The Lamentation

The support (48.4 x 73.1 cm) consists of at least three wooden boards, horizontally aligned and glued. It is hardwood (not oak or beech but probably limewood). At the right edge a growth defect in the wood on the front of the panel was filled with a rectangular wooden insert (see X-radiograph). Both the craquelure and the X-radiograph indicate that the panel was partially covered with a fiberous material (animal tendons?). On the reverse at the top, bottom and left remains of a rebate are preserved.

The panel has a white ground the edges of which have not been preserved.

An underdrawing is not readily visible in the infrared reflectogram. Under the stereomicroscope red lines are occasionally visible. This suggests that the underdrawing was executed in red chalk, a material that is not visible in the infrared reflectogram.

The following elements were detected using XRF and in conjunction with their optical characteristics the pigments were idenified:

Red: Ca, Hg, Pb, Fe (Cu, Zn?)

Ca: chalk/ gypsum (?); Hg: vermilion; Pb: lead white/ red lead (?); Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?); Cu: siccative/ copper-containing blue (?)

Red: Pb, Ca, Fe, Hg, Mn (Zn?)

Pb: white lead/ red lead (?); Ca: chalk/ gypsum (?); Hg: vermilion; Fe/ Mn: iron oxide/ ochre (?)

White: Pb, Ca, Sr

Pb: white lead; Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?)

Yellow: Ca, Pb, Fe, Hg, Sn, Cu, Sr

Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?); Pb: lead white; Pb/ Sn: lead tin yellow; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?); Cu: siccative/ copper-containing blue (?)

Blue: Ca, Pb, Cu, As, Co, Fe, Sr

Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?); Pb: lead white; Cu: copper-containing blue/ green (?); Cu/ As: Schweinfurt green (?); As: orpiment (?); Co: pigment containing cobalt/ smalt (?); Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?)

Brown: Pb, Ca, Fe, Hg, Sr, Sn

Pb: white lead; Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?); Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?); Hg: vermilion; Pb/ Sn: lead tin yellow

Green: Ca, Pb, Cu, Sn, Sr, Fe

Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?); Pb: lead white; Cu: copper green/ blue; Pb/ Sn: lead tin yellow; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?)

Yellow insignia.: Ca, Cu, Pb, As, Co, Fe, Sr, Sn

Ca (Sr): chalk/ gypsum (?); Cu: copper blue/ green (?); Pb: lead white; Cu/ As: Schweinfurt green (?); As: orpiment (?); Co: cobalt pigment/ smalt (?); Fe: iron oxide/ ochre (?) Pb, Sn: lead tin yellow

The following inorganic pigments were identified in the paint layer:

lead white, lead tin yellow, vermilion, a copper-containing blue pigment (azurite?), smalt, iron oxide / ochre. Arsenic was detected in association with the blue pigment containing cobalt - smalt (the use of orpiment or Schweinfurt green is therefore unlikely). Some pigments (colourants) could not be identified with the method used.

The paint was applied in one to several layers using various stippling and brushing techniques: Several faces were first laid in using shades of grey and then differentiated employing various flesh tones. Whereas St John's red robe was laid in with grey tones (grisaille-like) and then modelled using vermilion and red paint, Mary Magdalene's red velvet robe has a black underpainting. The dark clouds in the sky were laid in with a bluish-grey paint (smalt, red lake?, black pigment) with rapid brushstrokes (see infrared reflectogram), the contours were then defined in yellow (an admixture of lead tin yellow and some red pigment) and the edges were then high lighted. The insignia is executed in lead tin yellow. Later addition are not visible.

[Heydenreich, Blumenroth, unpublished examination report, 31.03.2023]

The painting is damaged, its condition is unstable, and the image is visibly compromised.

Support:

• the partially preserved rebate on the reverse suggests that the panel has been trimmed by at least 5 mm at the top and bottom and by at least 10 mm along both vertical edges. It was then thinned to c. 8 mm.

• wooden strips glued to the back of the thinned panel (a "slatted frame" is described in 1935) have been removed quite recently. The panel now exhibits a prominent convex warp.

• inactive woodworm channels.

• splits are visible at the left, right and lower edges.

Paint layer:

• many small losses, scratches and abrasion

• numerous retouches obscure the image, e.g. on Christ's nose and St John's eyes.

Coatings:

A yellowed varnish has been partially thinned in two areas.

[Heydenreich, Blumenroth, unpublished examination report, 31.03.2023]

The painting is in good condition (with the exception of minimal retouching along the horizontal joints).

[Lempertz online database: https://www.lempertz.com/de/kataloge/lot/856-1/1033-lucas-cranach-d-ae.html; accessed 26-03-2019] (no longer online 22.11.2021)

Support:

• the panel consists of a number of horizontally aligned boards of similar width and has been cradled (the boards may have been provisionally separated during this intervention)

• additions of 1 cm in width were attached to t he top and bottom of the panel

Paint layers:

• good condition

• the additions did not receive a ground application

• the red paint is flaking in many areas

• extensive ocerpaint along the joints, in the coat of the woman on the right and on Christ's chest.

• the yellowed varnish was removed and the above mentioned damage was treated

[Report, Diozesan-Museum, Cologne, 1935]