The Virgin and Child are shown in pensive, sombre mood, Mary in three-quarter view seated on the edge of a wooden frame, holding the nude infant on her lap.[1] A gnarled tree is at the right and a rocky landscape with a ruined castle at the upper left. The bare
The Virgin and Child are shown in pensive, sombre mood, Mary in three-quarter view seated on the edge of a wooden frame, holding the nude infant on her lap.[1] A gnarled tree is at the right and a rocky landscape with a ruined castle at the upper left. The bare foreground is covered with pebbles. Christ's left index finger points down.
[1] Christ points down to the pebbly, arid foreground, possibly alluding to the first steps of the Passion. This gesture is unique in Cranach's many depictions of the Child. The foreground may refer to Golgotha, while the wooden frame on which the Virgin and Child are seated suggests the entombment; the tree to the right, the wood of the Cross, and the ruined fortress at the upper left to the Old Dispensation. Christ's nudity may also refer to that of the Lamentation.
[Cat. Kress Collection 1977, 25, K1595]
- Attributions
-
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder | [Exhib. Cat. Prague 2005, 46, no. 1][Cat. Kress Collection 1977, 25, K1595] |
Lucas Cranach the Elder | [The University of Arizona, Museum of Art, revised 2015] |
- Production date
- about 1513 - 1514
Production date
about 1513 - 1514 | [The University of Arizona, Museum of Art, revised 2015] [Exhib. Cat. Prague 2005, 46, no. 1] |
- Dimensions
- Dimensions of support: 122.94 x 92.35 cm (48.4 x 36.36 in.)
Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 122.94 x 92.35 cm (48.4 x 36.36 in.)
[The University of Arizona, Museum of Art, revised 2015]
121.9 x 90.9 cm (48 x 35 3/4 in.)
[Cat. Kress Collection 1977, 25, K1595]
- Signature / Dating
None
- Inscriptions and Labels
- bottom corners: the coats-of-arms of Saxony
Shield in lower left corner: Per fess sable and argent, two swords crossed in …
Inscriptions and Labels
Inscriptions, Badges:
- bottom corners:
the coats-of-arms of Saxony
Shield in lower left corner: Per fess sable and argent, two swords crossed in saltire the points uppermost gules (for the Hereditary Office of grand Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire).
Shield in lower right corner: Barry of ten or and sable, a crown of rue in bend vert (for Saxony). The arms are of Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony (1463-1525). [1]
[1] J. Siebmacher, 'Grosses und Allgemeines Wappenbuch von Dr. Otto Titan von Hefner, I, part I, Die Wappen der Deutschen Bundesstaaten, Nuremberg, 1856, 18, pl. 24
[Cat. Kress Collection 1977, 25, K1595]
- Owner
- The University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson
- Repository
- The University of Arizona, Museum of Art, Tucson
- Location
- Tucson
- CDA ID
- US_UAMA_1961-013-004
- FR (1978) Nr.
- FR046
- Persistent Link
- https://lucascranach.org/en/US_UAMA_1961-013-004/