Charity

Charity

Title

Charity

[Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

The graceful nude figure of Charity shown seated on a tree stump with her legs daintily crossed is embraced from behind by a young boy who she in turn supports with her left arm. Her head is tilted forward. A transparent veil covers her fashionably combed blond hair that falls

The graceful nude figure of Charity shown seated on a tree stump with her legs daintily crossed is embraced from behind by a young boy who she in turn supports with her left arm. Her head is tilted forward. A transparent veil covers her fashionably combed blond hair that falls in elaborate waves on either side. The veil extends over her high forehead to the almond shaped eyes that gaze dreamily at the viewer. A further child sits on her right knee and sucks on her right breast. A girl approaches from the left with an apple in her right hand and eats another apple held in her left hand. To the right of Charity another boy sits in front of the tree stump, holding an apple in his left hand and looking to the left. In the upper left quarter of the painting a landscape is visible with a castle on a rocky outcrop and a town located on a river or lake.

[Michel Polfer, in Exhib. Cat. Paderborn 2015, No. 86] [Translation, cda 2016]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Production date
after 1536

Production date

after 1536

[Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 50 x 33 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 50 x 33 cm

  • [Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the lower right edge, on the tree stump: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the lower right edge, on the tree stump: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint

  • [cda 2016]

Inscriptions and Labels

on the cradle: - top left: white paper label (typewritten): '20 Lukas Cranach der Aeltere caritas'

  • 2nd cross-member: blue pencil: …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • on the cradle: - top left: white paper label (typewritten): '20 Lukas Cranach der Aeltere caritas'

    • 2nd cross-member: blue pencil: '695'
    • 3rd cross-member: red pencil: 'A 246'

  • [Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Owner
Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg
Repository
Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg
Location
Luxembourg
CDA ID
LU_mnha_1948-003
FR (1978) Nr.
FR406B
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/LU_mnha_1948-003/

Provenance

  • Berlin, Ulrich H. Jäger
  • 1928 Frankfurt, J. Rosenbaum
    [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 406B]
  • before 1933: Collection of Edmond Reiffers (Luxembourg)
  • End of 1940/ before vor 6.10.1941: Collection of SS-Obersturmbannführer Kajetan Mühlmann
  • seized by the allied troops at Schloss Volders/Tyrol, Mühlmann's residence, at the end of the war
  • Dec. 1946: restored to Grand Dutchy of Luxembourg
  • 15.1.1947: transferred to the MNHA collection by government's resolution
    [Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, Luxembourg, revised 2016]

Exhibitions

Paris 2011
Paderborn 2015, No. 86

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Paderborn 2015 86
EditorChristoph Stiegemann
TitleCaritas. Nächstenliebe von den frühen Christen bis zur Gegenwart [Paderborn, Diözesanmuseum]
Place of PublicationPetersberg
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Ghermani 2011 28
AuthorNaima Ghermani
TitleCranach et son temps. Album de l'exposition Musée du Luxembourg Paris
Place of PublicationParis
Year of Publication2011
Show Literature
Polfer 2011 333-336
AuthorMichel Polfer
TitleNationalsozialistische Kulturpolitik oder Herrschaftsstabilisierung? Zum Ankauf der Kunstsammlung des Luxemburger Notars Edmond Reiffers durch die deutsche Zivilverwaltung
Publicationin Jacques P. Leider, Jean-Marie Majerus, Michel Polfer, Marc Schoentgen, eds., Du Luxembourg à l'Europe. Hommages à Gilbert Trausch à l'occasion de son 80e anniversaire
Place of PublicationLuxembourg
Year of Publication2011
Pages327-359
Show Literature
Cat. Luxembourg 1990 100
AuthorJean Luc Koltz
TitleLes peintures anciennes
Publicationin, Musée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg (Musea Nostra)
Place of PublicationLuxembourg
Year of Publication1990
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 406B
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Cat. Luxembourg 1976 11 38
AuthorJoseph-Émile Muller
TitlePeintures anciennes. Catalogue, Musée d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg
Place of PublicationLuxembourg
Issue2nd edition
Year of Publication1976
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 326b
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
  • Charity, after 1536

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • reverse

Technical studies

06.01.2016Technical Examination

Support

- thickness of panel: 4 mm (not original thickness)

- 2 planks: a) 15.5 (17) x 49.9 cm; b) 18 (16.5) x 49.9 cm

- dovetail joint (4x)

- [almost] original size?; thin wooden batten (7mm) added to the bottom of the panel

- cradle (5x vertical, 6 x horizontal members => removed due to damage caused (4.3.2002)

Ground and Imprimatura

- whitish, creamy coloured ground applied over the entire panel to the edge

- no incised lines

- some drying cracks

Underdrawing

- not readily visible in normal light

Paint Layers and Gilding

- very thin application in the flesh paint leaving the ground visible

- no fingerprints visible

Framing

- new frame and microclimate box (64 x 46.5 x 8 cm)

- wood & gilded

  • examined by Simone Habaru

Condition Reports

Date06.01.2016

  • woodworm visible on the back and in raking light beneath the paint layer

  • original support thinned

  • small paint losses; retouchings

  • varnish is slightly brittle

  • examined by Simone Habaru

Conservation History

Date03. 2012

  • cradle removed
  • examined by Simone Habaru

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Charity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/LU_mnha_1948-003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Charity', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/LU_mnha_1948-003/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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