Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

Title

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

[CDA 2011]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Klein, Report 2013]
[Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, revised 2011]
[Exhib. Cat. Munich 2011, 132, No. 713B]

A half-length portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, one of a pair, signed and dated. The sitter, like Luther in the pendant portrait, is depicted wearing an academic gown against a blue background, but unlike his counterpart he faces left. It complies with the Melanchthon portrait type from the early 1530s.

[Karin

A half-length portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, one of a pair, signed and dated. The sitter, like Luther in the pendant portrait, is depicted wearing an academic gown against a blue background, but unlike his counterpart he faces left. It complies with the Melanchthon portrait type from the early 1530s.

[Karin Geiger, Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, 2011]

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, revised 2011]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2011]
[Germann-Bauer, Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 1992, 249]

Production date
1532

Production date

1532

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 19.1 x 15.3 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 19.1 x 15.3 cm

  • [Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, revised 2011]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia above the left shoulder: winged serpent with elevated wings, dated above '1532'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia above the left shoulder: winged serpent with elevated wings, dated above '1532'

  • [Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, revised 2011]

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse of the panel: - top, centre:
Small label: '2434-a'

  • bottom, centre:
    Old inventory label, written on this in black …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - top, centre:

  • Small label: '2434-a'

    • bottom, centre:

  • Old inventory label, written on this in black ink: '1215'

    • centre, right:

  • New inventory label: '713' and 'neu 1135b/ L. Cranach d. Ä./ Melanchthon'.

  • [Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, revised 2011]

Owner
Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Repository
Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg
Location
Regensburg
CDA ID
DE_BStGS-HMR_713B
FR (1978) Nr.
FR314-315B
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_BStGS-HMR_713B/

Connected Works

Portrait of Martin Luther
  • Portrait of Martin Luther, 1532
  • DE_BStGS-HMR_713A
  • Painting
  • Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Provenance

Loan from the Bayerischen Staatsgemäldesammlungen

  • donated to the Neupfarrkirche in Regensburg in 1706 by von Steininger, councillor and director of the Almry.
  • in 1810 given as a gift to the King by the city council together with the portrait of Luther

[Germann-Bauer, Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 1992, 249]

Exhibitions

Regensburg 1992, No. 29
Munich 2011, No. 7

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015 154 under No. 34
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
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Munich 2011 60-61, 132 Nos. 7, 713B Fig. p. 61
AuthorMartin Schawe
EditorBayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
TitleCranach in Bayern
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2011
Show Literature
Schuchardt 2004
AuthorGünter Schuchardt
TitleLuther seitenrichtig - Luther seitenverkehrt? Die Bildnisse im Leben und im Tod - Werkstattprinzip und Werkstattprivileg Cranachs und seiner Mitarbeiter
Volume2003
JournalWartburg-Jahrbuch
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2004
Pages9-30
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Regensburg 1992 249 No. 29
AuthorMartin Angerer
Title450 Jahre evangelische Kirche in Regensburg: 1542-1992
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1992
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 131 No. 315B
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
  • Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, 1532

Images

Compare images
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Documents

Technical studies

24.11.2013Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

Identification of wood species: beech wood

Youngest annual ring: 1522

  • analysed by Peter Klein

2011Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • Stereomicroscopy

Support

- Hardwood, beech wood (rays)

- 3mm thick

Reverse:

- brownish black coating (rebate held in reserve)

Ground and Imprimatura

Ground:

- thin, light, almost white chalk ground, very smooth and fine.

- applied to the panel and extending partially over the edges

- areas held in reserve with circular indentations in the centre at the edge of the panel and on the corners (brackets).

Incised lines:

- deep incised lines in the ground running c. 5-7 mm parallel to edge mark the size of the panel

Underdrawing

The following types of underdrawing can be discerned:

a) black pounced dots in the face

b) soft, black lines (pen?), link the ponced dots

c) black lines applied with a brush: contours

Pentimenti:

- Hands (thumb) and shoulder

Paint Layers and Gilding

Paint layers:

- mixed media

- the paint application commenced with a monochrome pink undermodelling in the face, an ochre base tone for the hair and blue paint dabbed on for the background. Subsequently the grey base tone of the academic gown , the shadows, the contours and the modulating glazes on the lips, hair etc. were applied. The blue and black base tones extend beyond the incised lines. The paint application is thin, the brushwork is barely perceptible. The grey/black paint exhibits single rather coarse pigment particles otherwise the paint application is smooth and homogenous.

Varnish:

- thin, glossy and slightly yellowed

- under the rebate of the frame the varnish lies directly over the ground and is extremely yellow.

Framing

- new (BStGS)

[Annette Kurella, Historisches Museum der Stadt Regensburg, revised 2011]

  • written by Annette Kurella

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/DE_BStGS-HMR_713B/ (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/DE_BStGS-HMR_713B/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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