Reclining Water Nymph

Title

[cda 2020]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[cda 2020]

Cranach's painting of a classical nymph represents an Italian theme but gives it a moralizing twist. The nymph reclines beside a spring, perhaps a reference to a legendary ancient Roman fountain with which a similar Latin verse was associated. The inscription on this painting, 'I am the nymph of the sacred spring, do not disturb my sleep. I am resting', may be an allusion to the poem. Her bow and arrows hang from the boughs of a nearby tree, while partridges peck in the foreground and deer graze in the middle distance. However, the nude figure resting her head on the robe of a German court lady contributes another aspect to the idyllic scene by admiring herself beguilingly through lowered eyelids. The painting is intended both as an enticement and a warning to Cranach's sophisticated patrons.

[cda 2020]

Attribution: Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Letter from D. Koepplin to Newhouse Galleries, New York, 20.12.1990; Koepplin Archive]
[Christie's Online Database; accessed 07.07.2022]

Production date: about 1540 - 1545

Production date

about 1540 - 1545

[Letter from D. Koepplin to Newhouse Galleries, New York, 20.12.1990; Koepplin Archive]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 82.1 × 120.5 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 82.1 × 120.5 cm
[Christie's Online Database; accessed 07.07.2022]

Signature / Dating: Artist's insignia on the tree trunk: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the tree trunk: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint

Inscriptions and Labels

top left corner: 'FONTIS NYMPHA SACRI SOMNVM NE - // RVMPE QVIESC -'

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

- top left corner:
'FONTIS NYMPHA SACRI SOMNVM NE - // RVMPE QVIESC -'

Owner: Private Collection
Repository: Private Collection

CDA ID: PRIVATE_NONE-P434
FR (1978) Nr.: FR-none
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P434/

Provenance

private collection, USA
[Letter from D. Koepplin to Newhouse Galleries, New York, 20.12.1990; Koepplin Archive]
(possibly) Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (1552-1612), Prague Castle, looted by Swedish troops in 1648 and transported to Sweden and possibly in the collection of the following
Christina, Queen of Sweden (1626-1629), Stockholm, until 1654
Count Gustaf Adolf Sparre (1746-1794), Sahlgrenska House, Gothenburg, and moved to Kulla Gunnarstorp, near Helsingborg, probably no later than 1775, where listed in his posthumous inventory of 1794, and by inheritance to his wife
Countess Amelie (née Ramel) Sparre (1753-1830), Skåne, Sweden, and by descent to her daughter
Christina Sparre (d. 1811), and by inheritance to her husband
Count Jacob Gustaf de la Gardie (1768-1842), by whom sold with the estate in circa 1840 to, Count Carl de Geer of Leufstra (1781-1861), by whom given in 1855 upon her marriage to Axel Fredrik Wachtmeister to his granddaughter
Elisabeth von Platen-Wachtmeister (1834-1918), Vanås, Sweden, with this painting remaining at Kulla Gunnarstorp, and by descent, until acquired by the following
with Verner Amell Ltd, 1990, from whom acquired by the father of the present owners
sold at Christie's, London, 07.07.2022, lot 6
[Christie's Online Database; accessed 07.07.2022]

Reclining Water Nymph, about 1540 - 1545

Images

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Reclining Water Nymph', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P434/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Reclining Water Nymph', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P434/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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