Portrait of an unknown bearded man (a Saxon prince?)

Portrait of an unknown bearded man (a Saxon prince?)

Painting on laid paper

Medium

Painting on laid paper
Tempera, preparatory drawing with pierre noire (black chalk)?, charcoal

[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

Portrait of a bearded man facing to his left. His face and hair have been modelled with body colour, whereas the high collar of his shirt is only roughly sketched in.

[cda 2026]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Younger
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[cda 2026] [Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025] [Hofbauer 2010, no. 215] [oder Cranach der Ältere?, Koepplin, Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, no. 634]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[or Cranach the Younger?, Koepplin, Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, no. 634] [Jahn, Bernhard 1972, 149] [Rosenberg 1960, no. 83] [Girshausen 1936, no. 91]

Albrecht Dürer

former attribution [Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

Hans Holbein the Younger

former attribution [Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

Dating
about 1540
about 1530 - 1540

Dating

about 1540

[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025] [Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, 712, no. 634] [Rosenberg 1960, no. 83]

about 1530 - 1540

[Girshausen 1936, no. 91]

Dimensions
Sheet: 315 x 237 mm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

none

Inscriptions

none

Inscriptions

Inscriptions:

  • none

Labels

On the recto: - top left, handwritten: '98'

on the backboard:
top centre, paper label (Wittenberg exhibition): 'LP ART

Labels

later inscription, stamps, seals, labels:

  • On the recto: - top left, handwritten: '98'

  • on the backboard:

  • top centre, paper label (Wittenberg exhibition): 'LP ART [...]

  • - bottom, centre, stamp, black ink 'MUSEÉ DES BEAUX-ART || REIMS FRANCE [...]

  • - bottom right, oval stamp, black ink; label with barcode

  • - beneath, handwritten: '795.1.269'

  • - beneath on the tape, handwritten: '795.1.269'

  • - in all four corners, stamp, black ink: 'Encadre sous verre'

  • For further information see also:

  • [Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

Owner
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
Repository
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
Location
Reims
CDA ID
FR_MR_795-1-269
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/FR_MR_795-1-269/

Provenance

- until 1752 in the collection of Antoine Ferrand de Monthelon (painter and director of the L’école de dessin de Reims)
- in 1752 bequested to the town of Reims
[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1937, no. 213
Basel 1974, no. 634
Wittenberg 2015, no. 3/9
Reims 2016, no. 8
Colmar 2021 (no catalogue, Têtes è têtes. Lucas Cranach Le Jeune/ Collège Molière de Colmar, Portraits Musée Unterlinden de Colmar
06/11/2021 - 07/02/2022)
Paris 2025, p. 19

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Paris 2025 19 Fig. p. 19
AuthorMarie-Hélène Montout-Richard
EditorMusée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
TitleDess(e)ins pour un grand musée
Place of PublicationReims
Year of Publication2025
Link https://www.calameo.com/read/002338616527cb890de67
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Reims 2016 08
AuthorMarie-Hélène Montout-Richard, Catherine Delot
EditorMusée des Beaux-Arts, Reims
TitleRegard sur ...Lucas Cranach le Jeune
Place of PublicationReims
Year of Publication2016
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Wittenb 2015 B 114-123, 121, 123, 318, 320 3/9 Fig. p. 319
EditorRoland Enke, Jutta Strehle, Katja Schneider
TitleLucas Cranach der Jüngere - Entdeckung eines Meisters, Stiftung Luthergedenkstätten in Sachsen-Anhalt, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Augusteum, 26 June - 1 November 2015
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Wittenb 2015 C 18-42, 24 Fig. p. 25
EditorSuzanne Greub
TitleVon Meisterhand : die Cranach-Sammlung des Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims, Augusteum/Lutherhaus, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, 26 June - 1 November 2015
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Montout-Richard 2015 58-62, 59, 60 fn. 10, 65 004
AuthorMarie-Hélène Montout-Richard
Title"Die Cranachs" von Reims
Publicationin Suzanne Greub, ed., Von Meisterhand : die Cranach-Sammlung des Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims, Augusteum/Lutherhaus, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, 26 June - 1 November 2015
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2015
Pages58-62
Show Literature
Hofbauer 2010 430, 431 215 Fig. p. 431
AuthorMichael Hofbauer
TitleCranach - die Zeichnungen
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 712 634
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
Jahn, Bernhard 1972 149 Fig. p. 149
AuthorJohannes Jahn
EditorMarianne Bernhard
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere: 1472 - 1553. Das gesamte graphische Werk. Mit Exempeln aus dem graphischen Werk Lucas Cranach des Jüngeren und der Cranachwerkstatt
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1972
Show Literature
Rosenberg 1960 30, 31 083 pl. 83
AuthorJakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Zeichnungen Lucas Cranachs d.Ä.
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1960
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42777
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 213
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Girshausen 1936 58, 59, 82 091
AuthorTheo Ludwig Girshausen
TitleDie Handzeichnungen Lukas Cranachs des Älteren
Place of PublicationFrankfurt/Main
Year of Publication1936
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23708
Show Literature
Bethe 1934
AuthorHellmuth Bethe
TitleEine gedeutete Bildnisstudie Lucas Cranachs
JournalPantheon
Issue7/13
Year of Publication1934
Pages129-130
Show Literature
Rosenberg 1934 A 188 Fig. 6
AuthorJakob Rosenberg
TitleDeutsche Bildzeichnungen des 16. Jhs. im Museum zu Reims
JournalJahrbuch der Preußischen Kunstsammlungen
Issue55
Year of Publication1934
Pages181-189
Show Literature
Glaser 1921 A 168
AuthorCurt Glaser
TitleLukas Cranach
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1921
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

M.-H. Montout-Richard supports Rosenberg’s hypothesis and cites various comparative representations: a portrait of Wolfgang by the Master I. S. [RU_SMBKPM_932]; a Stag hunt (1545) attributed to Cranach the Younger [ES_MNdP_P02176]; a portrait of Joachim (1532) [DE_SA-KsDW_M16-2006] and an epitaph for Joachim by Cranach the Younger [DE_JD_NONE-JD001].

[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 01.04.2025]

In his essay from 1934 H. Bethe [Bethe 1934, 128-130] identified the sitter as Conrad Krebs, the architect of the castle in Torgau. This proposal was dismissed by Rosenberg in 1934 [Rosenberg 1934, 188] who saw a greater likeness with members of the House of Ascania, Joachim I of Anhalt-Dessau (1509-1561) and Wolfgang of Anhalt-Köthen (1492-1566).

[cda 2026]

Having compared the portrait study with a portrait painting in Dessau [DE_SA-KsDW_M16-2006], M. Hofbauer [Exhib. Cat. Wittenb 2015 C, 24] believes he has identified the sitter as Joachim I. von Anhalt.

[cda 2026]

  • Portrait of an unknown bearded man (a Saxon prince?), about 1540

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Technical studies

2025Technical Examination

  • Watermark

Watermark: present

Wartermark, motif: high crown surmounted by a star

[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 31.03.2025]

Condition Reports

Date2025

- adhered to cardboard

[Le musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims online, accessed 31.03.2025]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

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Entry with no author
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