Apollo and Diana

Apollo and Diana

Titles

Apollo and Diana

[The Royal Collection, revised 2012]

Adam and Eve

[Cust 1904/1905 B, 353]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[The Royal Collection, revised 2012]

'This painting is the outstanding work by Cranach (c.1472-1553) in the Royal Collection. It shows the sun god Apollo, admired for his moral standing and physical beauty, and his twin sister Diana or Artemis, goddess of the moon, who was associated with chastity, archery and hunting. The emphasis on humanity

'This painting is the outstanding work by Cranach (c.1472-1553) in the Royal Collection. It shows the sun god Apollo, admired for his moral standing and physical beauty, and his twin sister Diana or Artemis, goddess of the moon, who was associated with chastity, archery and hunting. The emphasis on humanity closely related to the primeval forest and hunting recalls Cranach's earlier work and the so-called Danube School. Apollo and Diana is given a particular intensity by the way in which the figures are seen in relief but also related to the forest behind them. Diana's precisely rendered hair curls around the stag's antlers, which in turn are deliberately confused with the branches of the trees behind. Cranach's characteristically incisive clarity and attention to minute detail is seen here - for example, in the reflected light in the stag's eye or the small swans swimming on the lake.'

[http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/eGallery/object.asp?searchText=cranach&x=0&y=0&object=407294&row=2&detail=about]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[The Royal Collection, revised 2012]

Production dates
about 1526
about 1530

Production dates

about 1526

[The Royal Collection, revised 2012]

about 1530

[Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994, No. 173b]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 83.8 x 56.5 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 83.8 x 56.5 cm

  • [The Royal collection, revised 2012]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the bottom left: winged serpent with elevated wings facing right; in black paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the bottom left: winged serpent with elevated wings facing right; in black paint

Owner
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, London
Repository
The Royal Collection, London
Location
London
CDA ID
UK_RCL_RCIN407294
FR (1978) Nr.
FR271A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_RCIN407294/

Provenance

  • Friedrich Campe, Nuremberg
  • from whom bought by Prince Albert, on the advice of Ludwig Gruner, 1844
    [The Royal Collection, revised 2012]

Exhibitions

Kronach 1994, No. 173b
London 2007, No. 3
Frankfurt, London 2007/2008, No. 107
Düsseldorf 2017, No. 130

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Bonnet 2017 40 130
AuthorAnne-Marie Bonnet
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere als Primus inter Pares - Competitio et aemulatio in der deutschen Aktmalerei
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Pages38-43
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017 228 No. 130
EditorGunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Cranach. Meister - Marke - Moderne", Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 08. April 2017 - 30. Juli 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Show Literature
Hinz 2010 B 50
AuthorBerthold Hinz
TitleAktmalerei bei Cranach. Ein neuer Geschäftszweig
Publicationin Guido Messling, ed., Die Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys, Exhib. Cat. Brussels
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Pages42-53
Show Literature
Werner 2010 39 31
AuthorElke Anna Werner
TitleKünstlerische Transferprozesse und mediale Strategien kultureller Aneignung. Cranach und Italien
Publicationin Guido Messling, ed., Die Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys, Exhib. Cat. Brussels
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Pages30-41
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007 342-343 107 p. 343
EditorBodo Brinkmann
TitleCranach der Ältere, [Frankfurt, Städel Museum, 23 Nov 2007 - 17 Feb 2008]
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Show Literature
Foister 2003 127
AuthorSusan Foister
TitleCranachs Mythologien. Quellen und Originalität
Publicationin Heinz Spielmann, Werner Schade, eds., Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003
Place of PublicationOstfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication2003
Pages116-129
Show Literature
Koepplin 2003 C 146-148 Fig. 22
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. Kronach 1994 350 173b
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 271A
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 600 500 (u.)
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
Cust 1904/1905 B 353
AuthorLionel Cust
TitlePaintings by L. Cranach. Notes on pictures in the Royal Collection VI
JournalBurlington Magazine
Issue6
Year of Publication1904
Pages353-360
Show Literature
  • Apollo and Diana, about 1526

Images

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Technical studies

2017Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrarot-Reflektografie
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Material:

- fluid, black medium, brush, probably also with a stylus

Type/Ductus:

- economic, freehand underdrawing (rarely visible e.g. in Diana’s arm and on her right leg)

- thin lines

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; lines delineate the main contours and describe the facial features; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- minor corrections were made to forms during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attributions:

- Lucas Cranach or workshop?

[Sandner, Smith-Contini, Heydenreich, cda 2018]

  • photographed by Ingo Sandner
  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich

Conservation History

Date1993

  • no information available

Versions

Apollo and Diana
  • Apollo and Diana, 1950 - 1999
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P017
  • Painting
  • Private Collection

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Apollo and Diana', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_RCIN407294/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Apollo and Diana', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_RCL_RCIN407294/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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