The Procuress

The Procuress

Title

The Procuress

[GNM, revised 2020]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Georgian National Museum, revised 2020]

This panel shows an almost toothless old woman caressing the beard of a young man, while passing him a moneybag. Both are seated at a table. A young woman sits at the other end, holding a jug, and offers the man a full glass.

[cda 2020]

Attributions
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Lucas Cranach the Elder

or workshop? [Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 171] [Cubinašvili 1957]

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

or Lucas Cranach the Elder [Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 171] [Cubinašvili 1957]

Lucas Cranach the Younger

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 201]

Production dates
about 1537 - 1545
1548

Production dates

about 1537 - 1545

'1537 – early 1540s [...] emphasis on the late 1530s' [Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 168]

about 1540 - 1550

[cda 2020]

1548

[dated, not authentic]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 85.7 x 59 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 85.7 x 59 cm

  • [Georgian National Museum, revised 2020]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at the top left corner: serpent with dropped wings (a second insignia with the initials 'LC' and the date '1548' near the woman's head appears to be a later addition)

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at the top left corner: serpent with dropped wings (a second insignia with the initials 'LC' and the date '1548' near the woman's head appears to be a later addition)

Owner
Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi
Repository
The Shalva Amiranashvili Fine Arts Museum, Tbilisi
Location
Tbilisi
CDA ID
GE_GNM_D-EP41
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/GE_GNM_D-EP41/

Provenance

  • 18.11.1920, purchased from the musicologist Wassilly Korganov for the collection of the National Gallery in Georgia, recorded as: Lucas Cranach the Elder, 'Procuress', 16th century
  • March 1921, evacuated to France (together with other national treasures) due to threats following the Soviet Occupation of Georgia
  • 11.04.1945, returned from France to Georgia
  • 1946 relocated to the Metekhi Museum (present day Museum of Fine Arts), displayed in the permanent collection
  • 1985 - 1994 in the Fine Arts Museum, Tbilisi
  • 10.08.1994, stolen from the Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi
  • 10.05.2004, returned to the Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi
    [Georgian National Museum, revised 2020]
    see also [Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 160, 161] for further discussion on provenance

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Tabutsadze 2021 159-182
AuthorEka Kiknadze, Nino Tabutsadze, Mariam Gvelesiani, Nino Kalandadze
EditorNino Tabutsadze
TitleThe Integrated Study of the Western European Fine Arts collections of the Georgian National Museum
Place of PublicationTbilisi
Year of Publication2021
Show Literature
Tabutsadze et al. 2021 159-182
AuthorEka Kiknadze, Nino Tabutsadze, Nino Kalandadze, Sesili Sordia
Title‘The Procuress’: Unlocking the Painting ‘The Ill-Matched Couple' by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Publicationin Nino Tabutsadze, Eka Kiknadze, eds., The Integrated Study of the Western European Fine Arts collection of the Georgian National Museum
Place of PublicationTbilisi
Year of Publication2021
Show Literature
Cat. Coburg 2018 201
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
Cubinašvili 1957
AuthorGeorgij Nikolaevic Cubinašvili
TitleLuka Kranach. Ego žizn' i tvorcestvo
Place of PublicationTbilisi
Year of Publication1957
Show Literature
  • The Procuress, about 1537 - 1545

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • detail
  • detail

Technical studies

2021Technical examination / Scientific analysis

Support

- beech wood panel consisting of three boards; 1.2 cm thick

Paint Layers and Gilding

Non-destructive Pigment analysis 'EvaX Prospector 3'

XRFanalysis: calcium (Ca) and lead (Pb) lead white

Red: mercury (Hg), vermilion and iron (Fe) red ochre

Green: copper (Cu) verdigris

Brown tone (purse): zinc (Zn) white vitriol

Examination at the Restoration-Conservation Scientific Institute of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi, 2020

[Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 162, 163]

Condition Reports

Date2021

Later addition to the support on the left side (2 cm)

[Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 162]

Conservation History

Date2005 - 2006

  • conservation treatment carried out at the Kunsthalle, Hamburg; supervised by the Senior Restorer Dr. Nana Managadze

[Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 162]

Date1969 - 1978

  • restoration: The State Research Institute for Restoration (Gosniir), Moscow 1969 -1978

[Tabutsadze et al. 2021, 162]

Versions

An ill-matched Pair
  • An ill-matched Pair, about 1540
  • DE_KSVC_M010
  • Painting
  • Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'The Procuress', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/GE_GNM_D-EP41/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'The Procuress', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/GE_GNM_D-EP41/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.