The Lamentation of Christ

The Lamentation of Christ

Drawing on laid paper

Medium

Drawing on laid paper
pen and black-brown ink, grey-brown washes and some line drawing with a brush

[cda 2026]

The drawing depicts the scene of the Lamentation set against the backdrop of a hilly landscape. Christ’s corpse is shown in the foreground at the centre of a group of mourners arranged in the form of a pyramid. St John gently supports the corpse as it is placed on a

The drawing depicts the scene of the Lamentation set against the backdrop of a hilly landscape. Christ’s corpse is shown in the foreground at the centre of a group of mourners arranged in the form of a pyramid. St John gently supports the corpse as it is placed on a cloth, while Mary Magdalene holds up his left arm and kisses the wound on his hand. His mother, the Virgin Mary, kneels beside him grief-stricken. Behind further women mourn. On the right Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are shown holding the burial shroud and the ointment jar respectively. Christ’s empty Tau cross rises high above this huddled group at the centre of the composition with a ladder still leaning against it. Either side are the two thieves who have not yet been taken down from their crosses.

[cda 2026]

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Erlangen 2018, no. 20]; [Messling 2013, 235]; [Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, 479, no. 327a]; [Cat. Erlangen 1929, 305, no. 1274]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

? [Hofbauer 2010, no. 57]

Dating
about 1520 - 1525

Dating

about 1520 - 1525

[cda 2026] [Messling 2013, 235]

Dimensions
Sheet: 137-140 x 98-100 mm

Dimensions

  • Sheet: 137-140 x 98-100 mm

  • [cda 2024]

Signature / Dating

none

Owner
Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg
Repository
Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg
Location
Erlangen
CDA ID
DE_UBERL_B1274
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_UBERL_B1274/

Provenance

- formerly the property of the Margrave of Ansbach
- 1805/1806 acquired by the Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen
[Cat. Erlangen 2018, 1]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1973, no. 36
Basel 1974, no. 327a
Erlangen/Halle/Augsburg 1994, no. 20
Aschaffenburg 2007, no. 9a

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Erlangen 2018 26, 27
AuthorManuel Teget-Welz
EditorHans Dickel
TitleZeichnen in Cranachs Werkstatt. Die sächsischen Zeichnungen der Renaissance in der Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen
Place of PublicationPetersberg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Dietz, Messling 2017 68
AuthorGeorg Josef Dietz, Guido Messling
TitleCranach der Ältere als Zeichner
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Pages66-71
Show Literature
Messling 2013 235
AuthorGuido Messling
Title[Rezension von] Michael Hofbauer: Cranach. Die Zeichnungen
JournalMaster Drawings
Issue51, 2
Year of Publication2013
Pages229-242
Show Literature
Hofbauer 2010 182, 183
AuthorMichael Hofbauer
TitleCranach - die Zeichnungen
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Aschaffenburg 2007 258
EditorGerhard Ermischer, Andreas Tacke
TitleCranach im Exil. Aschaffenburg um 1540. Zuflucht - Schatzkammer - Residenz. Ausstellungskatalog Schloss Johannisburg und Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2007
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1997 256
EditorKupferstichkabinett, Basel, Gerhard Brunner, Kunstmuseum Basel
TitleDürer, Holbein, Grünewald. Meisterzeichnungen der deutschen Renaissance aus Berlin und Basel [Basel, Kunstmuseum, 14.05- 24.08.1997; Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 05.06-23.08.1998]
Place of PublicationBasel
Year of Publication1997
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Erlangen 1994 126
EditorAndreas Tacke
TitleCranach. Meisterwerke auf Vorrat. Die Erlanger Handzeichnungen der Universitätsbibliothek. Bestands- und Ausstellungskatalog [Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen-Nürnberg, 17.6.1994 - 31.7.1994, Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle, 13.11.1994 - 8.1.1995, Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg, 17.1.1995 - 24.2.1995]
Place of PublicationErlangen
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Tacke 1992 136 fn. 77
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleDer katholische Cranach. Zu zwei Großaufträgen von Lucas Cranach d. Ä., Simon Franck und der Cranach-Werkstatt (1520 - 1540)
SeriesBerliner Schriften zur Kunst
Volume2
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication1992
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 479, 480
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. Berlin 1973 38
AuthorWilhelm H. Köhler, Frank Steigerwald
TitleLucas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1973
Show Literature
Rosenberg 1960 21 (under no. 31)
AuthorJakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Zeichnungen Lucas Cranachs d.Ä.
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1960
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42777
Show Literature
Cat. Erlangen 1929 305
AuthorElfried Bock
TitleDie Zeichnungen in der Universitätsbibliothek Erlangen
Volume2 Bde.
Place of PublicationFrankfurt am Main
Year of Publication1929
Link https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:29-bv009444368-1
Show Literature
  • The Lamentation of Christ, about 1520 - 1525

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License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Technical studies

2024Technical Examination

  • Watermark

Watermark: present

Watermark, motif: Unicorn

Watermark, dimension: 33 x 60 mm

[cda 2024]

2024Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Examination of paper / structural analysis
  • Infrared reflectography

Support

Paper type: laid

Chain line, orientation to image: horizontal

Chain lines (intervals): 24,24,25,26,24

Laid lines (density): 8

Mould side: (verso)

[cda 2024]

Process, Medium

pen and black-brown, carbon-based ink (IRR), grey-brown, carbon-based (IRR) washes and some line drawing with a brush; frame lines with a pen and black, carbon-based ink (IRR), on laid paper

[Thomas Klinke, Gunnar Heydenreich, cda 2026]

Condition Reports

Date2018

'Unevenly trimmed (minimal); remnants of yellow wash along the edges; small tear repaired at the top left.

Verso: slight remnants of old mounting; numerous black ink stains on the right half of the sheet.'

[Cat. Erlangen 2018, 26, no. 20] (translated from German, cda 2025)

Versions2

Model for an altar with the lamentation depicted on the central panel
  • Model for an altar with the lamentation depicted on the central panel, about 1520
  • DE_SMBKSK_KdZ387
  • Drawing
  • Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Model for an altar with the lamentation depicted on the central panel
  • Model for an altar with the lamentation depicted on the central panel, about 1520
  • DE_SMBKSK_KdZ387
  • Drawing
  • Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Lamentation of Christ', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_UBERL_B1274/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Lamentation of Christ', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_UBERL_B1274/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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