- 10
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Estimate
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 USD
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Description
- Lucas, the elder Cranach
- Lucretia
- oil on limewood panel
- 23 3/4 by 18 1/2 in.; 60 by 47 cm.
Provenance
Wilhelm Löwenfeld, Munich;
His posthumous sale, Berlin, Rudolf Lepke, 6 February 1906, lot 40, illustrated pl. XVIII, sold for 2,800 RM;
Siegfried Wedells (né Wedeles), Hamburg;
By whom bequeathed to the City of Hamburg, 1919;
By whom sold to W. Hallsborough, London, in 1961;
Acquired shortly thereafter by the family of the present owner.
His posthumous sale, Berlin, Rudolf Lepke, 6 February 1906, lot 40, illustrated pl. XVIII, sold for 2,800 RM;
Siegfried Wedells (né Wedeles), Hamburg;
By whom bequeathed to the City of Hamburg, 1919;
By whom sold to W. Hallsborough, London, in 1961;
Acquired shortly thereafter by the family of the present owner.
Exhibited
Hamburg, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Lucas Cranach: Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, 6 April – 13 July 2003, no. 78.
Literature
M.J. Friedlander and J. Rosenberg, Die Gemalde von Lucas Cranach, Berlin 1932, cat. no. 198C;
D. Koepplin and T. Falk, Lukas Cranach. Gemalde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik, Basel/Stuttgart, 1974/76, cat. no. 578;
W. Schade, Die Malerfamilie Cranach, Dresden 1974, p. 69, reproduced p. 429;
M.J. Friedlander and J. Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, London 1978, p. 78, cat. no. 42, reproduced;
W. Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters, New York 1980 edition, p. 467, cat. no. 429b, reproduced p. 429;
W. Schade et. al., Lucas Cranach: Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, exh. cat., Stuttgart 2003, cat. no. 78, reproduced p. 80;
G. Heydenreich, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Painting materials, techniques and workshop practice, Amsterdam 2007, p. 283, reproduced fig. 218.
D. Koepplin and T. Falk, Lukas Cranach. Gemalde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik, Basel/Stuttgart, 1974/76, cat. no. 578;
W. Schade, Die Malerfamilie Cranach, Dresden 1974, p. 69, reproduced p. 429;
M.J. Friedlander and J. Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, London 1978, p. 78, cat. no. 42, reproduced;
W. Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters, New York 1980 edition, p. 467, cat. no. 429b, reproduced p. 429;
W. Schade et. al., Lucas Cranach: Glaube, Mythologie und Moderne, exh. cat., Stuttgart 2003, cat. no. 78, reproduced p. 80;
G. Heydenreich, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Painting materials, techniques and workshop practice, Amsterdam 2007, p. 283, reproduced fig. 218.
Condition
The following condition report has been provided by Karen Thomas of Thomas Art Conservation LLC., 336 West 37th Street, Suite 830, New York, NY 10018, 212-564-4024, info@thomasartconservation.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's.
This painting displays many typical working methods associated with Lucas Cranach and his workshop. This includes the methodical approach to depicting gold, such as the jewelry and knife hilt, where an unmodulated base color of a warm brown is followed by strong pink and pale yellow (presumably lead-tin yellow) highlights and dark brown shadows. The same yellow and pink paints are used for the well-preserved highlights in the hair, which were applied atop the already dry brown paints used for the middle and dark tones of Lucretia's curls. Dark underpainted strokes are intended to show through the thinly painted flesh tones to create details such as veins in the hands.
At least two campaigns of restoration exist on the painting, the most recent of which is clearly visible under ultraviolet illumination. A few tiny restored losses of no particular note are detectable in the figure's body and red garment, and a cluster of scratches crosses through the forehead and eyes. Less obvious wear in the shadows of the face has been knit together with restoration and toning has been applied to the hair, more so close to the hairline, and possibly in the deeper shadows of the clothing. Some of the contours in the hands have been reinforced. Tiny losses peppering the background have been restored. Some of the retouching has begun to shift in tone slightly. In addition to a normal network of aging cracks across the surface of the picture, a network of minuscule drying cracks has developed in the brown fur along with some degree of typical, age related increased transparency.
The varnish is even and glossy. Based on the fluorescence under UV light, the painting appears to have been selectively cleaned in the past to improve the appearance of the lighter passages.
