Cupid as Honey Thief

Cupid as Honey Thief

Title

Cupid as Honey Thief

[Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

Painting on limewood

Medium

Painting on limewood

[Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

The fragment shows a full-length figure of Cupid as a winged, nude child. His head is bent back slightly and he has raised his left hand to his forehead in an attempt to ward off the bees, that swarm around him. He still holds the honeycomb in his right hand.

The fragment shows a full-length figure of Cupid as a winged, nude child. His head is bent back slightly and he has raised his left hand to his forehead in an attempt to ward off the bees, that swarm around him. He still holds the honeycomb in his right hand. Cupid stands on a narrow strip of ground and the tree from which he has taken the honeycomb is visible behind him.

[Görres, cda 2012]

Attributions
Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Heydenreich, cda 2011]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

Production dates
about 1600 or later
1531

Production dates

about 1600 or later

[Heydenreich, cda, 2011]

1531

[Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 76.5 x 28 x 0.8-2 cm (fragment)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 76.5 x 28 x 0.8-2 cm (fragment)

  • [Heydenreich, cda 2011]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia, centre left: winged serpent and dated '1531' above [not genuine]

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia, centre left: winged serpent and dated '1531' above [not genuine]

  • [Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse of the panel: - centre, left:
remains of a red wax seal, probably the Baden-Saxon-Lauenburg allied coat-of-arms

  • below:
    yellow …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - centre, left:

  • remains of a red wax seal, probably the Baden-Saxon-Lauenburg allied coat-of-arms

    • below:

  • yellow label with a black boarder:

  • 'Badisches Kunsthalle Karlsruhe [1]

  • Fot. [2]

  • Inv. Nr. [1] 811 Cranach-W. [2]

  • Geprüft 1936 [last figure handwritten]

  • Amor als Honigdieb [2]'

    • beside the above, on the right:

  • white label with a black boarder:

  • 'Staatl. Kunsthalle Karlsruhe Standort: [1] 15 [2] [crossed out] Wand 3'

  • [1] printed

  • [2] handwritten

  • [Görres, cda 2012]

Owner
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Repository
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Location
Karlsruhe
CDA ID
DE_SKK_0811
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKK_0811/

Provenance

  • from the collection of the Margrave of Baden, in the 18th century in the castle of Rastatt (Inventory from 1772, fol. 219: "1 Stück von einem Gemähld auf Holz, worauf der Cupido von dene Immen gestochen. Nr. 25." (a piece of a painting on wood, showing Cupid stung by bees. No. 25))
    [Kircher 1949, 531], [Kircher 1955, 244] [1]
  • the same composition is recorded in the inventory of the Margrave of Hofes from Basel, 1736 and 1773 (No. 598): "Eine Nackendte Venus in Lebensgröße, stehend, mit einem rothen Hüthlein bedeckt, wobey ein Cupido, der von denen Bienen gestochen wird. Von Lucas Cranich..." (a nude figure of Venus, life-size, standing, covered with a red hat, beside her Cupid stung by bees. By Lucas Cranich...
  • transferred from the collection of the Archduke in 1890

[1][Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]
[Cat. Karlsruhe 1966, 91]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Moraht-Fromm 2010 32-34 12
AuthorAnna Moraht-Fromm
TitleDie Kunst der Beschneidung - beschnittene Kunst. Oder: wie man mit Kunst umgeht
JournalJahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen in Baden-Württemberg
Place of PublicationBerlin, Munich
Issue46 (2009/2010)
Year of Publication2010
Pages26-34
Show Literature
Hinz 1994 B 174
AuthorBerthold Hinz
TitleSinnwidrig zusammengestellte Fabrikate? Zur Varianten-Praxis der Cranach-Werkstatt
Publicationin Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds., Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Regensburg
Year of Publication1994
Pages174-179
Show Literature
Cat. Karlsruhe 1966 91
AuthorJan Lauts
TitleStaatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Katalog Alter Meister bis 1800
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationKarlsruhe
Year of Publication1966
Show Literature
Kircher 1955 244
AuthorGerda Franziska Kircher
TitleDie Einrichtung des Rastatter Schlosses im Jahre 1772
JournalZeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins
IssueBd.103, N.F.64 (1955)
Year of Publication1955
Pages205ff.
Show Literature
Kircher 1949 531
AuthorGerda Franziska Kircher
TitleNeue Forschungen zur Porträt- und Sammlungsgeschichte der Zähringer
JournalZeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins
Issue97 (NF 58), 1949
Year of Publication1949
Pages498
Show Literature
  • Cupid as Honey Thief, about 1600 or later

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • irr
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail

Technical studies

07. 2011Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing is not readily visible

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

2011Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • detail

Paint Layers and Gilding

- the paint application of the flesh paint , which is executed over a grey underpaint corresponds with the technique employed in the workshop of Cranach the Elder (see also infrared reflectogram)

[Heydenreich, cda 2011]

Versions

Venus with Cupid as a Honey Thief
  • Venus with Cupid as a Honey Thief, about 1500 - 1599
  • DE_BStGS_5466
  • Painting
  • Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Venus and Cupid
  • Venus and Cupid, 1531
  • BE_MRBAB_4759
  • Painting
  • Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels
Cupid (fragment)
  • Cupid (fragment), 153[1]?
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P325
  • Painting
  • Private Collection

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Cupid as Honey Thief', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKK_0811/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Cupid as Honey Thief', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SKK_0811/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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