The Virgin and Child with infant Saint John the Baptist sleeping

'Although this panel has long been considered a refined late work of Lucas Cranach the Elder (see Friedländer, Rosenberg 1978), Werner Schade and Dieter Kopplin have recently, on the basis of photographs, recognized the hand of the artist's son in the distinctive treatment of key elements, such as the bold silhouettes and masterful rendering of Christ's face (private communication, 2012). As such, this tender depiction of the Virgin and Christ child with the sleeping infant Saint John the Baptist can now be recognized as one of Lucas Cranach the Younger's most powerful private devotional panels. It is simultaneously a poignant celebration of familial love between a mother, her son and young cousin, and a dramatic image designed to stimulate religious devotion in the viewer through the contemplation of the mystery of the Eucharist.'

[Christie's Online database; https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/paintings/lucas-cranach-ii-the-virgin-and-child-5649706-details.aspx; accessed 20 Feb 2018]