Dido the Queen of Carthage

Dido the Queen of Carthage

Titles

Dido the Queen of Carthage

[see inscription]

Lucretia

[cda 2011]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]
[Klein report 03.03.2016]

Copper beech wood

[Maedebach, Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972, No. 13]

The painting depicts Queen Dido as a three-quarter length seated figure in contemporary dress against a black background. Her head is inclined and she looks at the viewer. In her right hand she holds a dagger, which she has already plunged into her chest, while her left hand rests on

The painting depicts Queen Dido as a three-quarter length seated figure in contemporary dress against a black background. Her head is inclined and she looks at the viewer. In her right hand she holds a dagger, which she has already plunged into her chest, while her left hand rests on her lap. She wears a contemporary robe with parallel steps on the sleeves and a white undergarment with bunched material at the elbows, which has slid off her shoulders to reveal her breasts. A fur-trimmed golden overcoat covers her left shoulder, and is wrapped around her so that it covers her lap. Her blond locks are pinned up under a bonnet decorated with pearls. She has a thin choker with a pendant around her neck, as well as a chain and a narrow leather band with a pendant. She wears a simple ring on her finger.

[Herrschaft, CDA 2010]

According to the legend Dido was the founder of Carthage, who fell in love with the Trojan prince Aeneas. When Aeneas left Carthage at the request of the Gods to found a new city in Italy Dido stabbed herself. She became the tragic heroine in a story where duty prevailed over love.

[Poeschel 2007]

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, revised 2010]

Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

Production date
1547

Production date

1547

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 27 x 17 (plus c. 0.5 cm, because the panel is fitted in a grooved frame) x 1 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 27 x 17 (plus c. 0.5 cm, because the panel is fitted in a grooved frame) x 1 cm

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

Signature / Dating

Dated, top left edge: 'M.D.XLVII'

Signature / Dating

  • Dated, top left edge: 'M.D.XLVII'

  • [cda 2010]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • on the right side of the top edge in light yellow paint: 'DIDO REGINA' Reverse:
  • adhesive label with a stamp …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • on the right side of the top edge in light yellow paint:

  • 'DIDO REGINA'

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: - adhesive label with a stamp HKA

    • adhesive label Gr. Kat.: 'Nr. 16, Unbekannte Meister'
    • inscription and adhesive label KVC

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

Owner
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M039
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M039/

Provenance

  • Gotha, Art Cabinet (Kunstkammer), Friedenstein castle, Picture Gallery
  • 1856 Ducal Art and Antiquities Collection, Coburg (Herzogliche Kunst- und Altertümersammlung der Veste Coburg (HKA))
  • 1919 Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg (KVC)
    [Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

Exhibitions

Erfurt 1903, no. 90
Coburg 1972, no. 13

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 104, 105, 108 18 Pl. p. 105
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Weschenfelder 2018 A 14, 18
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg.
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Pages7-23
Show Literature
Weschenfelder 2018 B 28, 29 Figs. 3, 6
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleVorbemerkung zum Katalog
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Pages27-29
Show Literature
Follak 2002
AuthorJan Follak
TitleLucretia zwischen positiver und negativer Anthropologie: Coluccio Salutatis Declamatio Lucretie und die Menschenbilder im exemplum der Lucretia von der Antike bis in die Neuzeit
Place of PublicationKonstanz
Year of Publication2002
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-9144
Show Literature
Cat. Coburg 1972 No. M39 (?)
AuthorHeino Maedebach
EditorLWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster
TitleVeste Coburg, Kunst- und Altertümersammlung
Place of PublicationCoburg
Year of Publication1972
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Coburg 1972 No. 13
EditorHeino Maedebach
TitleGraphik aus dem Kupferstichkabinett der Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg. Beiheft: Lucas Cranach d. Ae. und seine Werkstatt: Gemälde
Place of PublicationCoburg
Year of Publication1972
Show Literature
Voss, Lehfeldt 1907 560 No. 15
AuthorPaul Lehfeldt, Georg Voss
TitleBau- und Kunst-Denkmäler Thüringens. Herzogthum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha; Amtsgerichtsbezirke Neustadt, Rodach, Sonnefeld, Königsberg, Coburg
SeriesBau- und Kunstdenkmäler Thüringens
VolumeIV
Place of PublicationJena
Year of Publication1907
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Erfurt 1903 16 090
EditorOskar Doering
TitleKatalog der kunstgeschichtlichen Ausstellung zu Erfurt, September 1903
Place of PublicationMagdeburg
Year of Publication1903
Link https://archive.org/details/katalogderkunstg00ange/page/n1/mode/2up
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Koepplin has annotated the illustration in his archive with the comment: 'zu FR 198e'(1932).

[Herrschaft, cda 2010]

If the painting did not have the inscription 'Dido', it could also be a depiction of Lucretia. Both figures stabbed themselves and this dramatic moment is usually the one illustrated in paintings. Neither Friedländer, Rosenberg 1978, nor Koepplin, Falk [Exhib. Cat. Basel1974/1976] list paintings depicting Dido from the Cranach workshop. It cannot be excluded that the inscription is of a later date, but should it be original the question must be posed as to how many of the paintings illustrating Lucretia from Cranach's workshop actually depict Dido.

[Herrschaft, cda 2010]

This Dido type – with the dagger held in her right hand that hangs down in front of her body, while her left hand rests on her lap – can be identified in many of the Lucretia depictions, as is confirmed by at least 5 paintings of this sort.

[Herrschaft, cda 2011]

  • Dido the Queen of Carthage, 1547

Images

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Documents

Technical studies

2018Technical Examination

Support

- limewood

- two vertically aligned boards: board I: 8.4 cm; board II: 8.6 cm

- the reverse has been stained with a reddish-brown tone

- the panel is fixed in a grooved frame

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

03.03.2016Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species (Tilia sp.)

[Klein report, 03.03.2016]

  • analysed by Peter Klein

Condition Reports

Date2018

Paint layers:

  • fine craquelé, various small retouches along the join and in the flesh paint. Some minor flaking along the join.

Varnish:

  • repeatedly revarnished with a glossy resin varnish

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 104]

Conservation History

Date1850

  • conservation treatment by Heinrich Krüppel

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Dido the Queen of Carthage', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M039/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Dido the Queen of Carthage', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M039/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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