The Martyrdom of St Catherine

- four boards, widths between 19.5 and 26 cm, top from left to right: 24/24.8/24.7/21.5 cm, bottom from left to right: 25.8/19.5/24/26 cm

- glued butt joints, the edge of the panel is straight

- there are no visible damages in the wood

- the joints are covered on the front of the panel with strips of canvas (width 3.5-5 cm; thread count 15 x 15 threads/cm)

- the reverse of the panel has been carefully smoothed (original), a brown coating may be later

- a groove running around the edge of the panel is marked with incised lines; it was probably used to hold the panel in a frame (and may be of a later date)

- three dovetailed cross-battens on the reverse are probably not original, but may correspond to the lost originals

- white ground, probably a glue-chalk mixture, a relatively thin application

- the barbe along the edge of the ground is intact on all four sides

- imprimatura: a pink admixture (lead white, red lead), stripy application over the entire surface, partially visible on the surface

- a black painted band runs around the edge

- gilding: various garments were gilded during the painting process – beforehand they were worked up extensively in paint

- new frame: rebate frame, black

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium and brush

Type/Ductus:

- freehand underdrawing

- thin to relatively broad lines; occasional hatching-strokes

Function:

- only partially binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe the essential details and the facial features; some representation of volume (hatching-strokes)

Deviations:

- alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form; changes (e.g. position of the henchman)

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2012]

'The support consists of four broad limewood boards in a vertical arrangement. The planks are almost twice as thick as usual (1.6 cm).

On the front the joins are completely covered with canvas strips (fi gs 44, 45). Three dovetailed cross-battens on the back are probably original. Such techniques of stabilising the joins are rare on Cranach’s painting supports. There are also other differences compared to later practices, which will be considered further on. There is little doubt that this painting support came from a different professional panel maker . The cost for transporting supports was relatively high compared to those of production. Was this support made at a place where Cranach stopped during his travels, perhaps even in

Nuremberg? The methods used are found on various Nuremberg supports of the same period.'

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 65]

'On the panel depicting the Martyrdom of St Catherine (c.1508, ffig. 40), the black line on the upper and lower border ends with the barb, leaving some bare wood visible on the edge of the panel. The black paint covers the wood left and right

as far as the edge.52 A painting by Rembrandt , produced some 100 years later, may aid an understanding of this phenomenon (fig. 75). The Artist in His Studio53 shows a large panel standing on an easel. Grooved battens were temporarily attached to the upper and lower edge in order to stabilise the panel. It could thus be moved safely within the workshop. This assumes that there were similar pieces of squared wood as interim devices to exert a stabilising force used in the Cranach workshop during the early Wittenberg years. It is conceivable that they formed part of the temporary frame used during grounding when the aqueous medium might cause the panel to distort.54 It remains to be investigated whether they also served to hold the boards during joining.'

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 86]

'In X-radiographs of the Budapest Martyrdom of St Catherine (c.1508), changes in the choice of material, for example, gold leaf instead of a robe painted yellow, are revealed. The brocade robe of the falling prince, including the drawing of the pattern, was completed first with paint before being covered with

gold leaf and a new pattern (ifi gs 183, 184). To what an extent this alteration is a result of the artist reviewing the work from an aesthetic point of view or the commissioner expressing certain wishes cannot as yet be ascertained.'

[Heydenreich 2007 A, 216]

“Kopf und Oberkörper des Landsknechtes sind stark verändert. Der Henker war stärker nach rechts gebeugt. Durch die Zurücksetzung des Kopfes strafft sich der einst leicht gebeugte linke Arm, und der zum Schwert greifende rechte Arm erhält mehr Raum für den erwarteten tödlichen Schlag. Die Absicht einer erhöhten Dramatik war wohl der Grund für die genannten Veränderungen der Komposition.“

[Sandner 1998, 115]

„Kopf der Katharina: Neben der lockeren Linienführung des Umfeldes überrascht die konzentrierte, genaue Zeichnung mit zwar sparsamer aber verbindlicher Ausbildung der Details. Im Brustbereich sind sogar einige Schraffuren angelegt.“

[Sandner 1998, 116]

„Kopf des Landsknechtes: Der Kopf wurde in der Malerei deutlich nach links versetzt. Das Ohr der Unterzeichnung sitzt unter dem rechten Auge“

[Sandner 1998, 117]

20kV, 6mA, 2,20 min, 4 Films

Analyse of cross-sections; Incident light microscopy; UV fluorescence; EDX:

Probenliste Heydenreich [136]

Cross-section No.: EP 053

Brief description of paint: violet robe on black underpainting

Sample location: Fold in St Katharine’s robe, violett on black

Sample No.: 054

Incident light microscopy: yes

Incident light microscopy, photograph: yes

UV fluorescence: yes

UV fluorescence, photograph: yes

EDX: yes

EDX photograph: no

Observations:

5. varnish

4. red lake pigment and glassy, white amorphous lumps, in UV weak orange-red fluorescence

EDX: Pb!, Al!, traces of Ca, and K, indicating a red lake on a substrate containing aluminium

3. brown-black layer, large black and fine red pigment particles, in UV particles with a yellowish fluorescence are also visible, the red particles do not exhibit any characteristic fluorescence

EDX: red pigment Fe!, Si!, indicating a red iron oxide rich in silicon, the matrix also contains Ca, Cu, Ti – the black underpainting consists of black with the addition of iron oxide and a small amount of chalk? And a copper containing pigment (sicative)?

2. orange-pink layer, orange-red and white pigments, with a strong yellow fluorescence in UV and red pigments, with an orange fluorescence; light red imprimitura, which has run into an air-bubble in the chalk ground

1. traces of a black underdrawing; not detected with EDX

0. white ground

Commentary: The underdrawing is partially visible here. Pink imprimitura. Aubergine coloured robe with black underpainting (with the addition of red) and modulated with a red lake glaze

Probenliste Heydenreich [138]

Cross-section No.: EP 055

Brief description of paint: red piece of cloth on the trousers

Sample location: thief, thin strip of cloth beneath the hand on the left

Sample No.: 057

Incident light microscopy: yes

Incident light microscopy, photograph: yes

UV fluorescence: yes

UV fluorescence, photograph: yes

SEM/EDX: yes

SEM/EDX photograph: no

Observations:

3. red layer, vermillion pigment particles, blood red in UV, no further layer visible

2. white layer, light grey-white trousers,

EDX: Pb and traces of Ca, underpainting in lead white

1. orange-pink layer, white and orange-red pigments (orange-red in UV),

EDX: only Pb, imprimitura consists of lead white and red lead

0. white layer, becoming more transparent towards the top, ground

Commentary: Imprimatura (lead white and red lead) containing lead on a white ground. The trousers are underpainted with a light grey-white paint and are finished with vermilion red stripes.

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 1994]

Treatment:

• removal of varnish and old retouching/overpaint

(see photographs taken before and after treatment in: [Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994, 300, 301])

[Heydenreich, CDA 2011]