 1952 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York
  • gift 1961 to NGA [4]

[1] Lent to the 1899 Cranach-Ausstellung in Dresden.
[2] Letter dated 8 January 1952 from George Biro to the Dominion Gallery, Dominion Gallery Fonds, Nox 71, file 4, purchased 1951-1959, A-E, National Gallery of Canada (copy NGA curatorial files). Also letter of 8 January 1952 from Max Stern, Dominion Gallery, to Charles Henschel, M. Knoedler & Co., in Knoedler files (copy NGA curatorial records).
[3] Letter of 2 March 1988 from Nancy C. Little to John Hand, in NGA curatorial files. A report of the Getty Provenance Index, in curatorial files, states that the painting was jointly owned by Pinakos, Inc. (Rudolf Heinemann).
[4] Painting at NGA from June 1953 but was not formally accessioned by the Gallery until 1961.
[NGA online database, accessed 23.11.2021]

Exhibitions

Dresden 1899, no. 65
Pennsylvania 2007

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Sitt, Monsees 2015 313, 316
AuthorMartina Sitt, Désirée Monsees
TitleDer einsame Christus am Kreuz - ein Bildtypus von Cranach dem Jüngeren in der pro-reformatorischen, bildlichen Argumentation
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages308-317
Exhib. Cat. Allentown 2006 Fig. 21
EditorIda Sinkevic
TitleKnights in Shining Armor. Myth and Reality 1450-1650
Place of PublicationPiermont/N. H.
Year of Publication2006
Hand 2004 136-137 No. 103 Fig.
AuthorJohn Oliver Hand
TitleNational Gallery of Art. Master Paintings from the Collection.
Place of PublicationWashington, New York
Year of Publication2004
Koerner 2004 226-239 Figs. 106, 111
AuthorJoseph Leo Koerner
TitleThe Reformation of the Image
Place of PublicationChicago
Year of Publication2004
Löcher 1995 A 15
AuthorKurt Löcher
TitleReview of 'German Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries', by John Oliver Hand with the assistance of Sally E. Mansfield
JournalKunstchronik
Issue43/1 (January 1995)
Year of Publication1995
Grimm 1994 37 Fig. A23
AuthorClaus Grimm
TitleLucas Cranach 1994
Publicationin Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds., Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Regensburg
Year of Publication1994
Pages18-43
Cat. Washington 1993 44-48 Fig. p. 47
AuthorJohn Oliver Hand, Sally E. Mansfield
TitleGerman Paintings of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth Centuries
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1993
Hand 1993 54-55, 68 Figs.
AuthorJohn Oliver Hand, Sally E. Mansfield
EditorNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
TitleGerman paintings of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1993
Cat. Washington 1985 106 Fig.
TitleEuropean Paintings. An Illustrated Catalogue
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1985
Cat. Washington 1984 165 No. 181 Fig.
AuthorJohn Walker
TitleNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Place of PublicationNew York
Year of Publication1984
Wolff 1983 unpaginated Fig.
AuthorMartha Wolff
TitleGerman Art of the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance in the National Gallery of Art
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1983
Abrams, Hutchinson 1982 123-124 Fig.
AuthorRichard I. Abrams, Warner A. Hutchinson
TitleAn Illustrated Life of Jesus, From the National Gallery of Art Collection
Place of PublicationNashville
Year of Publication1982
White 1982 5-9
AuthorLynda S. White
TitleA New Source for Dürer's 'Knight, Death and the Devil'
JournalSource
Issue2
Year of Publication1982
Andersson 1981
AuthorChristiane D. Anderson
TitleReligiöse Bilder Cranachs im Dienste der Reformation
Publicationin L.W. Spitz, ed., Humanismus und Reformation als kulturelle Kräfte in der Deutschen Geschichte
Place of PublicationBerlin, New York
Year of Publication1981
Pages43-76
Dixon 1981 35-42
AuthorLaurinda S. Dixon
TitleThe 'Crucifixion' by Lucas Cranach the Elder. A Study in Lutheran Reform Iconography
JournalPerceptions / Indianapolis Museum of Art
Issue1
Year of Publication1981
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 No. 378C
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Eisler 1977 24-25 Fig. 15
AuthorColin T. Eisler
TitlePaintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. European Schools Excluding Italian.
Place of PublicationOxford
Year of Publication1977
CDA.Cat. Washington 1975 A 165 No. 187 Fig. p. 164
AuthorJohn Walker
TitleNational Gallery of Art, Washington
Place of PublicationNew York
Year of Publication1975
CDA.Cat. Washington 1975 B 86 Fig. p. 87
Authorn. a.
TitleEuropean Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1975
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 575
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
Schade 1974 86 No. 635
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDie Malerfamilie Cranach
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1974
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schade1974
Angulo Iñiguez 1972 6
AuthorDiego Angulo Iñiguez
TitleLucas Cranach. El Calvario de 1538 del Museo de Sevilla.
JournalArchivo Español de Arte
Issue45 (1972)
Year of Publication1972
Pages1-8
Cat. New Haven 1972 under No. 6
AuthorAndrew Carnduff Richie, Katharine B. Neilson
TitleSelected Paintings and Sculpture from the Yale University Art Gallery
Place of PublicationNew Haven
Year of Publication1972
CDA.Cat. Washingtion 1968 27 No. 1621
Authorn. a.
TitleEuropean Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations (Companion to the Summary Catalogue, 1965)
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1968
Talbot 1967 68, 71-78, 86, Fn. 15 Fig. p. 69
AuthorCharles Talbot
EditorNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
TitleAn Interpretation of Two Paintings by Cranach in the Artist's Late Style
JournalReport and Studies in the History of Art
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1967
Link http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015017526305;view=1up;seq=11
Pages67-88
Cat. Washington 1965 34
Authorn. a.
TitleSummary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1965
Cat. New Haven 1961 40, 41 Fig. 41
AuthorCharles Seymour
TitleThe Rabinowitz Collection of European Paintings
Place of PublicationNew Haven
Year of Publication1961
Cat. Washington 1959 309 Fig.
EditorNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C., Samuel H. Kress Foundation
TitlePaintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1959
Suida, Shapley 1956 60 No. 20 Fig. p. 61
EditorWilliam E. Suida, Fern Rusk Shapley
TitlePaintings and Sculpture from the Kress Colllection. Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1956
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 85 303 (mentioned under)
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
Flechsig 1900 A 275, 282 (under No. 115) No. 65
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899 065
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
Friedländer 1899 242
AuthorMax J. Friedländer
TitleDie Cranach-Ausstellung in Dresden
JournalRepertorium für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue22
Year of Publication1899
Pages236-249

