Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541)

Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541)

Title

Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541)

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Painting on oak wood

Medium

Painting on oak wood

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

The painting in Kassel shows the duke wearing simple, unembellished clothes. He wears a fur-lined robe with broad lapels and a beret with a brim covering his forehead and folded back at the sides. The main features of his face are recorded with a few distinctive lines. The light falling

The painting in Kassel shows the duke wearing simple, unembellished clothes. He wears a fur-lined robe with broad lapels and a beret with a brim covering his forehead and folded back at the sides. The main features of his face are recorded with a few distinctive lines. The light falling on the significant forms make them stand out clearly. [...] The face radiates energy and authority. The wrinkles between the eyebrows and the fixed gaze into the far distance contribute to this. The compact shape of the beret and the beard with their matching, diagonally ascending outlines make the head appear broader and more imposing. On the right side above the sitter's shoulder a mountain ridge is visible. Behind this is an expansive sky in which the hues characteristic of numerous other Cranach paintings are employed. These consist of yellow at the bottom which merges with pink and then blue.

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 79-80]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 429]

Production date
about 1528

Production date

about 1528

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 429] [Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]
[Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994, 338]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 28.4 x 22.3/22.5 (bottom/top) x 1-1.2 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 28.4 x 22.3/22.5 (bottom/top) x 1-1.2 cm

  • (trimmed along all edges)

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

Verso: - bottom left:
in red paint '1223' (Inventory number from the ll. Supplement to inventory of 1749)

Reverse of …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Verso: - bottom left:

  • in red paint '1223' (Inventory number from the ll. Supplement to inventory of 1749)

  • Reverse of the panel:

    • in red paint the inventory number of the II. Supplements '1223'
    • a label from the Staatl. Museen Kassel, 20th century
    • in white chalk, in part illegible inscription, among others '2. Supplement'
    • at the right edge:

  • remnants of an english newspaper from 1876

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Owner
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
Repository
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
Location
Kassel
CDA ID
DE_MHK_GK15
FR (1978) Nr.
FR318
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK15/

Provenance

  • the portrait may have passed into the estate of the landgrave of Hesse shortly after its production: Heinrich the Devout was an uncle of Christine of Saxony who was espoused to Philipp
  • or the panel may have been given to Heinrich's granddaughter, Anna of Saxony (1544-1577), when she married William of Orange (1561), and after her death(1584) could have been passed on from her sister Catharine of Nassau (d. 1624) to Catherine Belgica (d. 1648) and then through one of their two daughters, Amalie Elisabeth or Catharine Juliane may have entered the estate of the landgrave of Hesse in Kassel

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Exhibitions

Basel 1974, no. 618

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Lange 2015 30 Fig. 2
AuthorJustus Lange
TitleLucas Cranach und die Landgrafschaft Hessen
Publicationin Julia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha and Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, eds., Bild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel]
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2015
Pages29-42
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 429, 504 under No. 34 Fig.. 189
EditorHarald Marx, Karin Kolb, Ingrid Mössinger
TitleCranach Anlässlich der Ausstellung Cranach vom 13. November 2005 bis 12. März 2006 in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Eine Ausstellung in Kooperation mit der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1997 77-81
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 87
EditorBernhard Schnackenburg
TitleGesamtkatalog Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Staatliche Museen Kassel
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994 338, 371
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
Smith 1987 212-213, 224
AuthorJeffrey Chipps Smith
Title"Verbum Domini Manet In Aeternum". Medal Designs by Sebald Beham and the Reformation in the Duchy of Saxony
JournalAnzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums
Year of Publication1987
Pages205-226
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1982 38-39, 63
AuthorAnja Schneckenburger-Broschek
TitleDie Altdeutsche Malerei. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1982
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 132 318
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 696 No. 618
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1969 11
AuthorE. Herzog
TitleDie Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Kassel
Place of PublicationHanau
Year of Publication1969
Show Literature
Vogel 1961 16-17
AuthorHeinrich Vogel
Title45 Gemälde der Kasseler Galerie
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1961
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1958 15
AuthorHeinrich Vogel
TitleKatalog der Staatlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Kassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1958
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 255
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
Cat. Kassel 1929 18, 99 15
AuthorK. Luhmer
TitleKatalog der Staatlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Kassel
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1929
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1913 13 15
AuthorG. Gronau
TitleKatalog der Königlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Cassel. Amtliche Ausgabe
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1913
Show Literature
Michaelson 1902 108
AuthorHedwig Michaelson
TitleLukas Cranach der Ältere. Untersuchung über die stilistische Entwicklung seiner Kunst
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1902
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1888 5 6
AuthorOskar Eisenmann
TitleKatalog der Königlichen Gemälde-Galerie zu Cassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1888
Link https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101058641414&view=1up&seq=1
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1877 3 15
AuthorK. Chr. Aubel
TitleVerzeichniß der in dem Lokale der Neuen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Cassel befindlichen Bilder
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1877
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1845 5 15
AuthorK. Chr. Aubel
TitleAuszug aus dem Verzeichnisse der Kurfürstlichen Gemälde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1845
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1830 4 15
AuthorErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Robert
TitleVerzeichniß der Kurfürstlichen Gemählde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1830
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1819 153 977
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

Heinrich the Devout was born in Dresden in 1473 as the youngest son of Albrecht III of Saxony. It was not until 1505, through the administrative bodies of Freiberg and Wolkenstein, that he obtained his own small dominion in the middle of the Albertine territory governed by his brother Georg. Schloss Freiberg became his residence. He associated with artisans and miners, listened to reports of foreign warfare and had a large collection of small arms and guns. In 1512 Heinrich married Katharina of Mecklenburg, who over the years won him over to the new doctrine. The pair employed a lutheran court chaplain and had the German mass read in the palace of Freiberg (1564). Despite the opposition of his catholic brother, the Freiberg clergy of the old faith, the bishop of Meißen and the protesting nobility Heinrich (1537) introduced the Reformation into his own territory and after the death of his brother into the rest of the Albertine territorial state acquired by him. At the same time together with his son Moritz he signed the prime contract of the Schmalkaldic league. In 1541 Heinrich died in Dresden, shortly after Moritz's appointment to co-regent.

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

[see also MHK online database, accessed 07.12.2020]

  • Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541), about 1528

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • x_radiograph

Technical studies

1997Technical Examination

  • reverse

Support

- oak wood

- a single plank with the grain running horizontally

- the panel has been trimmed on all four sides; at the top there is an addition of c. 0.7 cm, at the bottom c. 4 cm

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

1928Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • created by Kurt Wehlte

Condition Reports

Date1997

  • the garments including the fur-collar are almost completely overpainted

  • there is a large area of overpaint on the hilltop and above it in the sky, and smaller areas over the landscape.

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 77]

Date1988

  • examined for the catalogue

[Curatorial files, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Conservation History

Date1980

  • conservation treatment, varnish polished

[Curatorial files, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Date1963

  • conservation treatment

[Curatorial files, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541)', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK15/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Duke Heinrich the Devout of Saxony (1473-1541)', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK15/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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