Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

Title

Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

[KKL 2022]

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

Medium

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

[Klein 14.05.1992a]

See German text version

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[KKL 2022]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7]
[Ausst.-Kat. Frankfurt 2007, No. 60]

Production date
1529

Production date

1529

[dated, KKL 2022]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 37.5 x 24.3 x 0.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 37.5 x 24.3 x 0.5 cm

  • [KKL 2020]

  • Dimensions with frame: 56.2 x 42.6 x 5 cm

  • [Petra Klier, Hamburg, inventory list from 27.09.1992, documentation file]

  • [Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, Nr. 6/7]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings and the date '1529' with black paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings and the date '1529' with black paint

  • [KKL 2022]

Inscriptions and Labels

'M . L || IN SILENCIO ET SPE ERIT FORTITVDO VESTRA'
[KKL 2022] On the reverse of the …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • 'M . L || IN SILENCIO ET SPE ERIT FORTITVDO VESTRA'

  • [KKL 2022]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • On the reverse of the Luther panel there is an incomplete sheet of parchment with a seal, showing a coat-of-arms with a crest and the monogramm 'MB' - as well as the inscription: 'Gleich wie zu Zeiten deß Königs JOSIAE das Gesetzbuch

  • [wi]derfunden Also [ist auch?] zu Zeiten HERTZOG JOHANN

  • [FRI]DERICHEN durch Herrn D. MARTINUM LUTHE =

  • REM die HEILIGE B[IBEL?] wiederumb an Tag kommen.

  • ANNO MDCXIIII.'

  • [Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Owner
Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Stadtgemeinde
Repository
Kunstsammlungen Boettcherstraße, Bremen
Location
Bremen
CDA ID
DE_KBSB_B59
FR (1978) Nr.
FR312-313C
KKL-No
IV.M14a, Part of portait group IV
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/

Provenance

  • acquired by Ludwig Roselius in September 1928 at Arthur Hauth, Düsseldorf, through the art dealer Johannes Hinrichsen, Berlin (invoice from 19.9.1928)
  • 1988 acquired by the borough (Stadtgemeinde) of Bremen
    [Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7]

Exhibitions

  • Dresden 1899, No. 43
  • Bremen 2009, No. 6/7

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 36, 142 under no. 2
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
Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009 6
EditorRainer Stamm
TitleLucas Cranach der Schnellste
Place of PublicationBremen
Year of Publication2009
Cat. Bremen 2003 69-75 15
AuthorRainer Stamm
TitleDie Gemäldesammlung des Roselius-Haus, Kunstsammlungen Boettcherstraße
Place of PublicationBremen
Year of Publication2003
Klein 1994 A 199, 200 Tabs. 8, 10
AuthorPeter Klein
TitleLucas Cranach und seine Werkstatt. Holzarten und dendrochronologische Analyse
Publicationin Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds.,Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Pages194-200
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 312-313C
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Müller Hofstede 1969
AuthorJulius Müller Hofstede
TitleGutachten vom 12.3.1969, Werkakte
Year of Publication1969
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 251B
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Winkler, Plambeck 1930 23
AuthorFriedrich Horst Winkler, Otto Plambeck
TitleDas Roseliushaus in Bremen. Führer und Plan
SeriesSchriften der Böttcherstraße in Bremen
Volume3
Place of PublicationBremen
Year of Publication1930
Flechsig 1900 A 261-262, 306
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899 41-42 043
EditorKarl Woermann
TitleDeutsche Kunstausstellung Dresden 1899. Abteilung Cranach-Ausstellung. Wissenschaftliches Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Werke
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1899
Link http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002A2400000000

Research History / Discussion

'In the documentation file there is an evaluation by Max J. Friedländers from 30 September 1925: 'This Cranach portrait of Luther together with the pendant, the portrait of Mrs Luther bear original signatures, are dated 1529 and are characteristic works by the master.

[Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7]

  • Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right, 1529

Images

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Technical studies

Date2018 - 2021

Support

See German version

14.05.1992Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species: beech wood

Youngest annual ring: 1521

[Klein Report, 114.05.1992]

  • analysed by Peter Klein

1981 - 1992Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

- a single beech wood panel

175 annual rings. After comparison with the standard chronology the annual ring curve could be dated between the years 1521 and 1547. The panel came from the same tree as the panel used for Cranach's Portrait of Katharina von Bora (Kunstsammlungen Böttcherstraße, Inv. B60), from which the earliest annual ring (from 128) is dated 1524.

Taking a minimal seasoning period of two years into consideration the painting could not have been created before 1526. Furthermore the panels used for the paintings 'Cardinal Albrecht as St Jerome', Gemäldegalerie Berlin, DE_smbGG_589_FR184; 'Apollo and Diana', Gemäldegalerie Berlin, DE_smbGG_564_FR271 and 'The Judgement of Paris', Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, DE_SKK_0109_FR255; are all from the same tree

[Dr. Peter Klein 1981, Report, 3.11.1981; Dr. Peter Klein 1992, Report, Documentation file]

Framing

old red tortoise-shell frame, glazed

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Condition Reports

Date2018 - 2021

See German version

  • examined by Wibke Ottweiler

Date2018 - 2021

See German version

  • examined by Wibke Ottweiler

Date04.02.2013 - 2013

  • the panel is slightly warped

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Conservation History

Date2006

  • 2006: Atelier Hoffmann, Bremen: conservation treatment on the frame

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

  • conservation treatment by Atelier Hoffmann

Date1980

  • 1980: Renate Kant, Hamburg: conservation treatment

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

  • conservation treatment by Renate Kant

Versions

Support made from the same tree

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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