An Ill-matched Pair

The support is a single oak wood panel with a thickness of c. 0.5 - 1.0 cm.

The panel is bevelled on all four sides on the reverse.

In the Cranach workshop the wood species oak was rarely used as a support.

The white ground extends to the edges of the panel.

A barbe is not visible.

The ground extends in places over the edge of the panel.

An underdrawing is not readily visible in the infrared reflectogram

Employing XRF analysis (Niton XLt) the following elements were detected and after a comparison of their optical properties the following pigments were identified:

Yellow: Pb, Ca, Cu, Fe, (Zn)

Pb: lead white; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn: retouches?

Flesh paint: Pb, Ca, Hg, Fe, Zn, (Sn)

Pb: lead white; Sn, Pb: lead-tin-yellow I; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn: retouches?

White: Pb, Ca, Zn, (Hg, Cu)

Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe, Mn: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn: retouches?

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

Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn, Cr: retouches?

Brown: Ca, Fe, Pb, Zn, Hg, (Cr)

Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn, Cr: retouches?

Yellow: Pb, Ca, Hg, Sn, Fe, Cu, (Zn)

Pb: lead white; Sn, Pb: lead-tin-yellow I; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn: retouches?

Blackish blue: Ca, Fe, Pb, Cu, Mn, (Hg)

Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Fe, Mn: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum

Grey: Ca, Pb, Zn, Fe, Co, (Hg, Cu)

Pb: lead white; Hg: vermillion; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment; Co: cobalt blue pigment; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Zn: retouches?

Green: Ca, Cu, Pb, Fe, (Cr)

Pb: lead white; Cu: copper containing blue or green pigment ; Fe: iron oxide/ ochre; Ca: chalk/ gypsum; Cr: retouches?

The following pigments were identified: lead white, lead-tin-yellow I, vermillion, iron oxide/ochre, a copper containing green pigment

The woman’s red robe does not exhibit a black underpaint. Folds have been laid in with a pale vermillion red tone and modulated with darker tones, with admixtures with black as well as red lake glazes. The shadow tones in the red robe and the flesh paint were applied in strokes with a fine tipped brush. There is a brown painted boarder of c. 0.2 – 1 cm width along all four edges.

Interpretation and evaluation:

The identified pigments frequently used in the Cranach workshop and other workshops from the middle ages to the early modern period. The identification of lead tin yellow I implies that the painting was created before 1750 or after 1940. The ground and paint application as well as stylistic characteristics differ from works attributed to the Cranach workshop. The serpent insignia at the top edge is different in shape to that of the Cranach workshop. This panel was probably not created in the Cranach workshop.

[unpublished examination report, Blumenroth, Dietz, Heydenreich 29.07.2019]

'The panel is in a relatively stable condition. Some painted areas exhibit earlier damage and extensive retouches as well as overpaint (e. g. the old man’s face, the woman’s bib). The panel exhibits a slight convex warp.'

[unpublished examination report, Blumenroth, Dietz, Heydenreich 29.07.2019]