St Erasmus

St Erasmus

Title

St Erasmus

[cda 2012]

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

Medium

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

The small panel depicts St Erasmus with Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg's features. He is dressed in a sumptuous pontifical robe decorated with pearls and precious stones, which bears Albrecht's coat-of-arms, with the coats-of-arms of the dioceses of Mainz, Magdeburg and Halberstadt at the bottom. He stands in front of a

The small panel depicts St Erasmus with Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg's features. He is dressed in a sumptuous pontifical robe decorated with pearls and precious stones, which bears Albrecht's coat-of-arms, with the coats-of-arms of the dioceses of Mainz, Magdeburg and Halberstadt at the bottom. He stands in front of a green velvet curtain held by angels. He holds a crosier in his right hand, and in his left hand he holds the wooden winch with which his intestines were pulled from his body as a reference to his martyrdom.

[see Elke A. Werner, Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder (workshop)
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder (workshop)

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Werner, Exhib. Cat. Halle 2006, 190]

Production date
about 1525

Production date

about 1525

[Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 29 x 10.4 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 29 x 10.4 cm

  • [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Signature / Dating

none

Inscriptions and Labels

Integrated in the nimbus: 'S ERRASMVS'
[cda 2012]

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • Integrated in the nimbus: 'S ERRASMVS'

  • [cda 2012]

Owner
Hohenzoller dynasty, Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia
Repository
Grunewald hunting lodge
Location
Grunewald
CDA ID
DE_SPSG_GKI9369
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SPSG_GKI9369/

Provenance

  • 1902 acquired from a private collection
    [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Exhibitions

Halle 2006, no. 93A
Berlin 2009/10, Cat. No. IV.4

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009 A 208-209 No. IV.4 Fig. IV.4a
EditorStiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg
TitleCranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern. Kirche, Hof und Stadtkultur
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Aschaffenburg 2007 283 No. 24a Fig. p. 283
EditorGerhard Ermischer, Andreas Tacke
TitleCranach im Exil. Aschaffenburg um 1540. Zuflucht - Schatzkammer - Residenz. Ausstellungskatalog Schloss Johannisburg und Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2007
Show Literature
Merkel 2007 A 80 Fig. 3
AuthorKerstin Merkel
TitleDie Konkubinen des Kardinals - Legenden und Fakten
Publicationin Gerhard Ermischer, Andreas Tacke, eds., Cranach im Exil, Exhib. Cat. Aschaffenburg
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2007
Pages77-97
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Halle 2006 190, 194, 195 093A Pl. p. 195
EditorThomas Schauerte
TitleDer Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg. Renaissancefürst und Mäzen. Bd. 1: Katalog
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2006
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Mainz 1990 No. 81
EditorHorst Reber, Berthold Roland
TitleAlbrecht von Brandenburg. Kurfürst, Erzkanzler, Kardinal, 1490 - 1545. Zum 500. Geburtstag eines deutschen Renaissancefürsten
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1990
Show Literature
Börsch-Supan 1964 48 No. 51
AuthorHelmut Börsch-Supan
TitleDie Gemälde im Jagdschloss Grunewald
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1964
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

‚Cardinal Albrecht had himself repeatedly portrayed as the figure of St Erasmus the patron saint of the Brandenburg branch of the Hohenzoller family. For example the Erasmus-Maurice-panel (Munich, Alte Pinakothek) created by Grünewald for the collegial church in Halle (Hallenser Stiftskirche) about 1520-1524. […]

Likewise the pendant picture depicting St Ursula could be a role portrait. The letters O.M.V.I.A on Ursula’s neckband, referring to ‘Omnia vincit amor’ (Love vanquishes all) in Virgil’s 10 Eclogue, support the thesis, that it could be a crypto-portrait of a concubine (Leys Schütz?). Erotic connotations are also suggested by the direct eye contact between the two figures and the alignment of the arrow, which like Cupid’s arrow is pointing at Erasmus/Albrecht. […]

The present presentation of the panels as a diptych is probably not correct. It is most likely that they were originally wing panels from an altarpiece whose central panel is now lost.’

[Elke A. Werner, Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009, 208-209, no. IV.4]

Connected Works

St Ursula
  • St Ursula, about 1525
  • DE_SPSG_GKI9370
  • Painting
  • Hohenzoller dynasty, Georg Friedrich Prince of Prussia
  • St Erasmus, about 1525

Images

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