Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire

Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire

Titles

Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire

[cda 2015]

Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 509]

Painting on canvas

Medium

Painting on canvas

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 509]

Posthumous portrait of the disempowered Elector Johann Friedrich I. of Saxony (1503 - 1554) wearing sumptous everyday attire with a fur-trimmed cloak and three chains around his neck; his left hand rests on the hilt of a sword; his scar from the Battle of Mühlberg is clearly visible.

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Younger
Lucas Cranach the Younger (and Workshop)

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 509]

Lucas Cranach the Younger (and Workshop)

[Heydenreich 2007, 233]

Production date
1578

Production date

1578

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 111 x 91.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 111 x 91.5 cm

  • [Heydenreich, unpublished examination report 1997]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

Top left: 'IOHANN FRIEDERICVS
CHVRFÜRST ZV SACHSEN.
1547.' - on the reverse:
label: 'Gen. Kat. No. 6193'
in white …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • Top left:

  • 'IOHANN FRIEDERICVS

  • CHVRFÜRST ZV SACHSEN.

  • 1547.'

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

    • on the reverse: label: 'Gen. Kat. No. 6193'

  • in white paint: '6139'

  • in pen: 'V-75-K1'

  • [Heydenreich, unpublished examination report 1997]

Owner
Museum Weißenfels - Schloss Neu-Augustusburg
Repository
Museum Weißenfels - Schloss Neu-Augustusburg
Location
Weissenfels
CDA ID
DE_MWSNA_V-75-K1
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MWSNA_V-75-K1/

Provenance

  • in 1578 the Archduke Ferdinand II of Tyrol asked Eltctor August of Saxony for two portrait pairs of Elector Moritz and Johann Friedrich of Saxony for his portrait collection. The above mentioned should each be represented in both armour and everyday attire. Elector August commissioned Cranach the Younger, who delivered the paintings in the same year. However for some unknown reason the portrait pairs remained in Saxony.

[see Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 508-509]

  • 1670 transferred to the cabinet of curiosities (Kunstkammer), Dresden

  • 1833 transferred to the armoury (Historisches Museum, Inv.-No. H 73)
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 536-537]

  • 1944 transferred from Celle castle
    [Inventory sheet, Schlossmuseum Weißenfels 1972]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Heydenreich 2007 A 233, 405 Fig. 195
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleLucas Cranach the Elder
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
Year of Publication2007
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/6116/2097/3099/Heydenreich_2007_Lucas_Cranach_the_Elder.pdf
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 508-509, 536-537 under No. 48 Fig. 216
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
Schade 1974 105 Fig. 262
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDie Malerfamilie Cranach
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1974
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schade1974
Show Literature
Steyer 1972
AuthorRoland Steyer
TitleIm Zeichen der geflügelten Schlange. Einem großen Meister auf der Spur
JournalNeue Berliner Illustrierte
Issue16
Year of Publication1972
Pages11-15
Show Literature

Connected Works

Elector Moritz of Saxony wearing Informal Attire
  • Elector Moritz of Saxony wearing Informal Attire, 1578
  • DE_SMM_001
  • Painting
  • Stadtmuseum Meißen
  • Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire, 1578

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • irr
  • x_radiograph
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail

Technical studies

10. 2015Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- dry, black drawing material, dark chalk, stylus

Type/Ductus:

- careful and economic underdrawing (only occasionally visible e.g. in the hands and the contours of the head and collar)

- fine lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version (where visible); lines define the main contours and provide sparse details within forms; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviatioins:

- hardly any corrections were made to the forms during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop?

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2016]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph

Support

- plain weave canvas with horizontal warp threads

- a c. 2 cm painted black band along all four edges

- the original dimensions up to the black band: 114 x 94 cm

- distance between the original nails 7 - 9 cm

- the stretcher (coniferous wood) is not original

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report 1997]

Condition Reports

Date1945 -

  • the painting was badly damaged in 1945

[Inventory sheet, Schlossmuseum Weißenfels 1972]

Conservation History

Date1970 -

  • the support was lined with an intermediate layer of paper (wax-resin lining)
  • conservation treatment by Friedrich Decker

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MWSNA_V-75-K1/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Elector Johann Friedrich of Saxony wearing Informal Attire', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_MWSNA_V-75-K1/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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