Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need

Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need

Title

Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need

[cda 2015]

Painting on wood, transferred to a hardwood panel

Medium

Painting on wood, transferred to a hardwood panel

[cda 2015]

The predella depicts the Virgin in a central position holding the infant Christ and a sceptre. The fourteen Holy Helpers are positioned in an isocephalic arrangement to the left and right behind her. The virgin wears the same robe as on the central panel and the second moveable wing panel

The predella depicts the Virgin in a central position holding the infant Christ and a sceptre. The fourteen Holy Helpers are positioned in an isocephalic arrangement to the left and right behind her. The virgin wears the same robe as on the central panel and the second moveable wing panel on the left. Her halo consists of two circular rings. Each of the saints is depicted with an attribute and wearing a single ringed halo. The fourteen Holy Helpers are from left to right: Cyriacus, Blaise, Hubertus (Eustace), Pantaleon, Catherine, Aegidius, Dorothea, Barbara, Dionysius, Margaret, Acacius, Vitus, Christophor and Erasmus. Only St Catherine engages with the infant Christ and accepts grapes from him. The group is shown against a brown unstructured background.

[Görres, cda 2015]

Attributions
Master of the Mass of St Gregory
Simon Franck

Attributions

Master of the Mass of St Gregory

[Emmendörffer 1998, 218][Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. Sup6A]

Simon Franck

[Matauschek 2016, 108] [Krause 2013, 29] [Kramer 2012, 7] [Tacke 1992, 47-56]

Hans Cranach

[Flechsig 1900 A, 281]

Production date
1529

Production date

1529

[dated on second movable wing on the left]

Dimensions
Dimensions of painted surface: 92.7 x 224.7 x 6 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 92.7 x 224.7 x 6 cm

  • [Heydenreich, cda 2015]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

In the Virgin's halo:
'SANCTA MARIA'
[cda 2015]

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • In the Virgin's halo:

  • 'SANCTA MARIA'

  • [cda 2015]

Owner
Evangelische Marktkirchengemeinde Halle
Repository
Evangelische Marktkirchengemeinde Halle
Location
Halle
CDA ID
DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001h
FR (1978) Nr.
FRSup006A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001h/

Provenance

  • the panel is dated 1529, but its early history still remains uncertain: it may initially have been installed in the Collegiate Church (Stiftskirche) in Halle before being moved slightly later to the Marktkirche. The exact date remains a matter of debate.
  • according to an entry in the account books the altarpiece was already in place in the Marktkirche by 1540.
  • in 1841 it was dismantled and replaced by the so-called Hübner-Altar; the panels were then displayed in the church as single units and the original frame was lost.
  • in 1942 during the WW2 the altarpiece was evacuated to Niemberg
  • in 1943 the predella was transferred to Petersberg
  • in 1945 the predella was transferred to Wiesbaden
  • in 1948 the altarpiece (excluding the predella) was returned to the Marktkirche
  • the predella was returned in 1961
  • in 1984 the altarpiece was finally installed in its present position after a burst pipe in the church ocasioned comprehensive renovation and conservation
    [Matauschek 2016, 109, 110]

Exhibitions

Dresden 1899, no. 102

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Matauschek 2016
AuthorKatja Matauschek
TitleDas Marienretabel in der Marktkirche Halle (Saale)
Publicationin Elisabeth Rüber-Schütte, ed., Lucas Cranach in Sachsen-Anhalt. Forschungen und Berichte aus der Denkmalpflege
SeriesKleine Hefte zur Denkmalpflege
Volume10
Place of PublicationHalle
Year of Publication2016
Pages94-123
Tacke 2015 86
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleGleich dem Kaninchen vor der Schlange? Altgläubige und die Wittenberger Bildpropaganda.
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
Pages82-90
Kramer 2012
EditorSabine Kramer
TitleDer Marienaltar in der Marktkirche zu Halle. Bildprogramm und Geschichte
Place of PublicationHalle
Year of Publication2012
Heydenreich 2007 B 39-40
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
Title"... dass Du mit wunderbarer Schnelligkeit malest". Virtuosität und Effizienz in der künstlerischen Praxis Lucas Cranachs d. Ä.
Publicationin Bodo Brinkmann, ed., Cranach der Ältere, Exhib. Cat. FrankfurtA
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Pages29-47
Tacke 2007 C 81, 82, 84
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleMit Cranachs Hilfe: Antireformatorische Kunstwerke vor dem Tridentiner Konzil
Publicationin Bodo Brinkmann, ed., Cranach der Ältere, [Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt am Main]
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Link http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/volltexte/2012/2000
Pages81-89
Exhib. Cat. Halle 2006 30, 31 Fig. 7
EditorThomas Schauerte
TitleDer Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg. Renaissancefürst und Mäzen. Bd. 1: Katalog
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2006
Smith 2006 28, 30, 31 Fig. 7
AuthorJeffrey Chipps Smith
TitleDie Kunst des Scheiterns
Publicationin Thomas Schauerte, ed., Der Kardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg. Renaissancefürst und Mäzen. Bd. 1: Katalog
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2006
Exhib. Cat. Prague 2005 66, 116 (English version 29, 44, 45) under nos. 8, 30
EditorObrazárna Pražského hradu, Kaliopi Chamonikola
TitlePod znamením okrídleného hada. Lucas Cranach a ceské zeme. Under the winged Serpent. Lucas Cranach and the Czech Land
Place of PublicationPrague
Year of Publication2005
Emmendörffer 1998 218
AuthorChristoph Emmendörffer
TitleDie selbständigen Cranachschüler
Publicationin Ingo Sandner, Wartburg-Stiftung Eisenach and Fachhochschule Köln, eds., Unsichtbare Meisterzeichnungen auf dem Malgrund. Cranach und seine Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Eisenach
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1998
Pages203-228
Exhib. Cat. Eisenach 1998 232-233 No. 23.4 Figs. 23.4, 23.4a
EditorWartburg-Stiftung, Eisenach, Fachhochschule , Ingo Sandner
TitleUnsichtbare Meisterzeichnungen auf dem Malgrund. Cranach und seine Zeitgenossen. Ausstellungskatalog und Tagungsband Katalogteil 1; 2: Werkstatt und Schüler Cranachs; 3: Süddeutsche Meister; 4: Albrecht Dürer und sein Kreis; 5: Rheinische Meister
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1998
Pages229-240
Tacke 1992 47-56 19-23
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleDer katholische Cranach. Zu zwei Großaufträgen von Lucas Cranach d. Ä., Simon Franck und der Cranach-Werkstatt (1520 - 1540)
SeriesBerliner Schriften zur Kunst
Volume2
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1992
Flechsig 1900 A 131
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
  • Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need, 1529