The vertically grained wood panel appears stable and displays a convex lateral warp. The panel appears to retain its original thickness.
While overall cleaning is not necessary at this time, if desired, a selective cleaning to allow for new retouching in the figure could be considered. Otherwise the painting shows no immediate need for conservation.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
This is one of the earliest known treatments of the classical subject of Lucretia by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Unanimously dated by scholars circa 1510-13, it was painted during the early years following Cranach’s arrival in Wittenberg in 1504 to work in the employ of the Electors of Saxony, and shortly after the conferral in 1508 by Duke Frederick the Wise of the coat of arms with the winged serpent device that would became the basis of the artist’s signature. Of all the known depictions of Lucretia by Cranach and his circle, this can be considered the most sensual and beautiful and it is a supreme example of the type of erotic historical painting produced for the artist’s private patrons, ironically right in the geographic and ideological heart of the Reformation, in the very court where Cranach’s great friend Martin Luther enjoyed the protection of the Electors of Saxony. The painting was first published by Friedländer and Rosenberg in 1932, who identified the picture as an early work by Lucas Cranach the Elder and proposed a dating of circa 1510-13. A terminus ante quem is provided by the existence of a copy after Cranach’s original by his pupil Hans Döring, which is signed with his monogram HD and dated 1514, and is today in the Wiesbaden Museum.1 Cranach is known to have begun to develop his workshop by 1507 and the existence of Döring's copy attests to the practice of pupils copying the master’s originals, although the presence of the signature may have been a requisite to avoid any possible confusion with Cranach’s own or ‘approved’ studio versions.
In 1976 the present work was published by Koepplin and Falk, who likewise dated it circa 1510-13, and at the time believed it to be the earliest known treatment of the subject of Lucretia by the Elder Cranach. They tentatively associated the work with a possible pendant depicting the Old Testament figure Salome, today hanging in the Museu de Arte Antigua in Lisbon, in which the figure is similarly depicted, half-length (holding the head of Saint John the Baptist on a platter), against a black background, also wearing a choker set with precious stones.
In early 2012 another early treatment of Lucretia by Cranach the Elder appeared at auction in these rooms (fig. 1). Its dating of around 1509/10 places it as the earliest of Cranach's treatments of the figure of Lucretia.2 Both that painting and the present Lucretia share a great deal in common in design and handling. Both paintings depict the female heroine three-quarter length, in a similar pose, wearing a fur mantel and holding the dagger to her breast; the physiognomy is far more Italianate and naturalistic than the standard idealised courtly types that would dominate Cranach’s later treatments of the subject, and the features of the distinctive plump, rounded faces are rendered with remarkable detail and precision that suggest the use of real life models and lend a far greater sense of realism to the scene. The artist has made however a number of revisions to the earlier design, which gives the present version a heightened sense of drama and greater sensuality. Most strikingly, Lucretia is depicted with both breasts and the lower part of her midriff exposed, whilst her hair has been tied up and arranged in an elegant plat on her head. The artist has replaced the richly adorned sleeves in the earlier version with a simple white shirt that focuses the viewer on the strong vertical of the exposed body and the drama that is about to unfold. Moreover, Lucretia’s right hand, holding the dagger, has been turned over and her arm bent to give greater vigour and emphasis to the imminent thrust of the sharp blade, thereby heightening further the overall sense of drama.
For Cranach, the figure of Lucretia appears to have represented an embodiment of virtue rather than merely an historical figure. The story is taken from Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita. Lucretia was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, son of the last Roman king Tarquinius Superbus. Although her father and husband swore to avenge her, in order to fully expunge her dishonour, she committed suicide by stabbing herself. According to legend, the horror of the act and her extreme sense of honour spurred the aristocracy to rise up against the monarchy and establish the Roman Republic. She was therefore considered as an exemplar of the virtuous Roman wife and at the court in Wittenberg, with its emphasis of intellect and learning, her conduct was celebrated as one of the antique virtues.
