Allegory of Melancholy

Allegory of Melancholy

Title

Allegory of Melancholy

[National Gallery of Scotland, revised 2017]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[National Gallery of Scotland, revised 2017]

The winged personification, the tools arranged at her feet, the ball, the dog and the writing on the wall reveal the primary source used by Cranach for this and three other works: Albrecht Dürer's masterly engraving Melencolia I of 1514.

This panel, the earliest of Cranach's treatments of the subject to

The winged personification, the tools arranged at her feet, the ball, the dog and the writing on the wall reveal the primary source used by Cranach for this and three other works: Albrecht Dürer's masterly engraving Melencolia I of 1514.

This panel, the earliest of Cranach's treatments of the subject to have survived, has been cropped on all sides, but particularly on the right, thus the powerful wings of the seated woman is cut off.

[http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cranach/lucas_e/10/4melanc3.html]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, 125, No. 277A]

Production date
1528

Production date

1528

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 113 x 72 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 113 x 72 cm

  • [National Gallery of Scotland, revised 2017]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia right of centre on the wall of the balustrade: 'MELENCOLIA', beneath the serpent with elevated wings, facing left between the paired numbers of the date '1528'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia right of centre on the wall of the balustrade: 'MELENCOLIA', beneath the serpent with elevated wings, facing left between the paired numbers of the date '1528'

  • [Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 316, No. 97]

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Location
Edinburgh
CDA ID
UK_NGS_NGL003-93
FR (1978) Nr.
FR277A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_NGS_NGL003-93/

Provenance

  • in the collection of Dr. Friedrich Campe, Nuremberg
  • since 1993 in a private collection
    [Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 316, No. 97]

Exhibitions

Frankfurt, London 2007 - 2008, No. 97 [only shown in London]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Hersant 2005 110
AuthorYves Hersant
TitleRote Melancholie
Publicationin Jean Claire, ed., Melancholie. Genie und Wahnsinn in der Kunst, Exhib. Cat. Paris, Berlin
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2005
Pages110-17, 140ff.
Show Literature
Koepplin 2003 C 147, 148, 150, 151 Fig. 36
AuthorDieter Koepplin
TitleEin Cranach-Prinzip
Publicationin Heinz Spielmann, Werner Schade, eds., Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2003
Pages144-165
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Edinburgh 2000 98 29
AuthorNicholas Barker, Timothy Clifford, Hugh Brigstocke
TitleA Poet in Paradise. Lord Lindsay and Christian Art
Place of PublicationEdinburgh
Year of Publication2000
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 277A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 292 171 Fig. 133
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Hoffmann 1972 7ff.
AuthorKonrad Hoffmann
TitleCranachs Zeichnungen "Frauen überfallen Geistliche"
JournalZeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue26
Year of Publication1972
Pages3-14
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 228 (mentioined under)
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
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

[According to Koepplin] Cranach's depiction of Melancholy is the antithesis of Dürer's astrological and humanistic representation, namely a counter-image that illustrates the Lutheran way of seeing things. For Luther Melancholy was spawned by the devil. In his table talk he says 'All sadness, plagues and gloom comes from Satan' and it can be combated with prayer, but food and drink taken in moderation would also help.

[Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 316, No. 97]

The panel is cropped on all four sides and in particular along the right edge, as is illustrated by an old copy (FR277B) in the Museum of Art in Columbus (Ohio). On this painting the compass and the chisel in the foreground as well as the trunk of the apple tree in the background are entirely visible, and the powerful wings of the seated female figure are less cropped.

[Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 316, No. 97]

  • Allegory of Melancholy, 1528

Images

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

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<author's name>, 'Allegory of Melancholy', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_NGS_NGL003-93/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Allegory of Melancholy', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_NGS_NGL003-93/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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