Let the Children come to me

Let the Children come to me

Title

Let the Children come to me

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]
[Cat. Erfurt 1924, 31, No. 142]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2012]

Alder wood

[Cat. Erfurt 1924, 31, No. 142]

The painting depicts Christ in the centre of a group of women who present their children to be blessed. More mothers with their children enter from the righ and the disciples come running from the left lead by Peter with his hands raised in defense.

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Weimar 2015, 67] [Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 309]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Erfurt 1924, 31, No. 142]

Production dates
after 1537
about 1530

Production dates

after 1537

[Exhib. Cat. Weimar 2015, 67] [Angermuseum, revised 2012]

about 1530

[Cat. Erfurt 1924, 31, No. 142]

about 1537

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 309]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 68 x 119 cm (measured in frame)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 68 x 119 cm (measured in frame)

  • [cda 2012]

  • 70.5 x 120.5 cm

  • [Cat. Erfurt 1924, 31, No. 142]

  • Dimensions including frame: 93 x 143.5 x 7 cm

  • [cda 2012]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia bottom left: winged serpent with closed wings, facing left

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia bottom left: winged serpent with closed wings, facing left

Inscriptions and Labels
  • along the top edge, floating in the sky: 'LASSET DIE KINDLIN ZV MIR KOMEN, VND WERET INEN NICHT, DEN …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • along the top edge, floating in the sky:
  • 'LASSET DIE KINDLIN ZV MIR KOMEN, VND WERET INEN NICHT, DEN SOLCHER IST DAS REICH GOTTES, MARC. X'

Owner
Angermuseum, Erfurt
Repository
Angermuseum, Erfurt
Location
Erfurt
CDA ID
DE_AME_7414
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_AME_7414/

Provenance

  • acquired in 1918 (Auction Lempertz, Cologne)

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Exhibitions

Wittenberg 2007

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Görres 2017 B 51, fn 53
AuthorDaniel Görres
TitleDer Mönch und der Maler - Luther und Cranach als Vermittler eines neuen Glaubens
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/4016/7870/1696/Goerres_2017_Der_Moench_und_der_Maler.pdf
Pages44-51
Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015 202
EditorJulia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper
TitleBild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Gotha, Herzogliches Museum; Kassel, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe]
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2015
Exhib. Cat. Weimar 2015 66, 67 36 Fig. 36
EditorWolfgang Holler, Karin Kolb
TitleCranach in Weimar, [Weimar, Schiller-Museum, 3 April - 14 June 2015]
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication2015
Exhib. Cat. Wittenberg 2007
EditorCranach-Stiftung, Wittenberg
TitleLucas Cranach - Gemälde und Graphiken aus mitteldeutschen Sammlungen, [Cranach-Stiftung Wittenberg]
Place of PublicationWittenberg
Year of Publication2007
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 309, 310 018 (mentioned under) Fig. 138
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
Cat. Erfurt 1924 29 134
Authorn. a.
TitleKatalog des Städtischen Museums zu Erfurt. Mittelalterliche Sammlung. Gemäldegalerie
Place of PublicationErfurt
Year of Publication1924
  • Let the Children come to me, after 1537

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • irr
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail

Technical studies

03. 2012Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium and brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing with some copied lines

- thin lines

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe essential details (and possibly the facial features); no representation of volume

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form; changes (the foot of the child carried on its mother’s back, right)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2013]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

2012Technical Examination

Support

- cradled

- the panel has been thinned; marks from the treatment are visible on the verso

- there is a diagonal knot at the bottom edge

- in the centre there is a knot with a small loss, it is also visible on the recto of the panel (in Christ's robe)

- there is a continuous horizontal join just above the centre of the panel; three more joins are visible; the widths of the planks range between 14-15 cm, therefore it may be assumed that the panel consists of 4 or 5 horizontal planks

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing may be visible through some of the areas of flesh paint

- no incised lines

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Paint Layers and Gilding

- [the paint layers] were not examined

- no gilding

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Framing

- new frame

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Condition Reports

Date2012

  • thinned and cradled

[cda 2012]

Date2012

  • occasional small losses

  • numerous retouches

  • the panel exhibits a slight concave warp both horizontally and vertically (max. gap between the painted surface and the frame: 0.7 cm)

  • the central join is visible (small retouched paint losses), the lower join is less evident

  • the edges are slightly abraded (particularly in the top left corner; the left edge below the centre)

  • net and grid-like appearan the craquelée exhibits both a net and grid pattern (more apparent in the flesh paint; the grid pattern is more evident in the horizontal direction)

  • the surface has an uneven appearance in raking light (probably caused by the woodgrain and the marks from the preparation process), particularly along the right edge, where there are horizontal irregularities

  • in the top left section of the painting there are two dark patches with small paint losses as well as isolated small dots of varnish in areas of the sky and flesh paint and the lighter areas of paint

  • occasional splits in the paint layers, in part extending from the joins, but also independent of the joins

[Angermuseum, revised 2012]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Let the Children come to me', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_AME_7414/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Let the Children come to me', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_AME_7414/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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