Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

Title

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

[Crocker Art Museum, revised 2013]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Crocker Art Museum, revised 2013]

Philipp Melanchthon is depicted as a half-length figure facing left. He looks in this direction. He holds as book in both hands. He wears a fur-trimmed cloak.

The background is light and a shadow is indicatd on the right side of the painting.

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Younger (and Workshop)
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Younger (and Workshop)

[cda 2014]

Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

'Cranach Schule'
[Exhib. Cat. Dresden 2006, 538]

Production date
1580

Production date

1580

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support:

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support:

  • 63.7 x 47.2 cm

  • [Exhib. Cat. Dresden 2006, 538]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia right edge above Melanchthon's shoulder: Inscribed with a serpent and dated '1580'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia right edge above Melanchthon's shoulder: Inscribed with a serpent and dated '1580'

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse of the panel:
seal of the royal collection in Dresden, Germany (no longer preserved)
[Crocker Art Museum, …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel:

  • seal of the royal collection in Dresden, Germany (no longer preserved)

  • [Crocker Art Museum, revised 2013]

Owner
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
Repository
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento
Location
Sacramento
CDA ID
US_CAMS_1872-59
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/US_CAMS_1872-59/

Provenance

  • 1621 entered the Dresden Kunstkammer from the estate of the court architect Giovanni Maria Nosseni
  • Inventory 1858, No. 137
  • catalogue works for auction 1860, No. 77
  • whereabouts unknown
    [Exhib. Cat. Dresden 2006, 538]
  • auctione for 14 taler on the 16th of April 1860
    [Exhib. Cat. Dresden 2006, 569]
  • the painting was part of the original collection, purchased in Europe in 1869-71 by E. B. Crocker
    [Crocker Art Museum, revised 2013]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 538, 569
EditorHarald Marx, Karin Kolb, Ingrid Mössinger
TitleCranach Anlässlich der Ausstellung Cranach vom 13. November 2005 bis 12. März 2006 in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Eine Ausstellung in Kooperation mit der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

A portrait of Melanchthon in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig, created in 1579, is stylistically very similar to the present painting. A portrait of Martin Luther serves as a pendant to the painting in Leipzig and the same may be asumed of this painting. The pendant could be the painting 'Martin Luther depicted with hands', which also entered the Dresden Kunstkammer in 1621 from the estate of Giovanni M. Nosseni (Inventory 1858, No. 405; Auction Catalogue 1860, No. 78).

[Exhib. Cat. Dresden 2006, 537]

This painting is slightly larger in format (85 x 63.7 cm) in comparison with the portrait of Melanchthon, but the truncated hands and date suggest that the portrait of Melanchthon may have been cropped.

[Herrschaft, cda 2013]

  • Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, 1580

Images

Compare images
  • overall

Conservation History

Date - 1951

Conservation performed by Charles Muskavitch, completed in 1951; seal removed (?), as in 1937, before conservation, there was a seal on the back

[Crocker Art Museum, revised 2013]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_CAMS_1872-59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_CAMS_1872-59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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