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall

Technical studies

1994 - Technical Examination

Support

- transferred to a new panel

Framing

- the frame with an inserted gilded profile is not original, but probably 19th century

- width of the frame, left and right 9.3 cm, top and bottom: 10 cm

- the frame is 2.5 cm thick, 1.4 cm at the outer edge

- the fluting on the frame is 2.2 cm thick

  • examined by Gunnar Heydenreich

Condition Reports

Date2016

The condition of the altarpiece varies considerably from panel to panel. The wing panels painted on both sides appear to be less problematical. Many of the panels transferred to new supports exhibit more recent damage (paint loss and tenting).

See [Matauschek 2016, 116-118] for a full report.

Date1967

Description of the damage caused by the burst pipe

[Matauschek 2016, 114, 115]

Date1961

Riemann reports on the condition of the panel after its return from Wiesbaden: the paint layers were without losses, but in some places no longer attached to the fibreboard.

[Matauschek 2016, 114]

Date27.04.1885

Evaluation of the condition:

the altarpiece was moved to accomodate Hübner's new altarpiece: the wing panel depicting St Catherine and both sides of the panel depicting St John and St Maurice exhibited bands of flaking and paint loss. Conservation and reinstallment was recommended.

[Matauschek 2016, 112]

  • examined by Hugo von Tschudis

Date23.03.1881

Evaluation of the condition regarding the possible loan to the Dresden Cranach exhibition in1899. According to W. Böhm (restorer at the Gemäldegalerie, Königliche Museen Berlin) the panels exhibited splits and blistering that were limited to the draperies and background. However, should the panels be lent this damage could extend to the faces and hands.

[Matauschek 2016, 112]

Conservation History

Date2015

Conservation treatment

[Matauschek 2016, 123, Fn. 110]

  • conservation treatment by Jana Bösenberg

Date2009 - 2010

Paint layers:

  • surface cleaning and consolidation of flaking paint

[Matauschek 2016, 116]

Date1982 - 1983

Paint layers:

  • consolidated with wax

  • old retouches and varnish removed

  • losses were filled and retouched

Varnish:

  • dammar and wax brush appplication

Frame (not original):

  • surface cleaning

  • losses filled and retouched

  • dammar varnish application

[Matauschek 2016, 15]

Date1967

The blooming of the varnish caused by the excess moisture in the atmosphere after the pipe burst was regenerated using the Pettenkofer process (whereby the blanched painting was exposed to alcohol vapour and copaiba balsam).

[Matauschek 2016, 115]

Date1964

  • consolidation with casein

[Matauschek 2016, 114]

Date1939 - 1942

During this treatment campaign the predella was transferred to hardboard. The wood of the original support was removed,wax and mastic was used as an adhesive and gauze as an interlayer. The treatent proved very problematical. In addition the paint layers of the wing panels depicting Sts John and Maurice [DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001b] and Sts. Alexander and Augustine [DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001c] were consolidated.

[Matauschek 2016, 113]

  • conservation treatment by Albert Leusch

Date1899

In preparation for the Cranach exhibition in Dresden (1899) at which selected component parts of the altarpiece were exhibited. The treatment included further thinning of the central panel and a new cradle was attached to the reverse.

[Matauschek 2016, 112]

  • conservation treatment by Edwin Birk
  • conservation treatment by Hermann Schütz

Date1861 - 1862

Support: problems along the joints of the wooden boards, particularly those already treated in 1839

Ground and paint layers: lack of adhesion between the ground and wooden support, blistering and tenting, flaking paint and paint loss

Varnish and old retouches:the oil varnish had dulled, the retouches discoloured

Conservation carried out by Carl Martin Schirmer:

Support: cradled (central panel); the fixed wings [DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001f and DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001g] were transferred to canvas.

Ground, paint and varnish layers: consolidation, varnish removal and retouching

[Matauschek 2016, 111, 112]

  • conservation treatment by Carl Martin Schirmer

Date1839

Altar removed from original position in the church; the frame was then replaced; open joints on the central panel were reglued, filled and retouched.

[Matauschek 2016, 111]

Date1657

First reference to an intervention employing gold, silver, varnish and paint; apparently the water gilding on the central panel was at this point renewed and replaced with oil gilding.

[Matauschek 2016, 111]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001h/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Altarpiece of the Virgin [predella]: The Virgin and Child with the Fourteen Helpers in Need', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKH_NONE-MKH001h/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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