Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony

Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony

Title

Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony

[Cat. Budapest 2003, 32]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[cda 2014]

Bust portrait of the elector wearing a fur-trimmed cloak and beret, facing right against a blue background.

Attribution
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Budapest 2003, 32]

Production date
1532

Production date

1532

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 20.6 x 14.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 20.6 x 14.5 cm

  • [cda 2014]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the left edge: serpent with elevated wings and dated '1532', in black paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the left edge: serpent with elevated wings and dated '1532', in black paint

Inscriptions and Labels
  • top right: Printed paper:
    'Friederich der Drit / Chur
    furst vnd Hertzog zu
    Sachssen.'
    [Görres, cda 2014] Reverse:
  • printed …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • top right:

  • Printed paper:

  • 'Friederich der Drit / Chur

  • furst vnd Hertzog zu

  • Sachssen.'

  • [Görres, cda 2014]

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: - printed shield on paper

    • in black paint: '020[?]' and 'x No II [?]'
Owner
Szépmuvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
Repository
Szépmuvészeti Múzeum, Budapest
Location
Budapest
CDA ID
HU_SMB_1341
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/HU_SMB_1341/

Provenance

  • 1894 acquired by the brothers Bourgeois, Cologne
    [Cat. Budapest 2003, 32]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1983, No. E 44/45
Kronach 1994, No. A9

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Florence 2017 76 under no. 7
EditorFrancesca de Luca, Giovanni Maria Fara
Title I volti della Riforma. Lutero e Cranach nelle collezioni medicee [Uffizi, Florence]
Place of PublicationFlorence, Milan
Year of Publication2017
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Prague 2016 100, 101
EditorOlga Kotková
TitleCranach. Ze všech stran. From all sides.
Place of PublicationPrague
Year of Publication2016
Pages16-180
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Prague 2005 86 (English version 35) under no. 16
EditorObrazárna Pražského hradu, Kaliopi Chamonikola
TitlePod znamením okrídleného hada. Lucas Cranach a ceské zeme. Under the winged Serpent. Lucas Cranach and the Czech Land
Place of PublicationPrague
Year of Publication2005
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 2003 32
EditorIldikó Ember, István Takács
TitleMuseum of Fine Arts Budapest. Old Masters' Gallery. Summary Catalogue, Vol. 3: German, Austrian, Bohemian and British Paintings
Volume3
Place of PublicationBudapest
Year of Publication2003
Show Literature
Bünsche 1998 A 61
AuthorBernd Bünsche
TitleDie Verwendung von Lochpausen bei der Anfertigung der Fürstenportraits durch Lucas Cranach den Älteren
Publicationin Ingo Sandner, Wartburg-Stiftung Eisenach and Fachhochschule Köln, ed., Unsichtbare Meisterzeichnungen auf dem Malgrund. Cranach und seine Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Eisenach
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1998
Pages61-64
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994 30-31, 354-356 A9
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Grimm 1994 30 Fig. A9
AuthorClaus Grimm
TitleLucas Cranach 1994
Publicationin Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff, eds., Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Regensburg
Year of Publication1994
Pages18-43
Show Literature
Urbach 1991 78-79
AuthorSusanne Urbach
TitleResearch Report on Examinations of Underdrawings in Some Early Netherlandish and German Panels in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts
Publicationin Hélène Verougstraete-Marcq, Roger van Schoute, eds., Le Dessin sous-jacent dans la peinture, Colloque VIII, 8-10 septembre 1989. Dessin sous-jacent et copies
Place of PublicationLouvain-la-Neuve
Year of Publication1991
Pages77-92
Show Literature
Cat. Weimar 1988 48
AuthorHelga Hoffmann
TitleKunstsammlungen zu Weimar: Die deutschen Gemälde des XVI. Jahrhunderts
Place of PublicationWeimar
Year of Publication1988
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1983 333-335 No. E44/45
EditorAltes Museum, Berlin
TitleKunst der Reformationzeit
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1983
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 1983 A 205
EditorWerner Hofmann
TitleLuther und die Folgen für die Kunst, [Hamburg, Kunsthalle. 1983-1984]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1983
Show Literature
Garas 1968 274 No. 800
AuthorKlára Garas
TitleDas Schicksal der Sammlung des Erzherzogs Leopold Wilhelm
JournalJahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien
Place of PublicationMunich
Issue64 (1968)
Year of Publication1968
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 1967 168
AuthorAndor Pigler
TitleKatalog der Galerie Alter Meister I-II
Place of PublicationBudapest
Year of Publication1967
Show Literature
Fenyo 1954 52-53 Fig. 31
AuthorIvan Fenyo
TitleUn dessin, et quelques tableaux de Cranach au Musée des Beaux-Arts
JournalBulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts
Issue5 (1954)
Year of Publication1954
Pages44-53
Show Literature
Garas 1948 25
AuthorGaras
TitleTableaux provenant de la collection de l'archiduc Léopold-Guillaune au Muée des Beaux-Arts
JournalBulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts
Issue2 (1948)
Year of Publication1948
Pages22-26
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 1909 B 498 No. 816
Authorn. a.
TitleA Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum képtárának festményei és grafikai állaga
Volume1
Place of PublicationBudapest
Year of Publication1909
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 1897 494 No. 816
Authorn. a.
TitleAz Országos Képtár mutárgyainak leíró lajstroma, Athenaeum
Place of PublicationBudapest
Year of Publication1897
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 1870 129 No. V./156
EditorAntal Ligeti
TitleA Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum képcsarnokának ismerteto lajstroma
Place of PublicationBuda
Year of Publication1870
Show Literature
Cat. Budapest 1868 5 No. 46
EditorÁgoston Kubinyi, János Herz
TitleA Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum Képtárának lajstroma
Place of PublicationPest
Year of Publication1868
Show Literature
  • Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, 1532

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • irr
  • uv_light

Technical studies

06. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • UV-light photography
  • uv_light
  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

06. 2014Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared Reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- dark, dry drawing material, chalk

Type/Ductus:

- copied (traced)

- delicate, fine lines

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate contours and describe some facial features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- alterations made during the painting process to clearly define form

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- not possible; could be workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2014]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • reverse

Support

- beech wood panel, bevelled at the edges (2 mm thick)

Underdrawing

- there is no evidence to suggest the design was pounced

[Urbach 1991, 78-79]

Paint Layers and Gilding

- sequence of the paint application: first flesh paint, then the garments and finally the background, the transitional zone like the beard and the fur were applied last

[Herrschaft, cda 2014]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/HU_SMB_1341/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/HU_SMB_1341/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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