Portrait of Martin Luther

Title

[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Auct. Cat. New York 2010, lot 254]

The painting depicts Martin Luther as a half-length figure against a grey background. He is shown in three-quarter profile facing right and has been shifted slightly to the left, off the central axis of the panel. Luther wears a black gown with high collar over a black tunic, which has a red ribbon at the neck and reveals the black fringed collar of a white shirt. Luther's plump facial features are characterized by a five o'clock shadow; his short curly hair oscillates between dark and light shades of grey. In his hands, Luther presents the viewer with an open book showing a biblical passage in German from the first letter to Timothy.

[Görres, cda 2013]

Attribution: Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Cat. Frankfurt 2021 A, 34] [Exhib. Cat. Gotha 2015, No. 37] [Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Production date: 1559

Production date

1559

[dated]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 82,6 x 62 x 0,8 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 82,6 x 62 x 0,8 cm
[Cat. Frankfurt 2021 A, 31]
Dimensions of support: 82.5 x 62.2 cm
[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia top left: winged serpent with dropped wings, in black paint, facing right and date '1559'.

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia top left: winged serpent with dropped wings, in black paint, facing right and date '1559'.
[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Inscriptions and Labels

in the open book, verso:

Title: 'Die Erste Epistel'
text:
'Denn das ist ihe gewislich
war vnd ein theuer werdes

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

- in the open book, verso:
Title:
'Die Erste Epistel'
text:
'Denn das ist ihe gewislich
war vnd ein theuer werdes
wort das Christus Jhesus ko
[men] ist in die welt / die sunder
[selig] zu machen vnter welchen
ich der furnemest bin. Aber
darumb ist mir barmhertzig
keit wiederfahren, auf das an
mir furnemlich Jhesus Christ
us erzeigte alle gedult zum exem
pel denen die an in glauben soltn
zum ewigen leben Aber gott
dem ewigem könig dem vnuer
gencklichem vnsichtbarn vnd
allein weissen seie ehre vnd prei
se inn ewigkeit. Amen.
Das gebot befelh ich dir mein
sohn'
- in the open book, recto:
Title:
'An Timotheon'
Page top right:
'CLII'
Text:
'sohn Timothee nach den vor
igen weissagungen vber dir
das du in denselbigen eine gu
te Ritterschafft vbest, vnnd
habest den glauben vnd ein
gutes gewissen welchs etlich
von sich gestossen vnnd am
glauben ein schiffbruch erlit
ten haben. [on right edge specification of chapter: "II. CAP"] So ermane
ich nu das mann fur allen din
gen zu erst thu bitte gebet fur
bitte vnd dancksagung fur al
le menschen fur die konig vnd
fur alle oberkeit auf das wir
ein geruglichs vnd stilles leben
furen mogen inn aller gottselig
keit'
[Görres, cda 2013]

Owner: Städel Museum Frankfurt a.M.
Repository: Städel Museum Frankfurt a.M.
Location: Frankfurt am Main

CDA ID: DE_SMF_2320
FR (1978) Nr.: FR423
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_2320/

Connected Works

Provenance

Dr. Emile Isambert, Paris (1827 - 1876)
his auction, Paris (Hotel Drouot), 07.03.1877 to Louvet
1924-1926 with the art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, Amsterdam
1925 (?) Mr. and Mrs. Nathan J. Miller [contradicts the evidence in Goudstikker's exhibition catalogue from 1926, no. 15]
1932 private collection, New York
1. June 1978 anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, lot 153 (as Lucas Cranach the Elder)
where purchased by French and Co., New York
sold by the above to a private collector, New York
1. Jan. 2000 sold at Sotheby's, New York, lot 24
acquired by a private collector
1. Jan. 2010 Sotheby's, New York, lot 254, remained unsold
acquired by the Städel Museum Frankfurt a. M.
[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot. 254]
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no. 423]
[Cat. Frankfurt 2021 A, 34]

Exhibitions

Amsterdam 1926, no. 26
Rotterdam 1926, no. 15
New York 1956
Baltimore 1975-1978
Gotha/Kassel 2015, no. 37

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Cat. Frankfurt 2021 A

30-45

002

Pl. p. 30, dtl. p. 45

Author	Almut Pollmer-Schmidt, Christiane Weber, Fabian Wolf, Mareike Gerken
Title	Deutsche Gemälde im Städel Museum 1550 - 1725
Volume	Bd. 1
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	2021

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015

158, 159, 342, 343

Pl. p. 159, Fig. p. 343 (T37)

Editor	Julia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper
Title	Bild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Gotha, Herzogliches Museum; Kassel, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe]
Place of Publication	Heidelberg
Year of Publication	2015

Show Literature

Wadum 2015

195, Fn. 10, 196, Fn. 17

Author	Jorgen Wadum
Title	Cranach, His Sons, and Their Workshop. the Never-ending Problem of Hands (Part I)
Publication	in Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of Publication	Munich
Year of Publication	2015
Pages	191-199

Show Literature

Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A

lot. 254

Author	Sotheby's Auction House, New York
Title	Sotheby's. Important Old Master Paintings and Sculpture. New York, 28 January 2010
Place of Publication	New York
Year of Publication	2010

Show Literature

Schade, Schuttwolf 1994

Author	Werner Schade, Allmuth Schuttwolf
Title	Malerei und Plastik
Publication	in Allmuth Schuttwolf, ed., Gotteswort und Menschenbild. Werke von Cranach und seinen Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Gotha
Place of Publication	Gotha
Year of Publication	1994
Pages	15-94

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979

423

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Editor	G. Schwartz
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Basel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication	1979

Show Literature

Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932

340

Author	Max J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
Title	Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of Publication	Berlin
Year of Publication	1932
Link	http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Rotterdam 1926

015

Editor	Jacques Goudstikker
Title	Catalogue de la Collection Goudstikker d'Amsterdam [Rotterdam, Rotterdamsche Kunstkring, 10-25.04.1926]
Place of Publication	Haarlem
Year of Publication	1926
Link	https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6436413v/f5.item

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Mistakenly ascribed to Lucas Cranach the Elder, the present painting was thought to be dated '1539' until it was restored 1978. Cleaning revealed that the painting's authentic date was '1559', but that at some point in history, the third digit in the date had been changed from a '5' to a '3'. The date of 1559 precludes the authorship of Cranach the Elder, as he had passed away in 1553 and his son, Lucas Cranach the Younger, had taken over as head of a family studio. Such tampering was clearly an attempt to pass the work off on the market as an autograph painting by Cranach the Elder; however, it is now clear that this is a work of high quality by Cranach the Younger.

[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Portrait of Martin Luther, 1559

Images

Technical studies

03. 2013Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- dry drawing material (dark chalk)

Type/Ductus:

- relatively detailed underdrawing, both freehand and copied (traced)

- fine lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and define facial features; no representation of volume with hatching-strokes

Deviations:

- almost no alterations made during the painting process to clearly define forms; no changes

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Younger or workshop?

Comments:

- probably transferred (traced) from a pre-existing design

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2015]

photographed by Ingo Sandner
photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Conservation History

Date1978

Restored and authentic date of '1559' (not '1539') uncovered beneath the overpaint

[Auct. Cat. New York 2010 A, lot 254]

Date1932 - 1978

A cradle was attached to the reverse of the panel and it may have been trimmed slightly [...] The panel was enlarged slightly in format with the addition of battens (0.5 cm in width) that were glued to all four sides.

[Cat. Frankfurt 2021 A, 34]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Portrait of Martin Luther', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_2320/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Portrait of Martin Luther', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_2320/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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