Portrait of Friedrich III. the Wise, Elector of Saxony

Identification of wood species: limewood (Tilia sp.)

- an underdrawing is not readily visible

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

'Dovetailed cross-battens inserted on the reverse of the support were not an option for the thin panels of the early Wittenberg years. From that period, only the Martyrdom of St Catherine (c.1508), already discussed, and the portrait of Elector Friedrich III the Wise (FR 64A) are stabilised in this way. There is controversy as to whether this portrait of the elector is, in fact, a work of Lucas Cranach the Elder. It has been referred to repeatedly as a copy made in the late sixteenth century.[130] Since the panel differs considerably in the widths of the boards, in their thickness and the treatment of the back,[131] and considering secure attributions and well-documented works, this support was most probably not produced in the workshop of the carpenter who supplied Cranach with panels up to 1510/11 (see pp. 133-134).'

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 67]

'The use of orpiment in the Wittenberg workshop is by no means certain. As yet the only analytical evidence of yellow arsenic sulphide is established on the portrait of Elector Friedrich III the Wise (FR 64A),[32] but unfortunately its authenticity as a Cranach is justifiably disputed. The result of the analysis as well as the fact that the support is unusual for Cranach (see p. 67) tends to substantiate the hypothesis that this painting is a later copy.[33]'

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 133-34]

Burmester and Krekel identified orpiment:

Only Lucas Cranach employed Auripigment[216]

[216] Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portrait of Friedrich the Wise, about 1507 (Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, Inv.No. Gm223 [DE_GNMN_Gm223_FR064A])

[Burmester, Krekel 1998 A, 86]

- limewood (Tilia sp.)

- 3 boards

- widths from the left: top 31.9, 29.9, 26.2 cm, bottom 28.2, 29.7, 30.4 cm

- 2.3 – 2.8 cm thick

- the knots have been left in the wood

- original size

- all four front edges of the panel were probably finished with a scraper

Reverse:

- scraped in a horizontal direction

- there is a rebate around the edge

- the ground was applied and the panel was painted before it was framed

- light red imprimatura

- executed with a brush

- in the face and the right hand there are scant contours visible

- the paint in the face was applied wet-in-wet, dabbed on and modelled with the finger

- the left contours of the face were altered during the painting process

- the top glazes of green background have become brown, probably at a later stage

- the original corrections along the edge between the beard and the fur as well as in the background have darkened

- the oil gilding on the cap, overcoat, rings, rosary beads and the cloth on the prayerstool was applied over a transparent brownish adhesive

[Bartl, Cat. Nuremberg 1997, 127]

Inscription:

- analysis was carried out by Achim Unger, Rathgen Forschungslabor, Berlin, employing optical emission-spectral-analysis

- x-ray diffraction analysis carried out in the Doerner Institut Munich enabled the identification of lead tin yellow (Pb2SnO4) and tin oxide

[Bartl, Cat. Nuremberg 1997, 127]

Support:

• the edge of the panel extending to the bottom right corner is damaged

• old wood worm damage

• two pine wood profiled battens are fixed in dovetail grooves on the reverse to stabilize the panel, at the top and bottom respectively

Painted surface:

• there is both damage caused by impact and scraping 36 cm above the bottom edge

• there is an old cleaning test at the top right

• broad scratch on the forehead as well as numerous small losses in the face and neck, which have been retouched

• there is overpaint along the right edge, the decorative elements have been reconstructed in dark green and brown glazes

• the infrared refectogram and the x-radiograph show later additions in the ground and black paint, especially in the area of the gold boarder. This was later overpainted with a matt black paint. The lettering has been partially reconstructed and the rebate has been reinforced.

[Bartl, Cat. Nuremberg 1997, 127]

as yet no further information

[Bartl, Cat. Nuremberg 1997, 127]