Martin Luther, half-length, facing right

Martin Luther, half-length, facing right

Title

Martin Luther, half-length, facing right

[KKL 2022]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Hegner 1990, No. 6a, 6b]

See German text version

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[KKL 2022]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Hegner 1990, Nos. 6a, 6b]

Production date
1526

Production date

1526

[dated, KKL 2022 ]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 19.3 x 13.5 x 0.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 19.3 x 13.5 x 0.5 cm

  • [KKL 2022]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the top left: winged serpent and dated '1526'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the top left: winged serpent and dated '1526'

  • [KKL 2022]

Inscriptions and Labels

on the reverse of both [panels] an old collector's seal (AB with a crown)
[Hegner 1990, Nr. …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • on the reverse of both [panels] an old collector's seal (AB with a crown)

  • [Hegner 1990, Nr. 6a, 6b]

Owner
Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Kunstsammlungen Schlösser, Gärten
Repository
Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Museum Schloss Güstrow
Location
Güstrow
CDA ID
DE_SMS_G2489
FR (1978) Nr.
FR189-190A
KKL-No
III.M17a, Part of portait group III
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMS_G2489/

Connected Works

Katharina of Bora, half-length, facing left
  • Katharina of Bora, half-length, facing left, 1526
  • DE_SMS_G2488
  • Painting
  • Staatliches Museum Schwerin, Kunstsammlungen Schlösser, Gärten

Provenance

  • acquired between 1863 and 1868 from the book and art dealer Gundlach, Rostock
    [Hegner 1990, Nr. 6a, 6b]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Sandner, Heydenreich, Smith-Contini 2015 132, Fn. 23
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich, Ingo Sandner, Helen Smith-Contini
TitleVeränderungen beim Unterzeichnen in Cranachs Werkstatt und die Arbeitsweise von Sohn Lucas
Publicationin Elke A. Werner, Anne Eusterschulte, Gunnar Heydenreich, eds., Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/5215/6337/7366/Heydenreich_Sandner_Smith-Contini_2015_-_Unterzeichnung.pdf
Pages128-141
Show Literature
Cat. Schwerin 1990 19 006a
AuthorKristina Hegner
TitleKunst der Renaissance
Place of PublicationSchwerin
Year of Publication1990
Show Literature
Hegner 1989 5, 7
AuthorKristina Hegner
TitleAltdeutsche Kunst [Faltblatt]
Place of PublicationSchwerin
Year of Publication1989
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 No. 189
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 under No. 179
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
Exhib. Cat. Wittenberg 1972 No. 142.1
Authorn. a.
TitleLucas Cranach, Zeit, Leben, Werk. Dokumentationsausstellung des Cranach-Komitees der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik 1972[Wittenberg, Staatl. Lutherhalle, 9. September - 31. Dezember 1972]
Place of PublicationWittenberg
Year of Publication1972
Show Literature
Lilienfein 1942 58 Fig. 61
AuthorHeinrich Lilienfein
TitleLukas Cranach und seine Zeit
Place of PublicationBielefeld
Year of Publication1942
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 26 056
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 160c
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
Heyck 1908 68 Fig. 52 p. 84
AuthorEduard Heyck
TitleLukas Cranach
SeriesKünstlermonographien
Volume95
Place of PublicationBielefeld
Year of Publication1908
Link https://archive.org/details/lukascranach01heycgoog
Show Literature
Flechsig 1900 A 12, 259
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Show Literature
Bode 1891 165
AuthorWilhelm Bode
TitleDie Grossherzogliche Gemälde-Galerie zu Schwerin
Place of PublicationVienna
Year of Publication1891
Show Literature
Cat. Schwerin 1882 No. 157
AuthorFriedrich Schlie
TitleBeschriebendes Verzeichniss der Werke älterer Meister in Grossherzoglichen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Schwerin
Place of PublicationSchwerin
Year of Publication1882
Show Literature
Schlie 1882 22
AuthorFriedrich Schlie
TitleKurzes Verzeichniss der Bilder in der Grossherzoglichen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Schwerin
Place of PublicationSchwerin
Year of Publication1882
Show Literature
Schlie 1883 18
AuthorFriedrich Schlie
TitleKurzes Verzeichniss der Bilder in der Grossherzoglichen Gemälde-Gallerie zu Schwerin
Place of PublicationSchwerin
IssueSecond edition
Year of Publication1882
Show Literature
Prosch 1863 41 (III)
AuthorEduard Prosch
TitleCatalog und Inventarium der Grossherzoglichen Gemälde-Gallerie und der Grossherzoglichen Sammlung plastischer Kunstwerke in Schwerin
Year of Publication1863
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

In the years 1525/26 after the marriage of the Augustine monk Martin Luther to the former Cistercian nun Katharina von Bora a number of pendant portraits were created as propagandistic gifts (see Koepplin). These show Luther bare-headed and his wife in dark but fashionable clothes with a hairnet and can be considered within the tradition of marriage portraiture. [...] the painting in Schwerin, which has been much neglected in the literature to date thanks to the erronious dimensions recorded by Lilienfein, belongs to this rare type of small format rectangular double portrait. Other paintings belonging to this series include the panels in the Wartburg (19.2 x 12.5 cm); (Luther deviates slightly), the panels in a private collection in Switzerland and first published by Koepplin (Pl. 26, 503 f; Luther 13.3 x 13.9 cm; Katharina 19.2 x 13.7 cm) and a single Katharina in the Adolphe Stein Colllection in Crans-sur-Sierre (Fig. 157; 20.5 x 13.3 cm)

[Hegner 1990, S. 19]

  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526

Images

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

Technical studies

07. 2013Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- dry drawing material, dark chalk

Type/Ductus:

- copied lines

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe the essential details and the facial features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- minor alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible

Comments:

- presumably after a pre-existing design

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2013]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

07. 2013Technical Examination

  • reverse

Support

- verso and dimensions original

[cda 2013]

1990Technical Examination

  • detail

Ground and Imprimatura

Incised lines are visible in Luther's face: wrinkles as well as the contour of the nose and the chin. Delicate incised lines on Katharina: eyes, mouth, chin.

Paint Layers and Gilding

- the background is green

[Cat. Schwerin 1990, 19]

Conservation History

Date1908

Restoration first recorded in 1908.

[Cat. Schwerin 1990, 19]

Versions

Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • DE_HABW_B96
  • Painting
  • Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • DE_SHLM_NONE-005
  • Painting
  • Private Collection
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • DE_WSE_M0065
  • Painting
  • Wartburg-Stiftung, Eisenach
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • DE_LHW-Lost_NONE-001
  • Painting
  • Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P162
  • Painting
  • Private Collection
Martin Luther, half-length, facing left
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing left, 1526
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P333
  • Painting
  • Private Collection
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P405
  • Painting
  • Private Collection
Martin Luther, half-length, facing right
  • Martin Luther, half-length, facing right, 1526
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P404
  • Painting
  • Private Collection
Martin Luther, bust-length, facing left
  • Martin Luther, bust-length, facing left, as of 1533
  • DE_SAOH_2000-3a
  • Painting
  • Stiftung August Ohm, Hamburg

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Martin Luther, half-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMS_G2489/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Martin Luther, half-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMS_G2489/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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