Reclining nymphe

Reclining nymphe

Title

Reclining nymphe

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

A young woman reclines on the dress she has removed on the banks of the water, naked excepting a transparent veil, but wearing a neck-chain and bracelets. She gazes out of the picture, her head supported on her right hand, the left hand resting on the left thigh, her legs

A young woman reclines on the dress she has removed on the banks of the water, naked excepting a transparent veil, but wearing a neck-chain and bracelets. She gazes out of the picture, her head supported on her right hand, the left hand resting on the left thigh, her legs are crossed. A quiver filled with arrows hangs above her head on the branch of the tree, the bow is visible behind the trunk. There are two partridges at her feet. The stonework of a fountain or a lavatorium, from which a jet of water spouts, projects into the image on the right.

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Attribution
Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attribution

Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Exhib. Cat. Gotha 2015, No. 62] [Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Production date
after 1550

Production date

after 1550

[Exhib. Cat. Gotha 2015, No. 62] [Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 14.7 x 20.8 x 1.1 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 14.7 x 20.8 x 1.1 cm

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top right edge:
    'FONTIS NYMPHA SACRI SOMNVM NE RVMPE QUIESCO'

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88] Reverse of the panel: - …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • top right edge:

  • 'FONTIS NYMPHA SACRI SOMNVM NE RVMPE QUIESCO'

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - handwritten in ink (early 19th century?):

  • 'Lucas Cranach. von Wittenberg. woselbst er Burgermeister gewest und gestorben 1586.'

    • in red paint '733'
    • label: Cranach-Ausstellung 1937, Deutsches Museum, Berlin

  • [Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Owner
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel
Repository
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
Location
Kassel
CDA ID
DE_MHK_GK19
FR (1978) Nr.
FR403A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK19/

Provenance

  • acquired 1751 by Landgrave Wilhelm VIII. from Baron Haeckel in Frankfurt

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1937
Gotha/Kassel 2015, no. 62

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 88, fn. 4, 92 under no. 15
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach 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 PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Dohe 2015 B 48
AuthorSebastian Dohe
TitleAemulatio, Anspruch und Austausch. Cranachs Kunst im höfischen Dienst
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
Pages43-50
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015 214, 215 62 Pl. p. 215
EditorJulia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha
TitleBild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Gotha, Herzogliches Museum; Kassel, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe]
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010 198
EditorBozarbooks & Lannoo, Guido Messling
TitleDie Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Die Welt des Lucas Cranach", Palast der Schönen Künste, Brüssel, 20. Oktober 2010 - 23. Januar 2011]
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1997 88-94
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 97
EditorBernhard Schnackenburg
TitleGesamtkatalog Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister. Staatliche Museen Kassel
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1982 45-46, 63
AuthorAnja Schneckenburger-Broschek
TitleDie Altdeutsche Malerei. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Kassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1982
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 403A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1969 33
AuthorE. Herzog
TitleDie Gemäldegalerie der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Kassel
Place of PublicationHanau
Year of Publication1969
Show Literature
Talbot 1967 80, 87 6
AuthorCharles Talbot
EditorNational Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
TitleAn Interpretation of Two Paintings by Cranach in the Artist's Late Style
JournalReport and Studies in the History of Art
Place of PublicationWashington
Year of Publication1967
Link http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015017526305;view=1up;seq=11
Pages67-88
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1958 48 19
AuthorHeinrich Vogel
TitleKatalog der Staatlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Kassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1958
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 45 121 Pl. 86
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 324A
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 19, 99 19
AuthorK. Luhmer
TitleKatalog der Staatlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Kassel
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1929
Show Literature
Glaser 1923 224
AuthorCurt Glaser
TitleLukas Cranach
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1923
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/glaser1923
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1913 13 19
AuthorG. Gronau
TitleKatalog der Königlichen Gemäldegalerie zu Cassel. Amtliche Ausgabe
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1913
Show Literature
Flechsig 1900 A 275
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1888 16 14
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 2 10
AuthorK. Chr. Aubel
TitleVerzeichniß der in dem Lokale der Neuen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Cassel befindlichen Bilder
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1877
Show Literature
Miller 1871 195
AuthorF. Miller
TitleZur Geschichte der Kasseler Galerie
JournalZeitschrift für bildende Kunst
Issue6
Year of Publication1871
Show Literature
Lotz 1862 139
AuthorWilhelm Lotz
TitleKunsttopographie Deutschlands
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1862
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1845 4 10
AuthorK. Chr. Aubel
TitleAuszug aus dem Verzeichnisse der Kurfürstlichen Gemälde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1845
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1830 2 10
AuthorErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Robert
TitleVerzeichniß der Kurfürstlichen Gemählde-Sammlung
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1830
Show Literature
Cat. Kassel 1819 2 9
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
Cat. Kassel 1783 220 119
AuthorC. Causid
TitleVerzeichnis der Hochfürstlich-Heßischen Gemählde-Sammlung in Cassel
Place of PublicationKassel
Year of Publication1783
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The panel in Kassel draws directly on a version of superior quality in New York, and differs objectively only by the addition of a two lined inscription and some omissions: the bird sitting on the nymph's bow is not present nor is the knot-hole above the quiver with the arrows.[1]

The already complex iconography and its uncertain meaning is further augmented by the nymph's weapons. Nymphs were among the entourage of Diana, the goddess of the hunt. The grazing game on the other side of the river could be viewed in this context and the traditional equation of the hunt and desire might prompt reflection on the viewer's voyeuristic role.[2] The fatal end of the hunter Acteon, the most well-known victim who dared to look at the naked nymphs from Diana's entourage, could as such be interpreted as the inscription's implicit threat - after all it does not state the consequences for the viewer who disregards the the nymph's need for rest.

[1] Cat. Kassel 1997, 92-94; Cat. New York 1998, 48-54, No. 10

[2] See Dieter Koepplin's interpretation in Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, 635 f.

[Exhib. Cat. Gotha/Kassel 2015, 214]

[see also MHK online database, accessed 07.12.2020]

  • Reclining nymphe, after 1550

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse

Technical studies

1997Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

- beech wood according to the dendrochronological examination caried out by Dr. Peter Klein, report from 19.06.1988

- a single plank, horizontal grain

- trimmed slightly on the left and right sides

Verso:

- original condition, exposed wood

- bevelled edges

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

  • examined by Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel

1988 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

  • examined by Peter Klein

Date1928

  • X-radiography

[Curatorial file, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

  • erstellt von Kurt Wehlte

Condition Reports

Date1997

  • the paint layers are slightly abraded, otherwise the condition is very good

[Cat. Kassel 1997, 88]

Date1988

  • examination for the catalogue

[Curatorial file, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Conservation History

Date1962

  • restoration treatment, new frame

[Curatorial file, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Date1953

  • conservation treatment

[Curatorial file, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister Kassel]

Versions

Reclining nymph
  • Reclining nymph, about 1575 - 1625 (?)
  • DE_SKK_0895
  • Painting
  • Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Nymph of the Spring
  • Nymph of the Spring, about 1545 - 1550
  • US_MMANY_1975-1-136
  • Painting
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Reclining nymphe', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK19/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Reclining nymphe', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MHK_GK19/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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