An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [right wing]: The Annunciation

Title

[cda 2015]

Painting on pine wood

Medium

Painting on pine wood

[Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

An annunciation scene is depicted on the exterior of the altarpiece and it spans across both wings. On the right wing the Virgin kneels behind a lectern with her hands held in an attitude of prayer. The Holy Spirit hovers above her in the form of a dove.

Attributions: Master of the Mittenwald Retable
Anonymous Master from the Cranach Workshop

Attributions

Master of the Mittenwald Retable	[Heydenreich 2016, 143]
Anonymous Master from the Cranach Workshop	[Heydenreich, cda 2015]
Lucas Cranach the Elder (and Workshop)	[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 79, No. 47B]

Production date: 1514

Production date

1514

[dated]

Dimensions: Dimensions of painted surface: 161.5 x 71 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of painted surface: 161.5 x 71 cm
Dimensions including frame: 168.3 x 78.3 cm
[Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

Signature / Dating: Dated on the left folding wing at the window-ledge '1514', brown paint applied as a translucent glaze

Signature / Dating

Dated on the left folding wing at the window-ledge '1514', brown paint applied as a translucent glaze
[Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

Owner: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Mittenwalde
Repository: St. Moritzkirche Mittenwalde
Location: Mittenwalde

CDA ID: DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001B
FR (1978) Nr.: FR047B
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001B/

Connected Works

Provenance

1514 donated by the Electress Elisabeth of Brandenburg
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 79, No. 47B]

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Heydenreich 2017 A

76-77

Author	Gunnar Heydenreich
Title	Cranach? Fragen der Zuschreibung im Lichte kunsttechnologischer Untersuchungen
Publication	in Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of Publication	Munich
Year of Publication	2017
Link	https://lucascranach.org/application/files/7316/7870/1704/Heydenreich_2017_Cranach_Fragen_der_Zuschreibung.pdf
Pages	72-81

Show Literature

Heydenreich 2016

Author	Gunnar Heydenreich
Title	Das Mittenwalder Retabel (1514). Die Malerei im Spiegel der Cranach-Forschung
Publication	in, Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum ed., Flügelaltäre um 1515 - Höhepunkte mittelalterlicher Kunst in Brandenburg und in den Nachbarregionen
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	2016
Link	https://lucascranach.org/application/files/7616/7870/1703/Heydenreich_2016_Das_Mittenwalder_Retabel.pdf
Pages	138-153

Show Literature

Knüvener 2011

227-228

Author	Peter Knüvener
Title	Die spätmittelalterliche Skulptur und Malerei in der Mark Brandenburg
Volume	Bd. 14
Journal	Forschungen und Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege im Land Brandenburg
Place of Publication	Worms
Year of Publication	2011
Pages	221-229

Show Literature

Müller 2008 A

Author	Mathias Müller
Editor	Ernst Badstübner, Peter Knüvener, Dirk Schumann
Title	Ordenslehre und Fürstenmemoria. Bildform und Bildkonzept des dominikanischen Altarretabels von Mittenwalde bei Berlin
Publication	in Ernst Badstübner, ed., Die Kunst des Mittelalters in der Mark Brandenburg. Tradition - Transformation - Innovation
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	2008
Pages	348-362

Show Literature

Cardenas, Schumann 2004

Author	Livia Cárdenas, Dirk Schumann
Title	Das mittelalterliche Altaretabel der Moritzkirche in Mittenwalde
Year of Publication	2004

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979

047B

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

Research History / Discussion

Like the altarpiece in Neustadt the winged altarpiece in Mittenwalde exhibits a fairly puristic rendition of the Cranach style from this period, but was probably executed with some workshop participation.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 79, No. 47B]

The artist who executed the Mittenwald Retable was trained in Cranach’s workshop and made use of his templates and preparatory material. He also drew on Dürer prints as inspiration for his compositions. However, a technical examination of this work does not suggest that it was produced in the workshop. The altarpiece was commissioned by Elizabeth of Brandenburg and was probably originally intended for a location in Berlin. The examination results support the theory that it was created in a workshop based in Berlin. A relationship with the Bernau retable should be explored within this context. It would also be of interest to discover whether a workshop in Berlin closely associated with Cranach’s workshop in Wittenberg. Numerous similarities in technique and style with a work in a private collection in Oslo (http://lucascranach.org/PRIVATE_NONE-P142a) suggest that this retable, which depicts the Adoration was painted by the same artist two years later. As Friedrich III is shown on this painting future research should attempt to discover more about the commission and explore the relationship between the Master of the Mittenwald Retable and the electors of Saxony.

[Heydenreich 2016, 149-150]

An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [right wing]: The Annunciation, 1514

Images

Technical studies

07. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush; and dry drawing material (dark chalk)?

Type/Ductus:

- relatively freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and define facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form; small changes

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- an assistant in the Cranach workshop

Comments:

- the initial design was probably executed employing a stylus (or other hard drawing implement)

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2015]

photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
photographed by Ingo Sandner

01.05.2014 - Scientific analysis

Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

pine wood

analysed by Dr. Thilo Schöfbeck

03. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

UV-light photography

2009 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Stereomicroscopy
Infrared reflectography

Support

- pine wood, three planks with numerous knots, reinforced with a canvas application

- the joins are reinforced with strips of canvas, this observation applies only to the fixed wing panels where the paint layers on the reverse have been removed.

- the panels depicting the annunciation have been integrated into the shrine wing, the backs of the paintings create the backgrounds for the inner wings, the inner panels are as such inserted into the frame of the wing panels

Ground and Imprimatura

The ground is a thin application (c. 1mm). There is a barbe along the edges close to the frame. In raking light marks created by a spatula used to smoothen the ground are visible. No analysis was done to establish the composition of the ground.

A light umbra coloured imprimatura is visible in the glazed sections of the painting.

Underdrawing

The underdrawing on the annunciation panels may have been executed employing iron gall ink, which cannot be seen in IR.

Paint Layers and Gilding

- glazed to opaque paint application

Framing

- the panels are inserted into the shrine wings, which are original.

[Documentation Dirk Jacob 2014]

examined by Grit Jehmlich

Conservation History

Date2012 - 2014

the extensive overpaint from 1861 was removed

conservation treatment by Grit Jehmlich
written by Dirk Jacob

Date1861 - 1862

restoration of the retable and the paintings (extensively overpainted)

[Dokumentation Dirk Jacob 2014]

minor conservation treatment in the 20th century

[Documentation Dirk Jacob 2014]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [right wing]: The Annunciation', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001B/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [right wing]: The Annunciation', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001B/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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