Cranach’s fascination with the story of Lucretia is attested by the considerable number of treatments of the subject that he painted throughout his long career, with some 35 versions attributed to him or his circle. The present work appears to have enjoyed particular success and is known through numerous copies and derivations. In addition to the 1514 copy by Hans Döring there are workshop versions in the Kunstmuseum, Basel and the Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento. The present work however, along with the earlier known treatment, stand alone as works of singular beauty and refinement within the artist’s numerous essays on the subject, and through the use of life-like models possess a sense of realism that is entirely absent in Cranach’s later treatments from the 1530s and 40s. What is common to all of the great German Renaissance master’s representations of the theme however is that the veneer of decency afforded by the historical subject does little to disguise the deeply erotic overtones of the scenes and it perhaps seems shocking that such images were deemed acceptable at the height of the Reformation and in the Saxon Court where Luther and Cranach lived and enjoyed a close friendship.
1. See Heydenreich 2007, p. 283, reproduced figure 219.
2. The painting was sold New York, Sotheby’s, 26 January 2012, lot 34, for $5,122,500 hammer.
3. See Friedländer and Rosenberg 1932, p. 39, under cat. no. 48.
In 1976 the present work was published by Koepplin and Falk, who likewise dated it circa 1510-13, and at the time believed it to be the earliest known treatment of the subject of Lucretia by the Elder Cranach. They tentatively associated the work with a possible pendant depicting the Old Testament figure Salome, today hanging in the Museu de Arte Antigua in Lisbon, in which the figure is similarly depicted, half-length (holding the head of Saint John the Baptist on a platter), against a black background, also wearing a choker set with precious stones.
In early 2012 another early treatment of Lucretia by Cranach the Elder appeared at auction in these rooms (fig. 1). Its dating of around 1509/10 places it as the earliest of Cranach's treatments of the figure of Lucretia.2 Both that painting and the present Lucretia share a great deal in common in design and handling. Both paintings depict the female heroine three-quarter length, in a similar pose, wearing a fur mantel and holding the dagger to her breast; the physiognomy is far more Italianate and naturalistic than the standard idealised courtly types that would dominate Cranach’s later treatments of the subject, and the features of the distinctive plump, rounded faces are rendered with remarkable detail and precision that suggest the use of real life models and lend a far greater sense of realism to the scene. The artist has made however a number of revisions to the earlier design, which gives the present version a heightened sense of drama and greater sensuality. Most strikingly, Lucretia is depicted with both breasts and the lower part of her midriff exposed, whilst her hair has been tied up and arranged in an elegant plat on her head. The artist has replaced the richly adorned sleeves in the earlier version with a simple white shirt that focuses the viewer on the strong vertical of the exposed body and the drama that is about to unfold. Moreover, Lucretia’s right hand, holding the dagger, has been turned over and her arm bent to give greater vigour and emphasis to the imminent thrust of the sharp blade, thereby heightening further the overall sense of drama.
For Cranach, the figure of Lucretia appears to have represented an embodiment of virtue rather than merely an historical figure. The story is taken from Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita. Lucretia was raped by Sextus Tarquinius, son of the last Roman king Tarquinius Superbus. Although her father and husband swore to avenge her, in order to fully expunge her dishonour, she committed suicide by stabbing herself. According to legend, the horror of the act and her extreme sense of honour spurred the aristocracy to rise up against the monarchy and establish the Roman Republic. She was therefore considered as an exemplar of the virtuous Roman wife and at the court in Wittenberg, with its emphasis of intellect and learning, her conduct was celebrated as one of the antique virtues.
Cranach’s fascination with the story of Lucretia is attested by the considerable number of treatments of the subject that he painted throughout his long career, with some 35 versions attributed to him or his circle. The present work appears to have enjoyed particular success and is known through numerous copies and derivations. In addition to the 1514 copy by Hans Döring there are workshop versions in the Kunstmuseum, Basel and the Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento. The present work however, along with the earlier known treatment, stand alone as works of singular beauty and refinement within the artist’s numerous essays on the subject, and through the use of life-like models possess a sense of realism that is entirely absent in Cranach’s later treatments from the 1530s and 40s. What is common to all of the great German Renaissance master’s representations of the theme however is that the veneer of decency afforded by the historical subject does little to disguise the deeply erotic overtones of the scenes and it perhaps seems shocking that such images were deemed acceptable at the height of the Reformation and in the Saxon Court where Luther and Cranach lived and enjoyed a close friendship.
1. See Heydenreich 2007, p. 283, reproduced figure 219.
2. The painting was sold New York, Sotheby’s, 26 January 2012, lot 34, for $5,122,500 hammer.
3. See Friedländer and Rosenberg 1932, p. 39, under cat. no. 48.