Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony

Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony

Title

Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony

[cda 2020]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2020]

The sitter is represented as a soldier, wearing a chain mail collar, metal plate sleeves and gloves decorated with a red and gold cord. He holds a so-called bindenhander in his hands, at his side a rider’s sword and a gilded dagger.

[Leo Spik online database: https://www.leo-spik.de/aa/LS672-00128.html (accessed 06.01.2020_no longer

The sitter is represented as a soldier, wearing a chain mail collar, metal plate sleeves and gloves decorated with a red and gold cord. He holds a so-called bindenhander in his hands, at his side a rider’s sword and a gilded dagger.

[Leo Spik online database: https://www.leo-spik.de/aa/LS672-00128.html (accessed 06.01.2020_no longer available)]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop

[Heydenreich, unveröffentlichter Untersuchungsbericht, 26.11.2023]
[Auct. Cat. Bamberg 2022]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[cda 2020] [Roland Enke, expertise 2019, PRIVATE_NONE-P322_FR-none_2019_Report.pdf]
[cda 2020]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Christie's online, accessed 03.04.2024]
[Hofbauer 2021, 209-212]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Dr. Heinrich Zimmermann, Director of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, expertise 15.07.1957]

Production dates
after 1537
about 1537 - 1550

Production dates

after 1537

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 26.11.2023]

about 1537 - 1550

[Roland Enke, expertise 2019, PRIVATE_NONE-P322_FR-none_2019_Report.pdf]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 20 x 15 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 20 x 15 cm

  • [Roland Enke, expertise 2019, PRIVATE_NONE-P322_FR-none_2019_Report.pdf]

Signature / Dating

none

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse:
old paper label, roughly cut in the shape of a shield (end of the 18th century?): 'Heinrich, der …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse:

  • old paper label, roughly cut in the shape of a shield (end of the 18th century?): 'Heinrich, der Gottesfürchtige, Herzog zu Sachsen, ein Sohn H.(erzog) Albrechts des [Beherzten?], geb. 17. Martius (=März) 1473, + 18. Aug. 1541. Gemahlin Catharina von Meclenb: 6: Juli 1512. Succedierte seinem Bruder Georg 1539.'

  • Noted on the reverse of a b/w photograph (with the painting on the recto; burn marks on the left edge) a brief handwritten expertise by Dr. Heinrich Zimmermann, Director of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, dated 15.07.1957:

  • '[Die] kleine Tafel (20 x 15 cm) stellt Herzog [Hei-] nrich den Frommen von Sachsen dar. [Das] lebensgroße Porträt, das 1537 mit dem [Cra-] nachzeichen signiert war, ist im Kriege [in] Dresden verbrannt. An diesem großen Bil- [de] hatte Cranach d. J. wahrscheinlich bereits [m-] itgearbeitet. [D]-ie vorliegende Fassung ist von Lukas [Cra-] nach d. J. gemalt und zeigt alle Vorzü- [ge] dieses heute noch unterschätzten Meisters. Berlin 15.7.1957 Zimmermann' with an official stamp.

  • [Roland Enke, expertise 2019, PRIVATE_NONE-P322_FR-none_2019_Report.pdf]

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P322
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P322/

Provenance

  • provenance checked by: The Art Loss Register (58667)
  • Anonymous sale; Leo Spik, Berlin, 5 June 2019, lot 128, as 'Cranach workshop', where acquired by the present owner.
  • sold Christie's New York, 31.01.2024, lot 6
    [Christie's online, accessed 03.04.2024]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Auct. Cat. Bamberg 2022
EditorSenger Kunsthandel, Bamberg
TitleSenger Bamberg Kunsthandel
Place of Publication[Bamberg]
Year of Publication2022
Link https://www.senger-bamberg.com/media-files/mediaitems/files/senger_katalog2022_web.pdf
Show Literature
Hofbauer 2021 210, 211 Fig. 4
AuthorMichael Hofbauer
TitleParerga und Paralipomena. Neues zu Lucas Cranach und seinen Söhnen
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2021
Link https://d-nb.info/1246092697/34
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Disscussion of the examination results:

Zimmermann attributes the painting to Lucas Cranach the Younger; Roland Enke considers it to be a work of the Cranach workshop, without being any more specific, dating it between 1537 and c. 1550, while suggesting it may have been part of a portrait set of rulers. Hofbauer, on the other hand, describes the painting as a portrait study or ‘Arbeitsprobe’ for a life-size painting formerly in Dresden, dating it between 1534 and 1537.

The preparation of the panel, the underdrawing, painting technique and the quality are consistent with other panels from Cranach’s workshop, but that the underdrawing neither suggests nor precludes Cranach the Elder’s participation.

However, the size of the portrait, the characteristics of the underdrawing, and the detailed execution of the armour and weapons seem rather unusual for a portrait study; the use of painted (shell) gold to highlight the metal armour (unless this is a later addition) is a technique employed in later portrait series attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger.

To conclude this high-quality painting was most probably produced in the Cranach workshop. In this period it is almost impossible to distinguish between Cranach the Elder, his son Lucas Cranach the Younger and their assistants, and the fact that the division of labour often also included the execution of the insignia complicates matters further. Based on these observations the attribution of this painting to Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop is tenable. However, it is unlikely that it functioned as a portrait study or preparatory study for the life-size painting formerly in Dresden, but rather that it was painted after 1537 and may have been part of a portrait set. Dendrochronology could provide a more precise dating of the wooden panel.

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 26.11.2023]

  • Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony, after 1537

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • reverse
  • irr

Documents

Technical studies

26.11.2023Technical Examination

  • Infrared reflectography

Support

"The panel appears to be of beech wood (not analysed). There is probably an original black coating on the reverse, leaving bare wood on the left and right edges. This observation suggests that the format and size of the panel have not been significantly altered. [...] The format and size correspond to the standard "A" size that was widely used in the Cranach workshop for several decades."

Underdrawing

There is an underdrawing visible in the infrared reflectogram. The contours of the facial features, armour and weapons have been quite precisely fixed with a blackish, dry medium. Only minor alterations were made during the painting process.

Paint Layers and Gilding

"The application of paint, subtle modulations of light and shade, appears sophisticated and consistent with other works from Cranach's workshop dating from the 1530/40s. Details such as the hair were routinely drawn with fine lines. Reflections on the metal elements of the armour were accentuated with painted gold (shell gold?)."

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 26.11.2023]

2019Technical Examination

Support

- wooden panel (20 x 15 cm); the dimensions correspond with the standard 'A' format used in the Cranach workshop

- reverse: bevelled edges, plane marks visible in the centre of the panel, black coating applied after framing (frame no longer survives), the wood is exposed at the edges

[Roland Enke, expertise 2019]

  • examined by Roland Enke

Condition Reports

Date26.11.2023

The panel is in relatively good and stable condition. There are a number of re-integrated losses visible in the IR reflectogram, particularly in the sitter's right eye, beard, background and at the lower edge.

[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 26.11.2023]

  • examined by Gunnar Heydenreich

Date2019

The panel appears to be in good condition. It exhibits neither deformations nor warping. Only at the top right is a horizontal split visible. Numerous retouches of varying size are visible in UV light, but remain unobtrusive. There is also a pronounced craquelée, which has resulted in some small losses.

[Roland Enke, expertise 2019]

  • examined by Roland Enke

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P322/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Heinrich the Devout, Duke of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P322/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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