Study of Three Girls' Heads

Title

[Royal Institution of Cornwall, revised 2013]

Painting on paper (laid on panel (hardwood {oak}))

Medium

Painting on paper (laid on panel (hardwood {oak}))

[http://www.nicepaintings.org/works/87152] (accessed 20.09.2012)

A small painting of three female heads, one wearing an elaborate beaded headdress. The work is considered to have been a workshop pattern for other paintings. The work may originally have been larger - the headdress of the girl on the left is curtailed top and left. The flesh painting of the girl in the centre extends to the lower edge, but the other two seem not to have been painted below the line of the neck.

[http://www.nicepaintings.org/works/87152] (accessed 20.09.2012)

Attribution: Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Royal Institution of Cornwall, revised 2013]

Production dates: about 1520 - 1530
about 1530 - 1532

Production dates

about 1520 - 1530	[http://www.nicepaintings.org/works/87152] (accessed 20.09.2012)
about 1530 - 1532	[Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994, No. 193]

Dimensions: Dimensions of support: 12.5 x 26.9 x 0.2-0.4 cm

Dimensions

Dimensions of support: 12.5 x 26.9 x 0.2-0.4 cm
Dimensions of painted surface: 12.5 x 26.9 cm
Dimensions including frame: 30 x 44.5 x 5.2 cm
[RIC Conservation Report 2009]

Signature / Dating: None

Inscriptions and Labels: Reverse of panel:
in pencil 'Kranack Heads by Kranach'
in ink 'halifax'
in thicker ink, centre top 'X'
mainly …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

Reverse of panel:
in pencil 'Kranack Heads by Kranach'
in ink 'halifax'
in thicker ink, centre top 'X'
mainly illegible inscriptions in red chalk/pencil ('8E'(?)) and in white chalk.
[RIC Conservation Report 2009]

Owner: Royal Cornwall Museum, Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro
Repository: Royal Cornwall Museum, Royal Institution of Cornwall, Truro
Location: Truro

CDA ID: UK_TRURI_1828-4
FR (1978) Nr.: FR171A
Persistent Link: https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_TRURI_1828-4/

Provenance

Given to the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution by Dr. Lawrence Holker Potts, in or shortly before 1820.
The work is cited in the list of accessions up to and including 1820: 'Heads a study by Kranach ... Dr D. Potts', Annual Report of the Cornwall Philosophical Institution, August 27, 1821, p. 16.
[http://www.nicepaintings.org/works/87152] (accessed 20.09.2012)

Exhibitions

Kronach 1994, No. 193

Literature

Reference on page

Catalogue Number

Figure / Plate

Cat. Coburg 2018

204, fn. 3

under no. 44

Author	Klaus Weschenfelder
Title	Cranach in Coburg. Gemälde von Lucas Cranach d.Ä., Lucas Cranach d.J., der Werkstatt und des Umkreises in den Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Place of Publication	Regensburg
Year of Publication	2018

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007

292-293

p. 293

Editor	Bodo Brinkmann
Title	Cranach der Ältere, [Frankfurt, Städel Museum, 23 Nov 2007 - 17 Feb 2008]
Place of Publication	Ostfildern
Year of Publication	2007

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Chemnitz 2005

453, 454, 456

038 (under)

Editor	Harald Marx, Karin Kolb, Ingrid Mössinger
Title	Cranach Anlässlich der Ausstellung Cranach vom 13. November 2005 bis 12. März 2006 in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Eine Ausstellung in Kooperation mit der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Place of Publication	Cologne
Year of Publication	2005

Show Literature

Foister 2003

118, 119

Fig. 3

Author	Susan Foister
Title	Cranachs Mythologien. Quellen und Originalität
Publication	in Heinz Spielmann, Werner Schade, eds., Lucas Cranach. Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, Exhib. Cat. Hamburg 2003
Place of Publication	Ostfildern-Ruit
Year of Publication	2003
Pages	116-129

Show Literature

Erichsen 1994 B

183

Author	Johannes Erichsen
Title	Vorlagen und Werkstattmodelle bei Lucas Cranach
Publication	in Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhof, eds., Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken, Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994
Series	Veröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume	26/94
Place of Publication	Augsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication	1994
Pages	180-185

Show Literature

Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994

364

193

Fig. 193

Editor	Claus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
Title	Lucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
Series	Veröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume	26
Place of Publication	Augsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication	1994

Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Fortuity allows a more precise determination of the function of this sheet. In a private collection there is a panel from the Cranach workshop (FR 251A) on which an assistant has assembled different poses and parts of Cranach-like nude figures to form a group of the three graces. For this process he also employed the 'Study of three Girls' heads' now in Truro by transferring the design to the panel in actual size. However, he did not succeed in retaining the study’s vitality, so that a comparison also emphasizes a divergence in quality between the Master and his apprentice. The mouth and nose of the head on the right differ slightly from the sheet in Truro; and it is in exactly these details that a deviation from the underdrawing can be observed in the painted version. The underdrawing on the panel is closer to the oil sketch than the final painted version. It may therefore be assumed that the sketch was the archetype and is not a copy of the painting.

This high quality sheet was created to be used in the workshop as a template for specific subjects. Of course the heads could also be employed individually. Pattern books have belonged to workshop practice since the Middle Ages. Lucas Cranach seems to have fostered and systematized their use; as such he established an important, if not the most important prerequisite for the astonishing high level of productivity in his workshop.

[Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007, 292, No. 85]

Study of Three Girls' Heads, about 1520 - 1530

Images

Documents

UK_TRURI_1828-4_FR171A_2009-01_TreatmentReport.pdf

Technical studies

Date01. 2009

UK_TRURI_1828-4_FR171A_2009-01_TreatmentReport.pdf

written by Hilary Tempest

Condition Reports

Date01. 2009

UK_TRURI_1828-4_FR171A_2009-01_TreatmentReport.pdf

see pdf

written by Hilary Tempest

Date1994

In 1994 the work was the subject of a technical examination at the National Gallery. It was reported that black lines in the craquelure of the forehead of the central girl may have been caused by old attempts at cleaning, and that the necklace of the figure on the left and some parts of her headdress appeared to have been repainted. X-radiography showed that the composition was first blocked out with three oval shapes; the heads were under-drawn with a fluid medium. There were no significant alterations.

[http://www.nicepaintings.org/works/87152] (accessed 20.09.2012)

Conservation History

Date01. 2009

UK_TRURI_1828-4_FR171A_2009-01_TreatmentReport.pdf

see pdf

conservation treatment by Hilary Tempest

Versions

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author: <author's name>, 'Study of Three Girls' Heads', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_TRURI_1828-4/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author: 'Study of Three Girls' Heads', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/UK_TRURI_1828-4/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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