Portrait of Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg

Portrait of Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg

Titles

Portrait of Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg

[Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

Portrait of the Margrave Georg the Pious of Brandenburg-Ansbach

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 326]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

This portrait of Elector Joachim II (German, 1505-1571) depicts the ruler as heir apparent, six years before he assumed the electoral dignity. It is the companion to Cranach's portrait of Joachim's wife, Magdalena of Saxony (1507-1534), now at the Art Institute of Chicago. Joachim's pearl-decorated doublet displays two repeated motifs:

This portrait of Elector Joachim II (German, 1505-1571) depicts the ruler as heir apparent, six years before he assumed the electoral dignity. It is the companion to Cranach's portrait of Joachim's wife, Magdalena of Saxony (1507-1534), now at the Art Institute of Chicago. Joachim's pearl-decorated doublet displays two repeated motifs: the head of a jester and the letter M. Each M is topped with a heart and crown, probably in playful reference to Magdalena as the queen of Joachim's heart. The jesters may allude to the widespread notion that folly accompanies love.

[http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102550.html?mulR=15983|5]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

Production date
1529

Production date

1529

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 59.4 x 41.6 cm (23 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 59.4 x 41.6 cm (23 3/8 x 16 3/8 inches)

  • [Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

  • Dimesions of support: 60 x 41 cm

  • [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 326]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the left, above the sitter's shoulder: winged serpent and dated '1529'

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia on the left, above the sitter's shoulder: winged serpent and dated '1529'

  • [Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

Owner
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Repository
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Location
Philadelphia
CDA ID
US_PMA_739
FR (1978) Nr.
FR326
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/US_PMA_739/

Connected Works

Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg
  • Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, about 1529
  • US_artic_1938-310
  • Painting
  • The Art Institute of Chicago

Provenance

  • Gustav Fincke (d. 1865), Bamberg, until d. 1865 (with the companion portrait, now Art Institute of Chicago, with which it remained until separated during the Schönlank sale in 1896)
  • his estate sale, Bamberg, September 11 and following, 1865, no. [?]; probably purchased by Carl Christian Buchner (1817-1886), Bamberg, until d. 1886 [1]
  • his estate sale, Rudolph Lepke, Berlin, June 3-13, 1891, no. 830 (illus.) (bought in?) [2]
  • his daughter, Lilli Ament (b. 1851), Bamberg, until 1894; her sale, Rudolf Bangel, Frankfurt, April 9, 1894, no. 108. Alexis Schönlank, Berlin until 1896
  • his sale, Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, April 28-29, 1896, no. 34
  • purchased by Knoedler & Co., New York [3]
  • John G. Johnson (1841-1917), Philadelphia, by 1914, until d. 1917 [4]
  • bequest to City of Philadelphia, 1917.

