Portrait of a young boy

Portrait of a young boy

Painting on laid paper

Medium

Painting on laid paper
brushes of varying width, linear and flat as well as translucent and opaque paint application, presumably aqueous binding medium; flesh tones, pink and grey-brown (lead white, vermillion), partially heightened in white; iris, grey, modelled in dark grey and white; pupil, black with several white reflections; eyelashes and eyebrows with a pen (?) and brown medium; mouth, red (vermillion, lead white and red lake); hair, brown (iron oxide); over dry, grey-black drawing material (robe)

[cda 2026]

A portrait study showing the head of a boy facing right with his hair cut short in a pageboy style. The face and hair are modelled in shades of colour, whereas the clothing is only roughly sketched.

[cda 2026]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Louvre online, accessed 30.10.2025]; [Hofbauer 2010, 254, no. 116]; [Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003, 28, no. 10]; [Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, 696, no. 619a]; [Rosenberg 1960, 28, no. 75]; [Winkler 1936, 141]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Girshausen 1936, 93]

Circle of Lucas Cranach the Elder

'école de CRANACH Lucas le Vieux' [Cat. Paris 1937, no. 93]

Dating
about 1510
about 1510 - 1515

Dating

about 1510

[Louvre online, accessed 30.10.2025]; [Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010, 128, no. 38]

about 1509

[Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003, 28, no. 10]

about 1510 - 1515

[Rosenberg 1960, 28]

about 1515

[Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976, 696, no. 619a]

Dimensions
Sheet: 242 x 176-178 mm

Dimensions

  • Sheet: 242 x 176-178 mm

  • Image: 242 x 176-178 mm

  • [cda 2025]

Signature / Dating

none

Inscriptions

none

Inscriptions

Inscriptions:

  • none

Labels

Recto, bottom right, [Lugt no. L. 1886]
Verso, upper third, centre, collector's mark:

Labels

later inscription, stamps, seals, labels:

  • Verso, upper third, centre, collector's mark: [Lugt no. L.2959]; beneath, in ink: '11,695'; beneath rectangular stamp: 'No. d’Ordre || 19.208'; beneath, in pencil: 'NIII || 14449'; bottom centre, in pencil: 'probablement || copie d’apres Cranach || A. 93'

Owner
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Repository
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Location
Paris
CDA ID
F_MdLP_19208
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/F_MdLP_19208/

Provenance

- in the collection of Everhard Jabach
- acquired for the King's Cabinet in 1671
[Louvre online, accessed 30.10.2025]

Exhibitions

Basel 1974, no. 619a
Hamburg 2003, no. 10
Brussels, Paris 2010, no. 38
Paris 2013, no. 7

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Paris 2013 007
EditorOlivia Savatier Sjöholm, Blaise Ducos, Musée du Louvre
TitleUn Allemand à la cour de Louis XIV: de Dürer à Van Dyck, la collection nordique d'Everhard Jabach, [Louvre, Paris]
Place of PublicationParis
Year of Publication2013
Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010 128 038 Fig. 38
EditorBozarbooks & Lannoo, Guido Messling
TitleDie Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Die Welt des Lucas Cranach", Palast der Schönen Künste, Brüssel, 20. Oktober 2010 - 23. Januar 2011]
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Hofbauer 2010 254, 255 116 Fig. p. 255
AuthorMichael Hofbauer
TitleCranach - die Zeichnungen
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2010
Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003 28, 168 010
EditorBucerius Kunst Forum, Werner Schade
TitleLucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne [Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg]
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2003
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 696 619a
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
Rosenberg 1960 28 075 pl. 75
AuthorJakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Zeichnungen Lucas Cranachs d.Ä.
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1960
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42777
Cat. Paris 1937 093
AuthorLouis Demonts, Frits Lugt
TitleInventaire général des dessins des écoles du nord, Écoles allemande et suisse, 1: Première periode: maîtres nés avant 1550, A - P, [Louvre, Paris]
Place of PublicationParis
Year of Publication1937
Girshausen 1936 93
AuthorTheo Ludwig Girshausen
TitleDie Handzeichnungen Lukas Cranachs des Älteren
Place of PublicationFrankfurt/Main
Year of Publication1936
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23708
Winkler 1936 A 141
AuthorFriedrich Horst Winkler
TitleDie Bilder des Wiener Filocalus
JournalJahrbuch der Preußischen Kunstsammlungen
Issue57
Year of Publication1936
Pages141-155
  • Portrait of a young boy, about 1510

Images

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Technical studies

30.09.2025Scientific analysis

  • Instrumental material analysis

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) (Thermo Scientific - Niton XL3t GOLDD+)

The following elements were detected using XRF and in conjunction with their optical characteristics the following fillers, drawing media and colourants could be identified:

M18 Red (mouth): Ca, Hg, Fe, Pb

Ca: chalk/gypsum (?); Hg: vermillion; Fe: iron oxide (?); Pb: white lead

M18a Blue (eye): Ca, Fe, Pb, Hg

Ca: chalk/gypsum (?) ; Fe: iron oxide (?); Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion

M19 White (eye): Pb, Ca, Fe, Hg

Pb: lead white, Ca: chalk/gypsum (?); Fe: iron oxide (?); Hg: vermillion

M20 Pink (cheek): Ca, Pb, Fe, Hg, (Cu)

Ca: chalk/gypsum (?); Pb: lead white; Fe: iron oxide (?); Hg: vermillion

M21 Paper (background): Ca, Fe

Ca: chalk/gypsum (?); Fe: iron oxide (?)

[Gunnar Heydenreich, Diana Blumenroth, unpublished analysis results, 30.09.2025]

  • examined by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • examined by Diana Blumenroth

2025 - Technical Examination

  • Watermark

Watermark: absent

[cda 2025]

2025 - Technical Examination

  • Examination of paper / structural analysis

Support

Paper type: laid

Chain line, orientation to image: vertical

Chain lines (intervals): 31;33;31;30

Laid lines (density): 11

Mould side: recto

[cda 2025]

Process, Medium

brushes of varying width, linear and flat as well as translucent and opaque paint application, presumably in an aqueous binding medium; flesh tones, pink and grey-brown (lead white, vermillion, XRF), partially heightened in white (occasional particles of blue azurite); eyeball, varying shades of (fluid) grey paint, overlaid with a yellowish (organic?) glaze, caruncle, vermilion (XRF), iris, grey, modelled in dark grey and white; pupil, black with several white reflections; eyelashes and eyebrows with a pen (?) and brown medium; mouth, red (vermillion, lead white (XRF) and red lake); hair, brown (iron oxide, XRF); over dry, grey-black, carbon-based drawing material, on laid paper

[Thomas Klinke, Gunnar Heydenreich, cda 2026]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of a young boy', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/F_MdLP_19208/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of a young boy', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/F_MdLP_19208/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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