Moses and the Pillar of Cloud

Title

[cda 2020]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[G. Gordon, Sotheby's, e-mail correspondance, 19.01.2020]

The pillar of cloud is traditionally associated with the presence of God. In the Book of Moses it serves to guide the Israelites to safety. In this small rectangular panel Moses is placed at the centre of the composition, pointing a stick towards the pillar of cloud that rises out of the sea on the left. The pillar appears to support a representation of God’s head. The Israelites occupy the right side of the composition, entering from behind a rocky outcrop. Soldiers are at the head of the group following Moses.

[cda 2020]

Attributions: Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Letter from D. Koepplin to Stéphane Pinta, Cabinet Turquin, Paris 02.12.2021, Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024] [cda 2020]
Lucas Cranach the Elder	[Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024]

Production dates: after 1530
about 1525 - 1530

Production dates

after 1530	[cda 2020]
about 1525 - 1530	[Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 22 x 46.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 22 x 46.5 cm
[G. Gordon, Sotheby's, e-mail correspondance, 19.01.2020]
22 x 46 cm
[Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024]

Signature / Dating: none

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse of the panel: - top left: hand written in black and underlined: '25/3'

centre: round stamp '[?] || …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

Reverse of the panel:
- top left: hand written in black and underlined: '25/3'
- centre: round stamp '[?] || [?]-50 || +'
Reverse of the top cradle member:
- left in biro: '25|3'
[cda 2024]

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P368
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P368/

Provenance

Count Hessenstein [1]
private collection, Stockholm [2]
[1] [handwritten note on the reverse of a b/w photograph, Max Friedländer Archive]
[2] [G. Gordon, Sotheby's, e-mail correspondance, 19.01.2020]
Count Hessenstein (according to the inscription on the back of an old photograph, now in Max J. Friedländer's photo archive in the RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague)
H. Bukowskis Konsthandel, Stockholm, Sweden, auction 7-8 May 1941, catalogue no. 87 ('Moses and the children of Israel')
Swedish private collection
sold by Stockholms Auktionsverk, 07.12.2021, lot 345
[Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024]

Research History / Discussion

According to D. Koepplin: "I consider this painting with Moses and the Cloud Column to be a very lively, high-quality work from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, created around 1525-1530. The state of preservation is excellent."

[Letter from D. Koepplin to Stéphane Pinta, Cabinet Turquin, Paris 02.12.2021, Stockholms Auktionsverk, accessed 04.04.2024]

Moses and the Pillar of Cloud, after 1530

Images

Condition Reports

Date2024

The panel was thinned and cradled was attached to the reverse at some stage in the past.

[cda 2024]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Moses and the Pillar of Cloud', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P368/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Moses and the Pillar of Cloud', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P368/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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