Judith

Judith

Title

Judith

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]
[Posse 1942, 66, No. 113]

The painting depicts the Old Testament heroin Judith as a lifesize full-length nude figure standing against a dark neutral background on stony ground. She wears a transparent veil that falls from her head and is wrapped around her body. In addition she a splendid band and two chains around her

The painting depicts the Old Testament heroin Judith as a lifesize full-length nude figure standing against a dark neutral background on stony ground. She wears a transparent veil that falls from her head and is wrapped around her body. In addition she a splendid band and two chains around her neck. She holds the head of Holofernes in her left hand, while in her right hand she holds the long sword with which she killed Holofernes, having entraped him to save her city.

[Herrschaft, cda 2015]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]
[Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 530]

Production date
after 1537

Production date

after 1537

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 172 x 64 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 172 x 64 cm

  • [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]

  • [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 530]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the lower half: inscribed with winged serpent (dropped wings)

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia on the lower half: inscribed with winged serpent (dropped wings)

  • [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]

  • [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 530]

Owner
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Repository
painting not preserved
CDA ID
DE_SKD-Lost_1916-2
FR (1978) Nr.
FR359
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKD-Lost_1916-2/

Connected Works

Lucretia
  • Lucretia, after 1537
  • DE_SKD-Lost_1916-1
  • Painting
  • Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Provenance

  • 1595 recorded in the inventory of the Kunstkammer (Ducal art cabinet) Dresden
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 530]
  • in the mid 18th century it entered the Gemäldegalerie Dresden
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 134]
  • 13.02.1945 destroyed by fire during the air raid on Dresden
    [Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005, 164]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005 426
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
Kolb 2005 A 119, 134, 148, 163, 164, 168 Fn. 23 Fig. 75
AuthorKarin Kolb
TitleCranach - Die Gemälde in Dresden und ihre Geschichte
Publicationin Harald Marx, Ingrid Mössinger, Karin Kolb, eds., Cranach. Gemälde aus Dresden, Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Pages112-173
Show Literature
Kolb 2005 C 530, 540-549, 551, 552, 554, 555, 557, 571
AuthorKarin Kolb
TitleDokumentation zum Dresdener Cranach-Bestand
Publicationin Harald Marx, Ingrid Mössinger, Karin Kolb, eds., Cranach. Gemälde aus Dresden, Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz
Place of PublicationCologne
Year of Publication2005
Pages526-572
Show Literature
Bierende 2002
AuthorEdgar Bierende
TitleLucas Cranach d.Ä. und der deutsche Humanismus. Tafelmalerei im Kontext von Rhetorik, Chroniken und Fürstenspiegeln
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2002
Show Literature
Follak 2002
AuthorJan Follak
TitleLucretia zwischen positiver und negativer Anthropologie: Coluccio Salutatis Declamatio Lucretie und die Menschenbilder im exemplum der Lucretia von der Antike bis in die Neuzeit
Place of PublicationKonstanz
Year of Publication2002
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-9144
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 141, 142 No. 359 Fig. 359
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 418
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Bernhard, Rogner 1965 93
AuthorMarianne Bernhard, Klaus P. Rogner
TitleVerlorene Werke der Malerei. In Deutschland in der Zeit von 1939 bis 1945 zerstörte und verschollene Gemälde
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1965
Show Literature
Ebert 1963/1964 26
AuthorHans Ebert
TitleÜber die Rückgewinnung zeitweilig verschollener Werke der Dresdener Gemäldegalerie
JournalJahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Issue4 (1963/1964)
Year of Publication1964
Pages25-44
Show Literature
Posse 1943 66 No. 112
AuthorHans Posse
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä.
Place of PublicationVienna
IssueSecond edition
Year of Publication1943
Show Literature
Posse 1942 66 No. 113 Pl.113
AuthorHans Posse
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä.
Place of PublicationVienna
Year of Publication1942
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 82 289
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
Schuchardt 1851 C 43 232
AuthorChristian Schuchardt
TitleLucas Cranach des Aeltern Leben und Werke. Zweiter Theil
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1851
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schuchardt1851bd2
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Schuchardt describes the pendant pair of Judith and Lucretia as belonging to the best of their genre and criticized the high hanging in the Dresden Galerie.

[Schuchardt 1851, Bd. II, 43, No. 233]

The painting of Judith was paired with a pendant of the same size depicting the ancient heroin Lucretia also nude. This painting was also destroyed in 1945.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 141-142, No. 359]

Among the Judith paintings by Cranach this panel is the only known example with a nude Judith. It is a pendant to a nude Lucretia. Whereas Lucretia appears as the heroin of virtue with a tragic death, Judith is the victorious figure.

[Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, 418]

  • Judith, after 1537

Images

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Judith', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKD-Lost_1916-2/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Judith', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKD-Lost_1916-2/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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