Katharina of Bora, half-length, facing left

From 1525 in addition to the small round portraits of Luther and von Bora the Cranach workshop also produced considerably larger upright rectangular portraits of the pair against a green background (III.M7-III.M10), as well as smaller rectangular panels with a blue background from 1526 (III.M11-III.M19). This work belongs to the latter group. The scale of the small rectangular works corresponds to that of the round portraits (III.M1-III.M6).[1]

The Schleswig panels represent one of five surviving examples from a series within the small format Portrait Group III (III.M15-III.M19). The summary way these versions were worked up, the slightly smaller scale in favour of an extended image format and the shape of the numbers distinguish them from the other panels of the same size III.M11-III.M14.[2] The prominent inscription on the Schleswig examples differs from all other versions in the Portrait Group III. Furthermore together with the panels in Wolfenbüttel (III.M11) they are the only surviving examples in an original frame. Numerous corresponding holes in the external profile of both frames may stem from a locking mechanism.[3] The portraits do not otherwise appear to diverge significantly from the other examples in this subgroup,[4] therefore it seems plausible to attribute them to the Cranach workshop.[5]

Daniel Görres, Wibke Ottweiler

[1] The group of small format rectangles can be divided into two subgroups that differ marginally from each other but share the same scale. The smaller scale corresponds to that of the round portraits.

[2] All five examples display the insignia and the date in the top left corner. In all cases the ‚2‘ has a rounder form. See also Portrait Group III in the introductory text.

[3] Many thanks to Anne-Christin Henningsen, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Schloss Gottorf, for her observations. See also the technical report as well as the introduction in Portrait Group III.

[4] see Fn 3.

[5] A technical examination of the panels was not carried out a spart of the KKL.

Bibliography:

Exhib. Cat. Münster 1985, no. 60; Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994, no. 175; Drees 1994, 65-66; Exhib. Cat. Schleswig, 542; Spielmann 1997, no. 140; Exhib. Cat. Wittenberg 1999, no. 73; Sandner / Heydenreich / Smith-Contini 2015, 132.