An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [predella]: Veronica

An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [predella]: Veronica

Title

An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [predella]: Veronica

[cda 2015]

Painting on pine wood

Medium

Painting on pine wood

[Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

Two angels hold the cloth, that Veronica gave to Christ as he carried the cross and which bears the image of Christ's face. Shown here with the cown of thorns.

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: 55.4 x 150.4 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 55.4 x 150.4 cm

  • [Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

Signature / Dating
  • dated on the moveable wings

Signature / Dating

    • dated on the moveable wings
  • [Documentation D. Jakob 2014]

Owner
Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Mittenwalde
Repository
St. Moritzkirche Mittenwalde
Location
Mittenwalde
CDA ID
DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001E
FR (1978) Nr.
FR047B
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001E/

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
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleCranach? Fragen der Zuschreibung im Lichte kunsttechnologischer Untersuchungen
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/7316/7870/1704/Heydenreich_2017_Cranach_Fragen_der_Zuschreibung.pdf
Pages72-81
Heydenreich 2016
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleDas Mittenwalder Retabel (1514). Die Malerei im Spiegel der Cranach-Forschung
Publicationin, Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologisches Landesmuseum ed., Flügelaltäre um 1515 - Höhepunkte mittelalterlicher Kunst in Brandenburg und in den Nachbarregionen
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2016
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/7616/7870/1703/Heydenreich_2016_Das_Mittenwalder_Retabel.pdf
Pages138-153
Knüvener 2011 227-228
AuthorPeter Knüvener
TitleDie spätmittelalterliche Skulptur und Malerei in der Mark Brandenburg
VolumeBd. 14
JournalForschungen und Beiträge zur Denkmalpflege im Land Brandenburg
Place of PublicationWorms
Year of Publication2011
Pages221-229
Müller 2008 A
AuthorMathias Müller
EditorErnst Badstübner, Peter Knüvener, Dirk Schumann
TitleOrdenslehre und Fürstenmemoria. Bildform und Bildkonzept des dominikanischen Altarretabels von Mittenwalde bei Berlin
Publicationin Ernst Badstübner, ed., Die Kunst des Mittelalters in der Mark Brandenburg. Tradition - Transformation - Innovation
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2008
Pages348-362
Cardenas, Schumann 2004
AuthorLivia Cardenas, Dirk Schumann
TitleDas mittelalterliche Altaretabel der Moritzkirche in Mittenwalde
Year of Publication2004
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 79 047B
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979

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 [predella]: Veronica, 1514

Images

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Technical studies

07. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid black medium, brush

Type/Ductus:

- relatively freehand underdrawing

- thin lines

- occasional hatching-strokes

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and define facial features; occasional representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviatations:

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

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- an assistant in the Cranach workshop

[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

05. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • UV-light photography
  • conservation

2009 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

- pine wood, three planks with numerous knots

Ground and Imprimatura

- thin groound application (c. 1 mm), a barb is present along the edges near the frame

- analysis was not carried out to establish the composition of the ground

- a light umbra coloured imprimatura is visible glazed areas of the painting

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing executed with a brush and black ink (visible in IR)

- the painted version diviates somewhat from the underdrawing

Paint Layers and Gilding

- glazed to opaque paint application, not gilded

[Documentation Dirk Jacob 2014]

  • examined by Grit Jehmlich

Conservation History

Date2012 - 2014

  • the extensive overpaint from 1861 was removed from the panels
  • conservation treatment by Grit Jehmlich
  • written by Dirk Jacob

Date1861 - 1862

  • restoration of the retable and the paintings (extensively overpainted)

[Documentation 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 [predella]: Veronica', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001E/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'An Altarpiece from St. Moritz Church [predella]: Veronica', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MKM_NONE-MKM001E/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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