Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity

Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity

Title

Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity

[cda 2015]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2015]

The image is dominated by the Holy Trinity represented in a gloriole of clouds in the upper half of the picture. God the Father presents the viewer with a frontal view of his son as the Man of Sorrows. The dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit hovers with outspread wings beneath.

The image is dominated by the Holy Trinity represented in a gloriole of clouds in the upper half of the picture. God the Father presents the viewer with a frontal view of his son as the Man of Sorrows. The dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit hovers with outspread wings beneath. Christ holds rods and a whip as a sign of the Passion, further tools of martyrdom are held by the angels arranged either side of God the Father. Set in an expansive landscape the donor family kneels at the edge of the pictorial space beneath the crucified Christ. The mayor of Annaberg, Johan Schwaz, is shown on the left side with rosary beads, his offsprings kneel behind him, and are considerably smaller in scale. The right side is occupied by the female members of the family, consisting of three adult women, two girls and a child who died in infancy. Either side of the cross both families' coats-of-arms are displayed directly in front of the donors. According to the inscription the church Father Augustine is represented in the middle-ground. This figure as well as the beggar kneeling in front of him have not been successfully intergrated into the pictorial space. The infrared reflectogram shows that they were repeatedly reworked.

[Görres, cda 2016]

Attribution
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

[cda 2015]

Production date
1572

Production date

1572

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of painted surface: 165 x 141.7 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 165 x 141.7 cm

  • [Heydenreich, cda 2015]

Signature / Dating
  • at the feet of the cross:

Signature / Dating

    • at the feet of the cross:

  • dated '1572' and signed with a monogram that is reminiscent of a pair of crossed tools (a hammer and a pickaxe?)

  • [cda 2016]

Inscriptions and Labels
  • at the top, next to God the Father's head (in capitals):
    'O ADORANDA TRINITAS O VENERANDA VNITAS / PER …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • at the top, next to God the Father's head (in capitals):

  • 'O ADORANDA TRINITAS O VENERANDA VNITAS / PER TE SVMVS CREATI, VERA AETERNITAS / PER TE SVMVS REDE[MP]TI, SVMATV CARITAS'

    • at the centre, nest to the Holy Spirit (in capitals):

  • 'POPVLVM CVCTVTV' 'PROTEGE SALVE LIBERA ERIBE'

    • on the cross (in capitals): 'I.N.R.I'
    • at the left next to the crucified Christ (in capitals):

  • 'COR MVNDVM CREA IN ME DEVS 5[0 (?) = Psalm 50]'

    • at the right next to the crucified Christ (gothic script):

  • 'Das Blut Jesu Christi Reiniget mich von Alm [...]'

    • beneath (in capitals): 'AVGVSTINVS'

  • [cda 2016]

Owner
Erzgebirgsmuseum Annaberg-Buchholz
Repository
Erzgebirgsmuseum Annaberg-Buchholz
Location
Annaberg-Buchholz
CDA ID
DE_EMA_EMA003
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_EMA_EMA003/
  • Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity, 1572

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • irr

Technical studies

03. 2015Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- relatively detailed and freehand underdrawing

- thin to broader lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version (where there are no significant changes); lines delineate the main contours and define essential details and facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define forms; numerous changes (e. g. the figures in the background were not executed in the painted version; the positions of the donor and the children on the right were shifted or figures were added: blades of grass are visible under the head of the child on the right, the position of the infant and the written word 'Augustinus' under the hand of the donor on the left indicate that changes were made to the original design. Further changes are visible in God the Father’s head and the positionof the dove’s head.)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible, Circle of Cranach the Younger?

[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>, 'Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_EMA_EMA003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Epitaph for mayor Johan Schwaz: Holy Trinity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_EMA_EMA003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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