Christ the Saviour

Christ the Saviour

Title

Christ the Saviour

[cda 2014]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137]

Pine wood

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 78]
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, No. 71]

Christ stands larger than life-sized on a narrow strip of ground against a light blue background. His right hand is raised in an attitude of blessing and he holds a globe crowned with a cross in his left hand. A further coat falls off his shoulders providing a powerful elaboration

Christ stands larger than life-sized on a narrow strip of ground against a light blue background. His right hand is raised in an attitude of blessing and he holds a globe crowned with a cross in his left hand. A further coat falls off his shoulders providing a powerful elaboration to animate the broad gold braid. The insides of the deep sleeves stand out against the mass of drapery blazing yellowish red. The stiff robe of gold and silk defines the figure with simple outlines.

The feet indicate a precarious stance similar to the figure of Judas Thaddaeus in Cranach's series of woodcuts of the apostles. The central axis is left by a slight inclination of the head. The low-angle view of the face, anticipated given the size of the figure, is thus countered. The enormous figure appears almost to sway.

By enlarging all forms the resulting head height measures 32.5 cm and the face appears unusually broad. Striking are the eye openings, which make the face appear frozen. However the eyes are painted in Cranach's usual technique, remote from the crudity of some workshop paintings. The beard is also executed with subtlety. Apart from these barely perceptible gems single sections of the braid with its pearls and precious stones as well as the freely painted ornamentation are to be admired. The formation of the halo around the head is unusual and may be the result of later reworking. However there is a woodcut by Cranach illustrating a halo of a similar shape.

[Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137, 139]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Domstift Naumburg, revised 2014]
[Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137]

Production date
about 1515 - 1516

Production date

about 1515 - 1516

[Domstift Naumburg, revised 2014]
[Schade, Kunde 2006, 137]
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 78]
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, No. 71]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 224 x 110 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 224 x 110 cm

  • [Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137]

  • 228 x 110 cm

  • [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 78]

  • [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, No. 71]

Owner
Vereinigte Domstifter zu Merseburg und Naumburg und des Kollegiatstifts Zeitz
Repository
Domstift Naumburg
Location
Naumburg
CDA ID
DE_DSN_NONE-DSN003
FR (1978) Nr.
FR078
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSN_NONE-DSN003/

Provenance

  • Zeitz, Michaeliskirche (formerly Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral, Zeitz)
  • then in the church of St Nikolai, Zeitz

[Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137]

Exhibitions

  • Dresden 1899, No. 112

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Heydenreich 2007 B 38
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
Title"... dass Du mit wunderbarer Schnelligkeit malest". Virtuosität und Effizienz in der künstlerischen Praxis Lucas Cranachs d. Ä.
Publicationin Bodo Brinkmann, ed., Cranach der Ältere, Exhib. Cat. FrankfurtA
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Pages29-47
Show Literature
Kunde 2006 137-139 No. 21
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. Kronach 1994 362
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 No. 78
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 71
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 B Plate 15
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
Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899 112
EditorKarl Woermann
TitleDeutsche Kunstausstellung Dresden 1899. Abteilung Cranach-Ausstellung. Wissenschaftliches Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Werke
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1899
Link http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002A2400000000
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The large format painting is singular in the artist’s oeuvre, its sheer dimensions making it barely comparable with other works by Cranach. The panel was created for the cathedral in Zeitz. Possible commissioners are Bishop Johannes III. of Schönberg (1492 -1517) and Philipp of Wittelsbach (1517 -1541). […]

The image of the Saviour was it seems particularly popular in Zeitz and Naumburg, but this requires a specific study. The motif of the Saviour requires a special explanation. It was widespread in 15th century Venice. Its background leads us to the Flanders, where both van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden created bust images. Artists in Venice who painted the subject are Antonello da Messina, Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Previtali (two paintings in London), Cima da Conegliano and Jacopo de’Barbari, who as is well known worked alongside Cranach in Wittenberg.

In Cranach’s work it can be compared with the series of woodcuts ‚Heiland mit den Aposteln’. There is no comparable example among larger paintings with the distinction like here between the body and the coat, between the standing and the free leg and between the angled, raised right hand and the lower left hand. Even the well resolved detail of the (frontally positioned) cross on the globe in the woodcut has been twisted to create an alarming perspective. The reason for such severe alterations is presumably that all other gestures and signs in the painting were subdued for the sake of a direct relationship with the viewer. That would explain the hand sinking in blessing and the inclusion of the globe in the cumbersome outline. It stands to reason that one might reflect the influence of formulations like those Nikolaus von Cues, and perhaps others before him, may have committed to paper, that is to say: 'You see me, but my eyes follow you continuously to every location of your stay'. (Ihr seht mich, aber meine Augen verfolgen Euch immerwährend zu jedem Ort Eures Aufenthaltes.)

[Schade, in Kunde 2006, 137]

  • Christ the Saviour, about 1515 - 1516

Images

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  • overall
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  • detail
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Technical studies

03. 2015Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- relatively freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

Function:

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

Deviations:

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

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

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

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

Condition Reports

Date1932

The guilding has been crudely renewed.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, No. 71]

Conservation History

Date2005 - 2006

  • removal of surface dirt

  • consolidation of the paint layers

  • regeneration of the existing varnish

  • losses in the paint layers were filled

  • reintegration of the discoloured retouches and losses

  • a backboard was attached to the reverse

In: [Kunde 2006, 137]

  • conservation treatment by Ellen Hanspach

Date1865

Conservation treatment:

The panel was treated in 1865 by Christian Xeller and his assistant Stübbe in Berlin. The following treatment could be reconstructed after a technical examination in 2005/06: The panel was trimmed along the right edge; a protective coating of numerous layers was applied to the reverse of the panel; the background and the floor were overpainted; the halo was reguilded. The left outline of the coat was shifted outwards by c. 1 cm; the damaged right side of the coat was extensively overpainted; a red glaze on the red coat was thinned; there are numerous retouches scattered throughout; two varnish layers were removed.

[Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden, 2005/06, Ellen Hanspach, final project supervised by Professor Schiessl]

  • conservation treatment by Christian Xeller
  • conservation treatment by Stübbe

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Christ the Saviour', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSN_NONE-DSN003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Christ the Saviour', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_DSN_NONE-DSN003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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