Christ and the woman taken in Adultery

Christ and the woman taken in Adultery

Title

Christ and the woman taken in Adultery

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

The painting depicts the encounter between Jesus and the adulteress, an event frequently represented by Cranach and his workshop. Jesus is at the centre of the composition, dressed in a blue undergarment and a red cloak. He holds the sinner's wrist in his left hand and points towards her with

The painting depicts the encounter between Jesus and the adulteress, an event frequently represented by Cranach and his workshop. Jesus is at the centre of the composition, dressed in a blue undergarment and a red cloak. He holds the sinner's wrist in his left hand and points towards her with his right hand. The woman appears to have half closed her eyes and her head is slightly inclined but directed to the viewer. She wears a red dress with the lacing open to reveal her breasts and she is being gently restrained by two men. Another soldier on the left-hand side of the image holds a basket of stones at the ready. Further scribes and Pharisees have gathered around the central figures of adulteress and Jesus. The whole group is set against a dark background.

[cda 2023]

Attributions
Circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger
Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attributions

Circle of Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

Attribution by Gustav Gluck, written on the back of a photograph from 1931 [Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

Production date
1554

Production date

1554

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 35.6 x 50.2 cm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels
  • inscribed and dated upper centre: 'IOHANNIS VIII || WER VNTEREVCH ON SVNDE IST DER WERFFE DEN ERSTEN STEIN AVF …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

    • inscribed and dated upper centre:

  • 'IOHANNIS VIII || WER VNTEREVCH ON SVNDE IST DER WERFFE DEN ERSTEN STEIN AVF SIE || 1554'

  • [Sotheby's online database; http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/old-master-paintings-n08061/lot.144.html?locale=en; accessed 21-03-2019]

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P242
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P242/

Provenance

  • sold by the Galerie Helbing, Munich, 16.12.1908
    [Auct. Cat. Munich 1908, lot 34](http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/helbi
    ng1908_12_16/0009)
  • in a family collection from the early Twentieth Century
  • 28.01.2005 sold by Sotheby's, New York, lot 144
    [Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Auct. Cat. Munich 1908 7 034
EditorHugo Helbing
TitleÖlgemälde alter Meister sowie einige Handzeichnungen alter Meister aus verschiedenem Besitz Auktion in München in der Galerie Helbing, 16.12.1908
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication1908
Link https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23460
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

The present lot will be sold with a photo certificate dated Vienna 11th December, 1931, signed by Gustav Glück attributing the present work in full to Cranach the Younger.

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 21.03.2019]

  • Christ and the woman taken in Adultery, 1554

Images

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Christ and the woman taken in Adultery', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P242/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Christ and the woman taken in Adultery', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P242/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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