Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

Title

[KKL 2022]

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

Medium

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

[Klein 14.05.1992a]

See German text version

Attributions: Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder	[KKL 2022]
Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7] [Ausst.-Kat. Frankfurt 2007, No. 60]

Production date: 1529

Production date

1529	[dated, KKL 2022]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 37.5 x 24.3 x 0.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 37.5 x 24.3 x 0.5 cm
[KKL 2020]
Dimensions with frame: 56.2 x 42.6 x 5 cm
[Petra Klier, Hamburg, inventory list from 27.09.1992, documentation file]
[Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, Nr. 6/7]

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings and the date '1529' with black paint

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings and the date '1529' with black paint
[KKL 2022]

Inscriptions and Labels: 'M . L || IN SILENCIO ET SPE ERIT FORTITVDO VESTRA'
[KKL 2022] On the reverse of the …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

'M . L || IN SILENCIO ET SPE ERIT FORTITVDO VESTRA'
[KKL 2022]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

On the reverse of the Luther panel there is an incomplete sheet of parchment with a seal, showing a coat-of-arms with a crest and the monogramm 'MB' - as well as the inscription: 'Gleich wie zu Zeiten deß Königs JOSIAE das Gesetzbuch
[wi]derfunden Also [ist auch?] zu Zeiten HERTZOG JOHANN
[FRI]DERICHEN durch Herrn D. MARTINUM LUTHE =
REM die HEILIGE B[IBEL?] wiederumb an Tag kommen.
ANNO MDCXIIII.'
[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Owner: Freie Hansestadt Bremen, Stadtgemeinde
Repository: Kunstsammlungen Boettcherstraße, Bremen
Location: Bremen

CDA ID: DE_KBSB_B59
FR (1978) Nr.: FR312-313C
KKL-No: IV.M14a, Part of portait group IV
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/

Connected Works

Provenance

acquired by Ludwig Roselius in September 1928 at Arthur Hauth, Düsseldorf, through the art dealer Johannes Hinrichsen, Berlin (invoice from 19.9.1928)
1988 acquired by the borough (Stadtgemeinde) of Bremen
[Ausst.-Kat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7]

Exhibitions

Dresden 1899, No. 43
Bremen 2009, No. 6/7

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Cat. Coburg 2018

36, 142

under no. 2

Author	Klaus Weschenfelder
Title	Cranach 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 Publication	Regensburg
Year of Publication	2018

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009

Editor	Rainer Stamm
Title	Lucas Cranach der Schnellste
Place of Publication	Bremen
Year of Publication	2009

Show Literature

Cat. Bremen 2003

69-75

Author	Rainer Stamm
Title	Die Gemäldesammlung des Roselius-Haus, Kunstsammlungen Boettcherstraße
Place of Publication	Bremen
Year of Publication	2003

Show Literature

Klein 1994 A

199, 200

Tabs. 8, 10

Author	Peter Klein
Title	Lucas Cranach und seine Werkstatt. Holzarten und dendrochronologische Analyse
Publication	in Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds.,Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
Series	Veröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume	26
Place of Publication	Augsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication	1994
Pages	194-200

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979

312-313C

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Editor	G. Schwartz
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Basel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication	1979

Show Literature

Müller Hofstede 1969

Author	Julius Müller Hofstede
Title	Gutachten vom 12.3.1969, Werkakte
Year of Publication	1969

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932

251B

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1932
Link	http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932

Show Literature

Winkler, Plambeck 1930

Author	Friedrich Horst Winkler, Otto Plambeck
Title	Das Roseliushaus in Bremen. Führer und Plan
Series	Schriften der Böttcherstraße in Bremen
Volume	3
Place of Publication	Bremen
Year of Publication	1930

Show Literature

Flechsig 1900 A

261-262, 306

Author	Eduard Flechsig
Title	Cranachstudien
Volume	1
Place of Publication	Leipzig
Year of Publication	1900
Link	page/n5/mode/2up

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899

41-42

043

Editor	Karl Woermann
Title	Deutsche Kunstausstellung Dresden 1899. Abteilung Cranach-Ausstellung. Wissenschaftliches Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Werke
Place of Publication	Dresden
Year of Publication	1899
Link	http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002A2400000000

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

'In the documentation file there is an evaluation by Max J. Friedländers from 30 September 1925: 'This Cranach portrait of Luther together with the pendant, the portrait of Mrs Luther bear original signatures, are dated 1529 and are characteristic works by the master.

[Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009, No. 6/7]

Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right, 1529

Images

Documents

Technical studies

Date2018 - 2021

Support

See German version

14.05.1992Scientific analysis

Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

DE_KBSB_B59_FR312-313C_1992_analysis-report-001.pdf

Support

Identification of wood species: beech wood

Youngest annual ring: 1521

[Klein Report, 114.05.1992]

analysed by Peter Klein

1981 - 1992Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

- a single beech wood panel

175 annual rings. After comparison with the standard chronology the annual ring curve could be dated between the years 1521 and 1547. The panel came from the same tree as the panel used for Cranach's Portrait of Katharina von Bora (Kunstsammlungen Böttcherstraße, Inv. B60), from which the earliest annual ring (from 128) is dated 1524.

Taking a minimal seasoning period of two years into consideration the painting could not have been created before 1526. Furthermore the panels used for the paintings 'Cardinal Albrecht as St Jerome', Gemäldegalerie Berlin, DE_smbGG_589_FR184; 'Apollo and Diana', Gemäldegalerie Berlin, DE_smbGG_564_FR271 and 'The Judgement of Paris', Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, DE_SKK_0109_FR255; are all from the same tree

[Dr. Peter Klein 1981, Report, 3.11.1981; Dr. Peter Klein 1992, Report, Documentation file]

Framing

old red tortoise-shell frame, glazed

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Condition Reports

Date2018 - 2021

See German version

examined by Wibke Ottweiler

Date2018 - 2021

See German version

examined by Wibke Ottweiler

Date04.02.2013 - 2013

the panel is slightly warped

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

Conservation History

Date2006

2006: Atelier Hoffmann, Bremen: conservation treatment on the frame

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

conservation treatment by Atelier Hoffmann

Date1980

1980: Renate Kant, Hamburg: conservation treatment

[Museum im Roselius-Haus, revised 2013]

conservation treatment by Renate Kant

Versions

Support made from the same tree

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KBSB_B59/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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