Melancholia

'Devilish temptation is exuded here also. A vainly dressed man is abducted on a ram by witches, children play mischievous games with a rope swing, one doesn’t know. A plate of fruit and a goblet remain untouched. Two partridges, as they are otherwise depicted by Cranach with the Nymph of the Fountain (from the entourage of the Huntung Goddess Diana), contrast with the doleful, inactive hound. (see No. 544ff. colour plate 17).

The artistic quality corresponds with the 'autographed' works by Cranach and may be marked with a real Cranach insigna; it is however not quite of the same standard as comparable works. Did the 19 year old Hans Cranach contribute to this work? The soft the brushstrokes could stem from him (see No. 473).’

[Koepplin, Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, 292-293, No. 172]

'Cranach responded to Dürer's engraving of 'Melancholy' from 1514, possibly the 'most spoken about and commented work in the history of art' (Mende), with a series of paintings, all of them created between 1528 (FR277A) and 1533 (FR277). The fact that these works were created within a few years of each other but a certain time after the highly complex image by the artist from Nuremburg raises the question of whether there was an external cause. Koepplin convincingly speculates this may be related to Luther's view on Melancholy and its negative consequences. Based on these Cranach designed his antithesis/counter-images to Dürer's new, now positively tainted interpretation of the melancholic disposition. Under the influence of Neoplatonism Dürer emphasized the creative powers roused by Melancholy in his engraving and as it were bequeathed a programmatic image of his artistic self...'

[Messling, Exhib. Cat. Brussels, Paris 2010/2011, 233, No. 153]