Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg

Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg

Titles

Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg

[http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/87760?search_no=9&index=1] (accessed 24.09.2012)

Sibille of Cleve

[Exhib. Cat. San Francisco 1920, No. 56]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Cat. Chicago 2008, 349]
[Klein report 02.12.1993]

Portrait of a richly dressed noblewoman.

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/87760?search_no=9&index=1] (accessed 24.09.2012)

Production dates
about 1529
1529

Production dates

about 1529

[http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/87760?search_no=9&index=1] (accessed 24.09.2012)

1529

Signed and dated [?] [Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979, No. 327]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 59.8 x 41.6 cm (23 9/16 x 16 3/8 in.)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 59.8 x 41.6 cm (23 9/16 x 16 3/8 in.)

  • Dimensions of the painted surface: 59.8 x 40.6 cm (23 9/16 x 16 in.)

  • [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/87760?search_no=9&index=1] (accessed 24.09.2012)

Signature / Dating

Pendant signed

Signature / Dating

  • Pendant signed

Owner
The Art Institute of Chicago
Repository
The Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago
CDA ID
US_artic_1938-310
FR (1978) Nr.
FR327
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/US_artic_1938-310/

Provenance

  • Gustav Fincke, Bamberg
  • sold, Bamberg, Sept. 11 or following, 1865, no. 8, to Buchner, Bamberg, with a portrait now identiable as the sitter's husband Joachim II of Brandenburg [Frimmell 1891]
  • sold, Lepke, Berlin, June 3 or following, 1891, no. 831. Ament collection, Bamberg
  • sold, Bangel, Frankfurt, Apr. 9, 1894, no. 109. Alexis Schönlank, Berlin
  • sold, Lempertz, Cologne, Apr. 28-29, 1896, no. 35, to Sedelmeyer, for 2650 marks [According to a copy of the Schönlank sale catalogue in the R.K.D., The Hague, annotated by Abraham Bredius, who characterized both portraits as old copies. At this sale, the male portrait went to Knoedler's, New York; it is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art].
  • Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris, from 1896 to at least 1900 [see Galerie Sedelmeyer 1900].
  • Demotte Galleries, New York, by 1920 [See San Francisco 1920; Registrar's records also list Countess Miranda as a former owner of the picture, although the basis for this is unclear]
  • J. Vigouroux, New York [according to registrar's records]
  • Kate S. Buckingham (d. 1938), Chicago, by 1924 [according to a shipping order dated Dec. 1, 1924, Art Institute Archives]
  • bequeathed to the AIC, 1938.
    [http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/87760?search_no=9&index=1] (accessed 24.09.2012)

Exhibitions

San Francisco 1920, No. 56 (as Sibille of Cleve)
Chicago 1952, Lackritz Jewelers (no catalogue)

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

Research History / Discussion

In his 1942 study of Cranach’s princely portraits E. H. Zimmermann pointed out the striking correspondence between the Chicago work and a watercolour drawing of Magdalena (1507 – 1534), daughter of Duke George the Bearded of Saxony and wife of Joachim of Brandenburg (1505 – 1571). The drawing is included in a manuscript geneaology of Saxon princes in the Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Dresden, executed in the Cranach workshop; it shows the figure in reverse in order to pair the princess with her sister Christina. The broad beret atop her neatly coiffed hair, heavy ermine-collared robe, puffed sleeves, and gold chains are repeated in the drawing, as is the placement of the hands, although the figure has been extended to full length to suit the format of the series. The form of the Brandenburg arms on the signet ring worn by the male stter in the Philadelphia portrait would also be appropriate for Joachim, who succeeded his father as Elector of Brandenburg in 1535, shortly after the death of Magdalena.

See [Cat.Chicago 2008, 352] for further discussion

  • Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg, about 1529

Images

Compare images
  • overall

Technical studies

2008Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Support

- the beech wood panel is composed of three planks with horizontal grain joined at 15.8 cm and 38.8 cm from the top at the left edge

- dendrochronological analysis places the earliest heartwood ring at 1525 [1]

[1]Report by Peter Klein, Jan. 16, 1990. Since beech wood panels could be made using all of the wood out to the bark, 1525 is also the earliest possible felling date; however, compare the dendrochronology for the pendant: dendrochronological analysis of the Philadelphia panel indicates a youngest growth ring of 1522. Peter Klein reported that none of the three horizontal planks came from the same tree as the companion piece; report of Jan. 16, 1990, copy in curatorial file.

Ground and Imprimatura

- the original chalk ground and paint layers extend to the edge of the panel at the top and bottom, but are not at the sides

Underdrawing

- infrared reflectography reveals rather vigorous underdrawn contour lines, probably in a liquid medium, in the costume, and a finer, more precise line in a dry medium for the features; the contours of the mouth in particular suggests the use of a cartoon

Paint Layers and Gilding

- at the painted stage, the hat was made smaller and the plume larger than in the underdrawn design

- the puffs of the sitter’s left sleeve were also reduced in size

[Cat. Chicago 2008, 349, 352]

  • examined by The Art Institute of Chicago

02.12.1993Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species: beech wood

Dendrochronology: plank I 72 annual rings 1521 - 1450; planks II 106 annual rings 1525 - 1420; plank III 117 annual 1522 - 1406

The youngest annual ring is from 1525

[Klein report, 02.12.1993]

  • analysed by Peter Klein

Condition Reports

Date2008

  • thinned and cradled

  • there is a horizontal split across the centre of the panel at 29.5 cm from the top at the left edge

  • the neat appearance of the panel edges suggests that it has been trimmed slightly on all sides; the exposed wood has been overpainted at the edges

  • the overall condition of the paint layer is good; some losses along the joins, particularly at the lower one, and in an irregularly shaped area (4 x 2.5 cm) in the robe at lower right

  • a band of wide aperture traction crackle in the light areas along both joins is particularly evident across the eyes, eyebrows, right forehead, and temple, and has been inpainted to diminish its distracting appearance

  • additional inpainting is located along the split across the centre and in small scattered areas of the hat, and along the bottom edge of the red robe

  • the thin glazes modelling the facial features and the left side of the face are somewhat abraded

[Cat. Chicago 2008, 349, 352]

  • examined by The Art Institute of Chicago

Conservation History

Date1988

  • cleaned in 1988 by Faye Wrubel [1]

[1] Overpaint removed in 1988 was added after 1900, as evident from comparison with the illustration in the 1891 catalogue of the Buchner sale and in Galerie Sedelmeyer 1900. The overpaint gave the face a slimmer contour.

[Cat. Chicago 2008, 349, 352]

  • conservation treatment by Faye Wrubel

Date1970

  • superficially cleaned in 1970 by Alfred Jakstas

[Cat. Chicago 2008, 349, 352]

  • conservation treatment by Alfred Jakstas

Support made from the same tree

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_artic_1938-310/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/US_artic_1938-310/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.