Portrait of Katharina von Bora

Portrait of Katharina von Bora

Title

Portrait of Katharina von Bora

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Painting on oak wood

Medium

Painting on oak wood

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]
[Klein, Report 1994]

Katharina von Bora wears a tight, tailored robe with a high collar, a laced bodice with a decorated tucker, beneath this a white blouse with black trimming. Her hair is drawn back under a bonnet by a band above her forehead. In detail the image differs from the prototypes by

Katharina von Bora wears a tight, tailored robe with a high collar, a laced bodice with a decorated tucker, beneath this a white blouse with black trimming. Her hair is drawn back under a bonnet by a band above her forehead. In detail the image differs from the prototypes by Cranach the Elder and has been extended on all sides, which corresponds with the changing taste. In addition the figure has been extended to a three-quarter length portrait similar to some portraits attributed to Cranach the Younger. Also different are the fingers of the right hand which are not rounded together but rather the little finger is splayed out.

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 101-102]

Attribution
Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Production date
about 1565

Production date

about 1565

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 24.5 x 18 x 0.7-0.9 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 24.5 x 18 x 0.7-0.9 cm

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels
  • in the top right corner:
    'KATHARINA.
    LVTHERINN'

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99] Recto: - in the bottom left corner:
barely …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • in the top right corner:

  • 'KATHARINA.

  • LVTHERINN'

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Recto: - in the bottom left corner:

  • barely visible, in red paint: '500'

  • Reverse of the panel:

  • in black ink: 'Dieses Porträt ist mir von des Herrn Landgrafen Hochfürstl. Durchlaut aus höchst eigener Bewegung gnädigst verehrt worden, und zwar am 26ten Febr. 1781 bey Gelegenheit da Höchstdieselben die Schildereyen aus dem Hauße die Bellevue genannt, wegräumen lassen, um solches für das Künftige Fräulein-Erziehungsinstitut zu widmen, und ich der Ober Camerherr von Wittorf als Director des Stiffts, zugegen war.'

  • label from the Staatlichen Museen Kassel (20th century)

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Owner
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
Repository
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
Location
Kassel
CDA ID
DE_MHK_GK1025
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK1025/

Connected Works

Portrait of Martin Luther
  • Portrait of Martin Luther, about 1565
  • DE_MHK_GK1024
  • Painting
  • Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel

Provenance

  • probably entered the collection of the landgrave at an early stage
  • first recorded at the time of Landgrave Friedrich II. (1760-1785), who donated the panel in 1781 to von Wittdorf, who was the lord chamberlain and also the director of the Fräulein-Erziehungsinstitut
  • in 1817 the painting was repurchased for the gallery at an auction of von Wittdorf's property
    [Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Exhibitions

Bremen 2009, no. 9

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Eisenach 2015 121 50 Fig. p. 121
EditorGünter Schuchardt
TitleCranach, Luther und die Bildnisse. Katalog zur Sonderausstellung auf der Wartburg, 2. April bis 19. Juli 2015
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Bremen 2009 9
EditorRainer Stamm
TitleLucas Cranach der Schnellste
Place of PublicationBremen
Year of Publication2009
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1997 99-102
AuthorAnja Schneckenburger-Broschek
EditorStaatliche Museen Kassel
TitleAltdeutsche Malerei. Die Tafelbilder und Altäre des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts in der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister und im Hessischen Landesmuseum Kassel. Bestandskatalog Staatliche Museen Kassel
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1997
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1996 98
EditorBernhard Schnackenburg
TitleGesamtkatalog Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Staatliche Museen Kassel
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Klein 1994 A 196 Tab. 3
AuthorPeter Klein
TitleLucas Cranach und seine Werkstatt. Holzarten und dendrochronologische Analyse
Publicationin Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds.,Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Pages194-200
Show Literature
Klein 1994 B 215
AuthorPeter Klein
TitleHolzartenbestimmung und dendrochronologische Analyse an Gemäldetafeln von Lucas Cranach d.Ä. und seiner Werkstatt
PublicationAllmuth Schuttwolf, ed., Gotteswort und Menschenbild. Werke von Cranach und seinen Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Gotha
Place of PublicationGotha
Year of Publication1994
Pages210-219
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1830 79
AuthorErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Robert
TitleVerzeichniß der Kurfürstlichen Gemählde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1830
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1819 58
AuthorErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Robert
TitleVersuch eines Verzeichnisses der Kurfürstlich Hessischen Gemälde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1819
Link https://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/id/PPN879181362?tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B5%5D%2C%22view%22%3A%22info%22%7D
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

[see also MHK online database, accessed 07.12.2020]

  • Portrait of Katharina von Bora, about 1565

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse

Documents

Technical studies

1997Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

- oak wood (examination report by Dr. Peter Klein from 09.02.1990)

- dendrochronological examination: see report Dr. Peter Klein from 09.02.1990

- a single plank, vertical grain

- original size

Verso:

- light grey coating

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Ground and Imprimatura

- double ground: first layer red, second layer light grey

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

24.03.1994Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

  • analysed by Peter Klein

09.02.1990 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

Identification of wood species: oak

Felling date between 1560 - 1570

[Klein Report, 09.02.1990]

  • examined by Peter Klein

Condition Reports

Date1997

  • good condition, except for a 10 cm split, running vertically from the top edge through the left eye of the sitter

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 99]

Date1988

  • examination for the catalogue

[Curatorial files, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Katharina von Bora', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK1025/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Katharina von Bora', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK1025/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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