Madonna and Child with angels

Madonna and Child with angels

Title

Madonna and Child with angels

Painting on wood

The Virgin is represented breastfeeding the infant Christ, while looking out of the picture at the viewer. The half-length depiction is shown in front of a curtain held up by two angels.

[cda 2022]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder and Workshop

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Workshop

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 16.03.2022]
[Heydenreich, unpublished examination report, 15.12.2021]

Production date
about 1540

Production date

about 1540

[Sotheby's online database, accessed 16.03.2022]
[Heydenreich, unpubl. examination report, 15.12.2021]
[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, no.388L]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 56.5 x 34.9 cm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the top left edge: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint.

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the top left edge: serpent with dropped wings, facing left; in yellow paint.

Inscriptions and Labels

none On the cradle on the reverse of the panel: - left upper quadrant: remnants of a paper label

  • right …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • none

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • On the cradle on the reverse of the panel: - left upper quadrant: remnants of a paper label

    • right upper quadrant: circular paper label with '8' handwritten; tape with '25' handwritten
    • right lower quadrant: red and black printed circular paper label with a serrated red boarder, black background, red coat of arms: a shield flanked by two lions and a crown on top; red text running around the boarder: '[...] DES PAYS BAS PARIS'
Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P528
FR (1978) Nr.
FR388L
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P528/

Provenance

  • Alphonse ridder de Stuers (1841-1919), ’s-Heerenberg/Paris
  • his estate sale, Amsterdam, Frederik Muller & Cie, 12-15 April 1932, lot 254
  • with Kunsthandel P. De Boer, Amsterdam, 1961
  • H. Krueger, Geneva, 1961
  • S.T. Fee, Texas
  • by whom anonymously sold, New York, Christie's, 9 May 1985, lot 16, where unsold (as Lucas Cranach the Elder)
  • East Coast Collection (USA)
  • sold at Sotheby's, New York, 27.01.2022, lot 16
    [Sotheby's online database, accessed 16.03.2022]

Exhibitions

Fort Worth, Texas 1982, no. 1

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Fort Worth 1982 001
AuthorChristopher Wright
TitleOld master paintings. Cranach to Corot [Kimbell Art Museum, Texas, 01.23-03.04.1982]
Place of PublicationFort Worth
Year of Publication1982
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 388L
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 87 313k
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932

Research History / Discussion

There are several examples of similar sized paintings exhibiting the same composition, which most likely were copied after a prototype from the Cranach workshop at different times: [AT_KHM_GG5675] [PRIVATE_NONE-P116(https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P116) [DE_BStGS_WAF737] and more recently Bonhams, London, 7. Juli 2021, lot 68 [Bonhams, online cataloge, accessed 09.01.2023] and Christie's, New York, 29. October 2019, lot 807 [Christie's online catalogue, accessed 09.01.2023].

[cda 2022]

  • Madonna and Child with angels, about 1540

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • irr
  • irr
  • uv_light

Technical studies

15.12.2021Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • UV-light photography
  • Stereomicroscopy

Support

The following methods of examination were employed: Infrared-reflectography (provided by Sotheby’s), stereomicroscopy and UV-light.

The panel appears to be made of two boards joined vertically (top c. 9 / 26 cm, bottom c. 8.8 / 25.8 cm). The wood species was not identified (possibly beech).

Ground and Imprimatura

Priming barbes have survived along the top and bottom edges of the panel (and are partly covered with blackish paint). However, no such barbes are visible along the left and right edges of the panel. This phenomenon has been observed on other panels from Cranach's workshop. An irregular crack pattern around the vertical joint suggests that it was probably covered with fibres before the ground was applied. The application of animal fibres to reinforce panel joints was common practice in the Cranach workshop from the 1520s onwards.

Underdrawing

An underdrawing is not readily visible in the IR-reflectogram. Some darker lines in the child’s legs may indicate the existence of a partial underdrawing in a dark drawing medium. Singular reddish lines in other passages suggest the use of red chalk. These are only visible to the naked eye and cannot be revealed by infrared reflectography. From the 1530s onwards the members of the Cranach workshop frequently used black and red chalk for underdrawings and consequently there are numerous Cranach paintings where no underdrawing could be detected employing IRR.

Paint Layers and Gilding

The paint application comprises of both lively brushwork and subtle modulation of light and shade employing a stippling technique. It is sophisticated and consistent with other works from the Cranach workshop produced in the 1530/40s. Details such as the hair were skilfully executed with fine lines. The patterned embroidered borders of the dresses and the curtain were completed with pale yellowish, brighter yellow and pinkish highlights. The serpent insignia at the top edge has a very particular shaped wing ('rolled in' at the top). While a visual inspection under limited magnification coonfirmed it was added when the painting was created, the shape of the wings is not typical of the insignia associated with Cranach the Elder or Cranach the Younger. However, there are other works from Cranach's workshop with a similar signet shape (e.g. https://lucascranach.org/DE_SMS_G204).

[Unpublished examination report, Heydenreich, 15.12.2021]

Condition Reports

Date15.12.2021

Support:

  • the panel has been trimmed without changing the format and size significantly,

thinned on the reverse to a thickness of approximately 3.5 – 4 mm and cradled

  • it is slightly convexed but appears to be in stable condition

Paint layers:

  • under UV light a few minor retouchings are visible, in particular at the lower edge of the panel

[Unpublished examination report, Heydenreich, 15.12.2021]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Madonna and Child with angels', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P528/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Madonna and Child with angels', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P528/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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