Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

Title

[cda 2018]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/1108-1/1015-lucas-cranach-d-j-werkstatt-1.html; accessed 13 Sept 2018]

The painting dated 1561 is a posthumous portrait of the reformer Philipp Melanchthon, created about one year after his death. He is depicted as a half-length figure, holding an open book. On the pedestal a Latin inscription provides a brief biography of the theologian and conveys some of his main

[https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/1108-1/1015-lucas-cranach-d-j-werkstatt-1.html; accessed 13 Sept 2018]

Attribution: Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attribution

Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger

[https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/1108-1/1015-lucas-cranach-d-j-werkstatt-1.html; accessed 13 Sept 2018]

Production date: 1561

Production date

1561

[dated]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 51 x 34.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 51 x 34.5 cm
[https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/1108-1/1015-lucas-cranach-d-j-werkstatt-1.html; accessed 13 Sept 2018]

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia right edge beneath the shoulder: serpent with dropped wings and dated '1561'

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia right edge beneath the shoulder: serpent with dropped wings and dated '1561'

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P225
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P225/

Provenance

private collection in south Germany
16.05.2018 auctioned at Lempertz, Cologne, auction 1108, lot 1015
[https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/1108-1/1015-lucas-cranach-d-j-werkstatt-1.html; accessed 13 Sept 2018]
Jakob Goldschmidt Collection, Berlin, auctioned on the 23.06.1936 by the auction house Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main. Cat. no.: 75 (Auktionshaus Hugo Helbing, 1936)
See also the entry in the Lost Art-Database, Stiftung Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste: Lost Art-ID 570638; http://www.lostart.de/DE/Verlust/570638 (accessed 17 Dec. 2019).

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, 1561

Images

Technical studies

03. 2018Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- dry drawing material, stylus

Type/Ductus:

- detailed underdrawing; probably after a pre-existing design

- delicate lines

- some hatching strokes in the areas of shadow

Function:

- binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and describe essential details and facial features; representation of volume with hatching strokes

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made to forms during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2019]

photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
photographed by Ingo Sandner

03. 2018Technologische Untersuchung / Naturwissenschaftliche Materialanalyse

UV-light photography

photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P225/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P225/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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