A mother is shown standing with her three children. She clasps the forearm of a girl in her right hand while a smaller boy clings to her left leg and she suckles a baby (of indeterminate sex) at her left breast. All the figures are represented naked, but the mother
A mother is shown standing with her three children. She clasps the forearm of a girl in her right hand while a smaller boy clings to her left leg and she suckles a baby (of indeterminate sex) at her left breast. All the figures are represented naked, but the mother has a transparent veil which extends over her forehead and from behind her neck over both shoulders, part wrapping around the arm holding the child in the form of a sling, and part extending over the front of her body and right leg. She also wears two necklaces, a choker with a stone around her neck and a gold chain with large links over her shoulders. Her hair is fair and is bound with a black band. The hair of her daughter (and of the other two infants) is also fair. In an echo of her mother¿s pose, the small girl carries a female doll in her right arm, dressed in a long square-necked dress with a white high-necked blouse underneath. The doll¿s hair is also held back with a black band. The figures stand on stony brown ground against a black background, both of which consist largely of overpaint. Although it is reasonable to assume that this repainting follows the original, this cannot be proven to be the case. However, many other paintings by Cranach of such subjects include similar dark backgrounds, for instance classical subjects such as Hercules or Venus and Cupid.
[Susan Foister, `Lucas Cranach the Elder, Charity' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800']
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-charity
- Attribution
- Lucas Cranach the Elder
Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder | [The National Gallery, revised 2011] |
- Production date
- about 1535 - 1545
Production date
about 1535 - 1545 | [The National Gallery, revised 2016] |
- Dimensions
- Dimensions of support: 56.4 x 35.9 cm
Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 56.4 x 35.9 cm
[The National Gallery, revised 2011]
Dimensions of support: 56.3 x 36.2 cm
[http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/lucas-cranach-the-elder-charity/*/key-facts; accessed: 05.09.2011]
- Signature / Dating
Artist's insignia at the bottom left: winged serpent with elevated wings, facing right; in yellow paint (but has been altered)
Signature / Dating
Artist's insignia at the bottom left: winged serpent with elevated wings, facing right; in yellow paint (but has been altered)
[The National Gallery, London, revised 2016]
- Inscriptions and Labels
- top left: 'CHARITAS.' (the inscription is overpainted)
[The National Gallery, revised 2016] On the reverse of the panel …Inscriptions and Labels
Inscriptions, Badges:
- top left:
'CHARITAS.' (the inscription is overpainted)
[The National Gallery, revised 2016]
Stamps, Seals, Labels:
On the reverse of the panel are various inscriptions:
- there is a 'V' in black paint
- inscriptions in ink, including what may be a date, '1 5/8¿9', with (above) a word beginning with K and ending in ch.
[Susan Foister, `Lucas Cranach the Elder, Charity' published online 2015, from 'The German Paintings before 1800']
www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/lucas-cranach-the-elder-charity
- Owner
- The National Gallery, London
- Repository
- The National Gallery, London
- Location
- London
- CDA ID
- UK_NGL_2925
- FR (1978) Nr.
- FR405
- Persistent Link
- https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_NGL_2925/
- top left: 'CHARITAS.' (the inscription is overpainted)