Research History / Discussion

From the Tour: German Painting and Sculpture in the Late 1400s and 1500s

On a barren hilltop, silhouetted against a glowing horizon and fiery sky, Jesus utters his dying words, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!' Cranach literally spelled out this statement in the air. The mounted Roman soldier recognizes Jesus' divinity with the phrase 'Truly this man was the Son of God!' The centurion wears armor and a plumed hat fashionable in Renaissance Germany. Cranach was closely associated with Martin Luther and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. The artist and the cleric were friends, and both lived in Wittenberg. By 1522, Luther had translated the Bible's New Testament into German so that it would be accessible to lay readers. Significantly, the words of Jesus and the centurion are here written in German, not the traditional Latin of the Catholic Church.

[http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=46168&detail=note] (accessed 08.02.2012)

'Painted in 1536, when the Protestant Reformation was well established in many regions of Germany, the National Gallery's panel and related versions have been interpreted as reflecting one of the central tenets of Lutheran doctrine, salvation through faith alone. The prominently displayed centurion may be seen as a personification of the idea that salvation is achieved through the gift of God's grace, and his conversion to Christianity as evinced by his words constitutes an individual statement of faith [1]. Talbot also noted associations between the centurion, mounted on a white charger, and Saint George, the almost archetypal Christian knight, and, further, the images of the militant Christian soldier found in Erasmus of Rotterdam's 'Enchiridion Militis Christiani' or Dürer's engraving 'Knight, Death, and the Devil'[2]. Although secondary in importance, the Good Thief may also be seen as an example of salvation through faith. Moreover, the use of the vernacular rather than the Latin in the inscriptions is in line with the Lutheran belief that the word of God should be directly accessible to all believers.

At the time of its exhibition in Dresden in 1899 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion' was considered by Friedländer to be 'probably autograph', while Flechsig thought it was by Hans Cranach but that Lucas Cranach the Younger should be considered [3]. Subsequent authors, however, have confirmed the attribution to Lucas Cranach the Elder, and whether the panel was painted entirely by Cranach himself or contains workshop participation, the quality of execution is, in fact, quite high.

