Allegory of Faith

Allegory of Faith

Titles

Allegory of Faith

[CDA 2010]

Portrait of a Noble Woman

Old title

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]
[Klein report, 03.03.2016]

Faith is shown as a woman, who holds an open book in her right hand, while the left hand is raised to instruct.

[Herrschaft, cda 2015]

Attributions
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Master HB (with a griffin's head)

Attributions

Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach der Ältere (Schule)
[Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, revised 2010]

Master HB (with a griffin's head)

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Production dates
1509
about 1540 - 1550

Production dates

1509

[dated]

about 1540 - 1550

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 51 x 37 x 1.2 cm (plus 0.5 cm, hidden behind the grooved frame)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 51 x 37 x 1.2 cm (plus 0.5 cm, hidden behind the grooved frame)

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the bottom right: winged serpent with dropped wings and dated '1509'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the bottom right: winged serpent with dropped wings and dated '1509'

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • two lines either side of the head: 'COGNICIONE CHRISTI DON// TA SVNT NOBIS OMNIA/ DIVINE VIRTVTV/ DONTA [?]/ …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • two lines either side of the head:

  • 'COGNICIONE CHRISTI DON// TA SVNT NOBIS OMNIA/ DIVINE VIRTVTV/ DONTA [?]/ 2. PET[RUS]'

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: label HKA 'Nr. 37 Schule Cranach Fürstl. Dame'

  • [Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Owner
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M058
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M058/

Provenance

  • 1826 Gotha, Art Cabinet, 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, 110]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 110, 111, 113-116 20 Pl. p. 113, Fig. 3
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
Rathgeber 1835 102f.
AuthorGeorg Rathgeber
TitleBeschreibung der Herzoglichen Gemälde-Galerie zu Gotha
Place of PublicationGotha
Year of Publication1835
Link https://dhb.thulb.uni-jena.de/receive/ufb_cbu_00011801
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Looks like 'Master H B with Griffon's Head'

[comment by cda user Paul Jeromack, 28 Jan. 2012]

Connected Works

Allegory of Love
  • Allegory of Love, 1509
  • DE_KSVC_M057
  • Painting
  • Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
  • Allegory of Faith, 1509

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall

Technical studies

2018Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography

Support

- limewood

- four vertically aligned boards with butt joints. Widths of the boards on the reverse from the right: board I: 8.5 cm; board II: 7.5 cm; board III: 10.5 cm; boark IV: 10.5 cm

- board II, probably original thickness, exhibits the characteristic toolmarks of a blockplane

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

Underdrawing

- executed in a fluid medium with a brush, deviates considerably from the final painted version

Paint Layers and Gilding

- remnants of a overpainted inscription. This Latin inscription was inserted either side of the face in capital letters. The lines were scored. The letters were then scratched into the ground and the background was painted black. a binding medium was applied in the depression and gold leaf was then applied. At the right-hand side the preparation for the inscription was not precise enough as the shapes of the letters are unclear. Evidently the scribe could not fit the text in the available space. At the right-hand side the text is abbreviated with illegible characters and was uniformly overpainted shortly after. It is not mentioned in the brief description of the paintings in the handwritten inventory of the Picture Gallery, Friedenstein castle in Gotha. It can be reconstructed as follows: 'COGNICIONE CHRISTI DONATA SVNT NOBIS OMNIA DIVINE VIRTUTIS DONA/ 2 PET [RUS]'. It is a free interpretation of the beginning of St Peter's 2nd letter (2 Peter 2-3) [...]

Framing

- probably fixed in the original grooved frame

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110-116]

03.03.2016Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species: limewood

[Klein report, 03.03.2016]

  • analysed by Peter Klein

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

  • the reverse exhibits toolmarks where the panel has been thinned. At the centre of one plank plane or saw marks are evident perpendicular to the grain. The join between planks III and IV has been covered with a paper strip. The entire reverse was stained a reddish-brown tone.

Paint layers:

  • various tiny, point retouches. The letters of the inscription are not raised, and visible only as glossy areas in the varnish. The insignia is located beneath a thick layer of varnish and had evidently been overlooked during previous intervention.

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

Conservation History

Date2017

conservation treatment (inscription)

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

  • conservation treatment by Wolfgang Schwahn

Date2014

Conservation treatment (with a detailed treatment report)

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

  • conservation treatment by Petra Zenkel-Schirmer

Date1985

Conservation treatment (with a detailed condition report)

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 110]

  • conservation treatment by Anita Krohmer

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Allegory of Faith', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M058/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Allegory of Faith', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M058/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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