Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent

Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent

Titles

Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent

[cda 2013]

Altarpiece of the Holy Cross

[cda 2013]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2013]

Top field: Crucifixion:

St John, supporting the Virgin with his arms, stands at the foot of the good thief's cross, while Mary Cleophae comforts her. Mary Magdalene kneels below the cross and embraces it. In the background there is an man in armour with a jug and a sponge, two captains

Top field: Crucifixion:

St John, supporting the Virgin with his arms, stands at the foot of the good thief's cross, while Mary Cleophae comforts her. Mary Magdalene kneels below the cross and embraces it. In the background there is an man in armour with a jug and a sponge, two captains on horseback, a soldier, a pharisee and a scribe.

[Gurlitt 1920, 217]

Lower field, left: the sacrifice of Isaac

Isaac kneels on a pyre in an attitude of prayer, wearing a white robe. An angel floats down from the clouds above and snatches the sword from Abraham. In the background on the right there is a ram in the bushes. In the foreground on the left a kneeling cleric is shown as a half-length figure, probably the donor [...].

[Gurlitt 1920, 217]

Lower field, right: Raising the brazen serpent

Figures dying from a snake bite lie at the foot of the cross on the banks of a river. On the right a group of men and women kneel in an attitude of prayer. In the background on the right there is a castle on a rocky outcrop.

[Gurlitt 1920, 217]

Attribution
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder (Simon Franck und Mitarbeiter)

Attribution

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder (Simon Franck und Mitarbeiter)

[Sandner, cda 2013]

Production dates
about 1518 - 1520
1526

Production dates

about 1518 - 1520

[Sandner, cda 2013]

1526

[Ursinius 1872, 60] [Gurlitt 1920, 217]

Dimensions
Dimensions of painted surface: 172 x 121.3 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 172 x 121.3 cm

  • [cda 2013]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels
  • at the top of the cross:
    'INRI'

[cda 2013]

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • at the top of the cross:

  • 'INRI'

  • [cda 2013]

Owner
Hochstift Meißen
Repository
Dom zu Meißen
Location
Meissen
CDA ID
DE_DM_NONE-DM004C
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DM_NONE-DM004C/

Connected Works

Altarpiece of the Laity [right wing]: Vision of Constantine, entry in imperial robe, entry in penitential robe [recto], Mother of Sorrows [verso]
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [right wing]: Vision of Constantine, entry in imperial robe, entry in penitential robe [recto], Mother of Sorrows [verso], about 1518 - 1520
  • DE_DM_NONE-DM004D
  • Painting
  • Hochstift Meißen
Altarpiece of the Laity [right fixed wing]: lion and bull as symbols of the evangelists
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [right fixed wing]: lion and bull as symbols of the evangelists, about 1518 - 1520
  • DE_DM_NONE-DM004E
  • Painting
  • Hochstift Meißen
Altarpiece of the Laity [predella]: Holy Mass and Purgatory
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [predella]: Holy Mass and Purgatory, about 1518 - 1520
  • DE_DM_NONE-DM004F
  • Painting
  • Hochstift Meißen
Altarpiece of the Laity [left wing]: discovery, miraculous healing and transport of the Holy Cross [recto], Man of Sorrows [verso]
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [left wing]: discovery, miraculous healing and transport of the Holy Cross [recto], Man of Sorrows [verso], about 1518 - 1520
  • DE_DM_NONE-DM004B
  • Painting
  • Hochstift Meißen
Altarpiece of the Laity [left fixed wing]: eagle and angel as symbols of the evangelists
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [left fixed wing]: eagle and angel as symbols of the evangelists, about 1518 - 1520
  • DE_DM_NONE-DM004A
  • Painting
  • Hochstift Meißen

Provenance

  • since its creation the retable has been on the altar in front of the rood screen
    [cda 2013]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Sandner 2021 78
AuthorIngo Sandner
TitleDie Werkstattpraxis Lucas Cranach des Älteren
Publicationin Dagmar Täube, ed., Lucas Cranach der Ältere und Hans Kemmer. Meistermaler zwischen Renaissance und Reformation [Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2021
Pages71-81
Show Literature
Sandner 2015 B
AuthorIngo Sandner
TitleDer Laienaltar vor dem Lettner im Dom zu Meißen. Ein Retabel aus Cranachs Werkstatt
JournalMonumenta Misnensia. Jahrbuch für Dom und Albrechtsburg zu Meißen
Issue12 (2015/2016)
Year of Publication2015
Pages42-53
Show Literature
Sandner, Heydenreich, Smith-Contini 2015 131, Fn. 11, 134, Fn. 45
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich, Ingo Sandner, Helen Smith-Contini
TitleVeränderungen beim Unterzeichnen in Cranachs Werkstatt und die Arbeitsweise von Sohn Lucas
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/5215/6337/7366/Heydenreich_Sandner_Smith-Contini_2015_-_Unterzeichnung.pdf
Pages128-141
Show Literature
Donath 1998 21, 23
AuthorMatthias Donath
TitleDie Altäre im Meißner Dom im Zeitraum von 1250 bis 1400
JournalEcclesia Misnensis. Jahrbuch des Dombauvereins Meißen
Year of Publication1998
Pages19-46
Show Literature
Gurlitt 1920 216-224
AuthorCornelius Gurlitt
TitleBeschreibende Darstellung der älteren Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler des Königreichs Sachsen. Bd. 40: Meißen (Burgberg)
Volume40
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1920
Link http://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/1961/1/cache.off?tx_dlf[double]=1&cHash=4af554dde25651ab2e16cc219f3c59f5
Show Literature
Rüling 1839 145-146
AuthorJohann Ludwig Rüling
TitleGeschichte der Reformation zu Meißen im Jahre 1539 und den folgenden Jahren
Place of PublicationMeißen
Year of Publication1839
Link v=onepage&q&f=false
Show Literature
Ursinius 1782 60
AuthorJohann Friedrich Ursinius
TitleDie Geschichte der Domkirche zu Meissen, aus ihren Grabmälern historisch und diplomatisch erläutert
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1782
Link http://www.mdz-nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10005866-9
Show Literature
  • Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent, about 1518 - 1520

Images

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Technical studies

07. 2013Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium and brush

Type/Ductus:

- detailed and freehand underdrawing

- thin to broad lines with a brush

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe the essential details and the facial features; representation of volume (hatching-strokes)

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form; changes (e.g. the scull in the foreground; the sword of the man on the left beside the cross was not carried out in the painted version, similarly the castle at the bottom left)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- assistant in the Cranach workshop, Simon Franck?

Comment:

- the figure at the bottom right is not present in the underdrawing and was added at a later stage of the creative process

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2013]

  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Conservation History

Date1911

Restored by the painter Jantsch in the workshops of the Kommission zur Erhaltung der Kunstdenkmäler

[Gurlitt 1920, 224]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DM_NONE-DM004C/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Altarpiece of the Laity [central panel]: Crucifixion, The Sacrifice of Isaac,The Brazen Serpent', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DM_NONE-DM004C/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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