Although Cranach produced numerous images of the Crucifixion throughout his career, 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion' is apparently the earliest of a relatively small number of versions of this type. Closest to the National Gallery's picture, but smoother and blander in appearance, is the panel in the Staatsgalerie Aschaffenburg, which is monogrammed and dated 1539 [4]. Two other versions, each dated 1538 (Museo de Bellas Artes, Seville, [5] and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven [6]), repeat the composition but alter details such as the pose of the Bad Thief or the costume of the centurion. Friedländer and Rosenberg list another version containing a bust-length donor portrait that in 1931 was in a private collection in Paris [7]. A close replica of the National gallery's panel is in a private collection in Basel [8].

[1][Talbot 1967, 71]; [Eisler 1977, 24-25]; [Exhib. Cat. 1974, 486] and further 'Protestant' subjects, 498-522; see also [Dixon 1981, 35-42]; [Andersson 1981, 43-79]

[2] [Talbot 1967, 71-72], citing and reproducing Cranach's 'Saint George', formerly Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dessau. For a discussion of Dürer's engraving in relation to Erasmus' writing see [Panofsky 1943, 151-154]. For the possible influence on Dürer of Cranach's woodcut of 1506, 'Knight in Armor Riding toward the Right', see [White 1982, 5-9]

[3] [Friedländer 1899, 242]; [Flechsig 1900, 275]

[4] DE_BStGS_13255_FR378; [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1978, No. 378] includes exhibition and provenance information that pertains to the National Gallery’s picture, not this one

[5]Wood, 85 x 56 cm [Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, 485-486, Fig. 267]

[6] No. 1959.15.23, wood, 60 x 40.6 cm. [Cat. New Haven 1961, 40, Fig. 41], states that the centurion is a portrait of Johann Friedrich, elector of Saxony. This is repeated in [Cat. New Haven 1972, No. 6]. [Talbot 1967, 86, Fn. 15] did not find the comparison with known portraits of Johann Friedrich convincing but noted that the centurion's face was more individualized than in other versions, including the National Gallery's panel.

[7] FR378D; the painting apparently bore the artist's device and was dated 153[8]

[8] Wood, 51.3 x 33.2 cm, photograph in NGA curatorial files. The painting was examined by Martha Wolff, 13 May 1985, memorandum in NGA curatorial files; see also letter from Dieter Koepplin, 20 April 1985, in NGA curatorial files.

[Hand, Cat. Washington 1993, 45, 46, 48]

  • The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion, 1536

Images

Compare images
  • overall

Technical studies

21.01.1994Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

The panel is composed of two boards with vertically oriented grain. Dendrochronological examination by Peter Klein provided dates of 1486-1531 and 1439-1530 for the individual boards and also indicated that both boards were from the same tree.[1]

[1] The wood was identified as beech (sp.Fagus) by Peter Klein, examination report, 10 April 1987, and by the National Gallery's scientific research department, report, 15 July 1988, both in NGA curatorial files. [The report from 1994 records these results (see pdf)]

The wood was erroneously identified as linden in exh. cat. Dresden 1899, which was repeated in Eisler 1977, 24.

[http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=46168&detail=tech] (accessed 08.02.2013)

  • analysed by Peter Klein

1993Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

The panel is composed of two boards with vertically oriented grain. Dendrochronological examination by Peter Klein provided dates of 1486-1531 and 1439-1530 for the individual boards and also indicated that both boards were from the same tree.[1]

[1] The wood was identified as beech (sp.Fagus) by Peter Klein, examination report, 10 April 1987, and by the National Gallery's scientific research department, report, 15 July 1988, both in NGA curatorial files. The wood was erroneously identified as linden in exh. cat. Dresden 1899, which was repeated in Eisler 1977, 24.

Ground and Imprimatura

At the top and bottom there are narrow, unpainted edges that have been apparently filled and overpainted at a later date.

[NGA online database, accessed 23.11.2021]

Condition Reports

Date1993

The left and right edges of the panel have been trimmed and a cradle attached. On the reverse strips of oak 0.38 cm wide have been set into the panel. [...]

The painting is in good condition. There is a network of small cracks in the paint layer, which extends into the ground; this is most prominent in the front portion of the horse and extends upward into the area of Christ's drapery. There are some shallow scratches to the right of the horse and near Christ's torso. Areas of abrasion exist near the knees of the crucified figure at the left and in the hindquarters of the horse.

[NGA online database, accessed 23.11.2021]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_NGA_1961-9-69/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Crucifixion with the Converted Centurion', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_NGA_1961-9-69/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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