CDA ID / Inventory Number | UK_NGL_6511-2 |
Persistent Link | https://lucascranach.org/UK_NGL_6511-2 |
FR (1978) No. | FR015 |
Altarpiece with the Martyrdom of St Catherine: Saints Christina and Ottilia [right wing, verso] | [The National Gallery, revised 2011] |
Lucas Cranach the Elder | [The National Gallery, revised 2011] |
1506 | [central panel dated] |
Owner | The National Gallery, London |
Repository | The National Gallery, London |
Location | London |
Reference on Page | Catalogue Number | Figure/Plate | |
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 | 380, 381, 385 | 029 (under) | |
Marx 2005 | 99 | Figs. 15, 16 | |
Kolb 2005 C | 533 | ||
Exhib. Cat. Eisenach 1998 | 113 | No. 13.2 | Figs. 13.2a-c |
Sandner 1998 B | 87 | ||
Campbell et al. 1997 | |||
Marx 1996 A | |||
Erichsen 1994 B | 81 | ||
NGL 1988 | 32-34 | ||
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 | 69 | No. 15 | Fig. 15 |
Parris 1967 | 17 | ||
Kugler 1853 | 494 | ||
Kugler 1837 B | 128 | ||
For further discussion of this panel see: [Susan Foister, 'Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop, Saints Genevieve and Apollonia and Saints Christina and Ottilia (The St Catherine Altarpiece: Reverses of Shutters)' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800', London: forthcoming. www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-and-workshop-saints-genevieve-and-apollonia-christina-and-ottilia] |
Some scholars have suggested that Cranach was assisted in the making of the altarpiece, and that the National Gallery panels might be the work of assistants.[1] Heydenreich has noted adjustments to Saint Margaret's headdress and argued that this represents Cranach himself correcting the work of an assistant.[2] Cranach employed workshop assistants at the time of the painting of 'The St Catherine altarpiece': in 1505 he paid a 'Christoph Maler' from Munich, as well as an unnamed journeyman.[3] Studies of the techniques of Cranach's paintings have suggested that on occasion the painting of the whole of the exteriors of the shutters of large altarpieces may have been delegated to assistants, and that there are also instances of collaboration on single panels.[4] Christoph may well have assisted in the painting of the National Gallery panels. Schade observed a disparity in quality between the left and right faces of the shutters.[5] There is certainly some compositional disparity: saints Genevieve and Apollonia are placed further away from the viewer and hence higher up the panel than Saints Christina and Ottilia; the feet of the former pair of saints are visible but not those of the latter.[6] The figures of Saints Christina and Ottilia are perhaps painted with slightly more vigour and refinement than Saints Genevieve and Apollonia, although the underdrawing of all four heads is of equally high quality and is probably by Cranach himself. It is conceivable that the shutter with Saints Christina and Ottilia received more attention from Cranach himself than the other, but the differences in quality are not great. The painting of both National Gallery panels can be plausibly attributed to Cranach himself with workshop assistance. [1] [Schade 1974, 382, fn 266]; [Marx 1996 A, 33] and further comments on the unusally elongated figures and their placing, ibid., p. 34. [2] [Heydenreich 2007 A, 292–3, 308–9]. [3] Ibid. p. 310 and p. 406, document no. 5, September 1505. [4] [Heydenreich 2007 A, 289–98]. [5] [Schade 1974, 382, fn 266]; also Schade, oral communication at the National Gallery, confirming his opinion. [6] [Marx 1996 A, 34]; [Kolb, Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 386–7] [Susan Foister, 'Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop, Saints Genevieve and Apollonia and Saints Christina and Ottilia (The St Catherine Altarpiece: Reverses of Shutters)' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800', London: forthcoming. www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-and-workshop-saints-genevieve-and-apollonia-christina-and-ottilia] |