Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso]

Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso]

Title

Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso]

[cda 2015]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2015]

Recto: full-length depiction of St George with a sword and a lance, wearing flamboyant armour and facing left against a black background. The defeated dragon crouches in front of the saint.

Verso: full-length depiction of St Lawrence, facing left against the backdrop of a landscape. The saint holds a grid

Recto: full-length depiction of St George with a sword and a lance, wearing flamboyant armour and facing left against a black background. The defeated dragon crouches in front of the saint.

Verso: full-length depiction of St Lawrence, facing left against the backdrop of a landscape. The saint holds a grid as a symbol of his martyrdom as well as an open book that he shows to the viewer.

[Görres, cda 2015]

Attributions
Master of the Pflock Altarpiece
Master of the Merseburg Altarpieces of the Virgin and St Catherine

Attributions

Master of the Pflock Altarpiece

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. Sup1A]

Master of the Merseburg Altarpieces of the Virgin and St Catherine

[Cat. Merseburg 2006, 66-67]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 399]

Production date
about 1515

Production date

about 1515

[Cat. Merseburg 2006, 66-67] [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 399]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 74 x 25 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 74 x 25 cm

  • [Kunde 2006, 184-186]

Signature / Dating

none

Owner
Vereinigte Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz
Repository
Domstift Merseburg
Location
Merseburg
CDA ID
DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002c
FR (1978) Nr.
FRSup001A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002c/

Overall view of the piece
Connected Works

Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [central panel]: Betrothal of St Catherine
  • Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [central panel]: Betrothal of St Catherine, about 1515
  • DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002a
  • Painting
  • Vereinigte Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz
Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [left wing]: St Jerome [recto]; St John Baptist [verso]
  • Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [left wing]: St Jerome [recto]; St John Baptist [verso], about 1515
  • DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002b
  • Painting
  • Vereinigte Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 56, 57 under no. 7 Fig. 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
Show Literature
Cat. Merseburg 2006 66-67
AuthorHolger Kunde, Markus Hörsch
EditorVereinigte Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz
TitleDas Merseburger Kapitelhaus. Domschatz, Domstiftarchiv und Domstiftsbibliothek
SeriesKleine Schriften der Vereinigten Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatenstifts Zeitz
Volume4
Place of PublicationPetersberg
Year of Publication2006
Show Literature
Kunde 2006 184-186 III.47
AuthorHolger Kunde
TitleDer Naumburger Domschatz. Sakrale Kostbarkeiten im Domschatzgewölbe
SeriesKleine Schriften der Vereinigten Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz
Volume3
Place of PublicationHaldensleben
Year of Publication2006
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 399, 400 under No. 31 Figs. 180, 182
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
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 Sup1A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Deckert 1935 32
AuthorHermann Deckert
TitleDer Dom zu Merseburg und seine Kunstdenkmäler
Place of PublicationBurg near Merseburg
Year of Publication1935
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 353a
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
Show Literature
Flechsig 1900 A 99-100, 101, 172, 287
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Show Literature
Flechsig 1900 B 10
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleTafelbilder Lucas Cranachs d. Ä. und seiner Werkstatt
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/flechsig1900tafeln
Show Literature
Otte 1840 106-108
AuthorHeinrich Otte
TitleErläuterungen über einige Kunstdenkmäler im Dom zu Merseburg
JournalNeue Mitteilungen aus dem Gebiet historisch-antiquarischer Forschung
Issue5/1
Year of Publication1840
Pages106-108
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Flechsig 1900 A, 99 ] refers to a description from the year 1840 according to which three coats-of-arms were mounted above the triptych. The central and larger coat-of-arms applied to the diocese of Naumburg and the family von Schönberg, the smaller flanking coats-of-arms also applied to the house of von Schönberg as well as the Pflug family. Flechsig therefore assumed that the triptych was a donation by the Bishop Johannes von Naumburg, son of Heinrich von Schönberg and Ilse Pflug, who died on the 26th of September 1517. Thus he defines 1517 as the terminus ante quem for dating the retable, while stylistically he places it about 1514.

[Görres, cda 2015]

  • Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso], about 1515

Images

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Technical studies

03. 2015Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr
  • irr

Underdrawing

St George [recto]

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- relatively freehand underdrawing

- thin lines; very short in the face

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and define the facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define forms; small changes (in the face)

St Lawrence [verso]

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- relatively economic and freehand underdrawing

- thin to broader lines; these are very short in the face and longer in the robe

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and define the facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define forms; almost no changes

IINTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2015]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso]', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002c/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Merseburg Triptych with the Betrothal of St Catherine [right wing]: St George [recto], St Lawrence [verso]', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSM_NONE-DSM002c/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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