[1] See Theodor Frimmel, Kleine Galeriestudien (Bamberg, 1891), p. 94.
[2] Note that the illustration in the illustrated version of the sale catalogue is mis-captioned as no. 815.
[3] Note by Abraham Bredius on p. 14 of his copy of the Schönlank sale catalogue (RKD, The Hague).
[4] W[ilhelm]. R[einhold]. Valentiner, Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings and Some Art Objects, vol. 3: German, French, Spanish and English Paintings and Art Objects, Modern Paintings (Philadelphia: John G. Johnson, 1914), p. 13, no. 739, illus. p. 242.
[Philadelphia Museum of Art, revised 2015]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 36, 142 under no. 2
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach 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 PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2018
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009 A 165, 173 under I.7, I.23
EditorStiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg
TitleCranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern. Kirche, Hof und Stadtkultur
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Show Literature
Werner 2009 16 - 17 Fig. 4
AuthorElke Anna Werner
TitleDie Renaissance in Berlin: Lucas Cranach d. Ä. und die höfische Repräsentation der brandenburgischen Hohenzollern
Publicationin Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg, Evangelische Kirchengemeinde St. Petri-St. Marien, eds., Cranach und die Kunst der Renaissance unter den Hohenzollern: Kirche, Hof und Stadtkultur Exhib. Cat. Berlin
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication2009
Pages10 - 27
Show Literature
Cat. Chicago 2008 350 - 353 Fig. 1
EditorMartha Wolff
TitleNorthern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago. A Catalogue of the Collection
Place of PublicationNew Haven
Year of Publication2008
Show Literature
Cat. Philadelphia 1994 165 (3)
EditorPhiladelphia Museum of Art
TitlePhiladelphia Museum of Art. Concise Catalogue.
Place of Publication[Philadelphia]
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 No. 326
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Zimmermann E. H. 1942 B 42 - 50 Fig.
AuthorErnst Heinrich Zimmermann
TitleBeiträge zur Ikonographie Cranachscher Bildnisse
JournalZeitschrift des deutschen Vereins für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue9
Year of Publication1942
Pages23-52
Show Literature
Cat. Philadelphia 1941 43
Authorn. a.
TitleJohn G. Johnson Collection: Catalogue of Paintings
Place of Publication[Philadelphia]
Year of Publication1941
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Cambridge, Mass. 1936 42 126
AuthorCharles L. Kuhn
EditorGermanic Museum, Cambridge, Mass.
TitleCatalogue of the Germanic Museum exhibition of German paintings of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Lent from American collections
Place of PublicationCambridge Mass.
Year of Publication1936
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 77 263 Pl. 263
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
Parker 1927 19 Fig.
AuthorRobert Allerton Parker
TitleThe Revaluation of Lucas Cranach
JournalInternational Studio
Issue87 (June 1927)
Year of Publication1927
Pages17-25
Show Literature
Cat. Philadelphia 1914 13 No. 739 Fig. p. 242
AuthorW[ilhelm]. R[einhold]. Valentiner
TitleCatalogue of a Collection of Paintings and Some Art Objects, vol. 3: German, French, Spanish and English Paintings and Art Objects, Modern Paintings (John G. Johnson Collection)
Place of Publication[Philadelphia]
Year of Publication1914
Show Literature
Auct. Cat. Cologne 1896 14 No. 34 Fig.
EditorLempertz Auktionshaus, Cologne
TitleKatalog der ausgewählten und reichhaltigen Gemälde-Galerie des Rentiers Herrn Alexis Schönlank zu Berlin, sale cat., Lempertz, Cologne, April 28-29
Place of Publication[Cologne]
Year of Publication1896
Show Literature
Auct. Cat. Frankfurt 1894 27 No. 108 Fig.
EditorRudolf Bangel, Frankfurt
TitleAntiquitäten-Sammlung und Gemälde älterer Meister der Frau Oberst Lilli Ament W[it]we in Bamberg, enhaltend die hervorragensten Stücke des Katalog der Sammlung Buchner in Bamberg, sale cat., Rudolf Bangel, Frankfurt a. M., April 9
Place of Publication[Frankfurt am Main]
Year of Publication1894
Show Literature
Cat. Bamberg 1891 81 No. 830 Fig.
AuthorH. E. von Berlepsch, Friedrich Weysser
TitleKatalog der Sammlung Buchner in Bamberg
Place of PublicationBamberg
Year of Publication1891
Show Literature
Frimmel 1891 C 94
AuthorTheodor von Frimmel
TitleKleine Galeriestudien
Place of PublicationBamberg
Year of Publication1891
Show Literature
Auct. Cat. Berlin 1881 106 No. 830
EditorLepke Auktionshaus, Berlin
TitleKatalog der von Herrn Verlagsbuchhändler Buchner (Bamberg) hinterlassenen hervorragenden Kunstsammlung, sale cat., Lepke, Berlin, June 3 and following
Place of Publication[Berlin]
Year of Publication1881
Show Literature
Auct. Cat. Bamberg 1865
Authorn. a.
TitleKatalog der rühmlichst bekannten Gemälde- und Antiquitäten-Sammlung des verstorbenen Privatier Gustav Fincke, Bamberg, sale cat., September 11 and following days, 1865
Place of Publication[Bamberg]
Year of Publication1865
Show Literature
  • Portrait of Joachim II, Elector of Brandenburg, 1529

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Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

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Entry with no author
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