Self-portrait

Self-portrait

Title

Self-portrait

[Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010, No. 2]

Painting on beech wood

Medium

Painting on beech wood

[Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010, No. 2]

The bust portrait of Cranach the Elder can only just be distinguished from the dark brown of the background. It is difficult to establish the transition from the background to the fur-trimming on the artist's robe, only the flesh paint of the face is clearly visible. Framed by brown hair

The bust portrait of Cranach the Elder can only just be distinguished from the dark brown of the background. It is difficult to establish the transition from the background to the fur-trimming on the artist's robe, only the flesh paint of the face is clearly visible. Framed by brown hair and a greying beard the artist looks directly at the viewer. Whereas his body is inclined to the right, his head is tilted to the viewer and is shown in three-quarter profile.

[Görres, cda 2013]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010, No. 2] [Heydenreich 2007 A, 44, 47]

Production date
1531

Production date

1531

dated (under overpaint)

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 45.4 x 35.6 cm (trimmed along the bottom edge)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 45.4 x 35.6 cm (trimmed along the bottom edge)

  • [Heydenreich 2007 A, 44, 47]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings, facing right and the date '1531' (both are overpainted).

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia centre left: winged serpent with elevated wings, facing right and the date '1531' (both are overpainted).

  • [Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010, No. 2]

  • [Heydenreich 2007 A, 44, 47]

Owner
Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe Rheinland-Pfalz - Direktion Burgen, Schlösser, Altertümer
Repository
Schloss Stolzenfels, Koblenz
Location
Schloss Stolzenfels
CDA ID
DE_GKER_GK-I-2553
FR (1978) Nr.
FR214A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_GKER_GK-I-2553/

Provenance

  • probably the property of the Preussen Royal House since the first half of the eighteenth century
  • transferred in the mid-19th century from Potsdam town palace (Stadtschloss) to Berlin Castle
  • after 1883 transferred to Burg Stolzenfels

[Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015, 92, No. 1]

Exhibitions

Basel 1974, No. 25
Berlin 2009/10, No. III.15
Brüssel 2010/11, No. 2
Gotha, Kassel 2015, No. 1
Düsseldorf 2017, No. 1

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017 98 No. 1
EditorGunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Cranach. Meister - Marke - Moderne", Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, 08. April 2017 - 30. Juli 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Show Literature
Wegmann 2017 21, 25, 26 1
AuthorSusanne Wegmann
TitleDer selbstbewusste Maler. Lucas Cranach der Ältere im Selbstbildnis
Publicationin Gunnar Heydenreich, Daniel Görres, Beat Wismer, eds., Lucas Cranach der Ältere. Meister - Marke - Moderne. [Exhib. Cat. Düsseldorf 2017]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2017
Pages20-27
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015 92, 93 No. 1 Plate p. 93
EditorJulia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper
TitleBild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Gotha, Herzogliches Museum; Kassel, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe]
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Weimar 2015 25
EditorWolfgang Holler, Karin Kolb
TitleCranach in Weimar, [Weimar, Schiller-Museum, 3 April - 14 June 2015]
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication2015
Show Literature
Poppe 2014 p. 8
AuthorSonja Poppe
TitleBibel und Bild. Die Cranachschule als Malwerkstatt der Reformation
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication2014
Show Literature
Borggrefe 2010 65 Fig. 1, p. 64
AuthorHeiner Borggrefe
TitleLucas Cranach vs. Tiziano. Il ritratto nell'ambito della politica europea; Lucas Cranach vs. Titian. Portraiture and European Politics
Publicationin Anna Coliva, Bernhard Aikema, eds., Cranach l'altro rinascimento, a different Renaissance, Exhib. Cat. Rome
Place of PublicationMilan
Year of Publication2010
Pages62 - 73
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Brussels 2010 99 2
EditorBozarbooks & Lannoo, Guido Messling
TitleDie Welt des Lucas Cranach. Ein Künstler im Zeitalter von Dürer, Tizian und Metsys [anlässlich der Ausstellung "Die Welt des Lucas Cranach", Palast der Schönen Künste, Brüssel, 20. Oktober 2010 - 23. Januar 2011]
Place of PublicationBrussels
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Rome 2010 65-66
EditorGalleria Borghese, Rome, Anna Coliva, Bernard Aikema
TitleCranach. L'altro rinascimento / a different renaissance, [Rome, Galleria Borghese 15 ottobre 2010 - 13 febbraio 2011]
Place of PublicationMilan
Year of Publication2010
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 2009 A III.15
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
Heydenreich 2007 A 44, 47
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleLucas Cranach the Elder
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
Year of Publication2007
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/6116/2097/3099/Heydenreich_2007_Lucas_Cranach_the_Elder.pdf
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Kronach 1994 224, 225
EditorClaus Grimm, Johannes Erichsen, Evamaria Brockhoff
TitleLucas Cranach. Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken [Festung Rosenberg, Kronach 17.05 - 21.08.1994; Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 07.09 - 06.11.1994]
SeriesVeröffentlichungen zur bayerischen Geschichte und Kultur
Volume26
Place of PublicationAugsburg, Coburg
Year of Publication1994
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 214A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974/1976 76-78 025 Fig. 25
AuthorDieter Koepplin, Tilman Falk
TitleLukas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Druckgraphik
Volume1, 2
Place of PublicationBasel, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1974
Link http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-diglit-104522
Show Literature
Schade 1974 57
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDie Malerfamilie Cranach
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1974
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/schade1974
Show Literature
Schade 1972 C 373-374
AuthorWerner Schade
TitleDas unbekannte Selbstbildnis Cranachs
JournalDezennium
Issue2
Year of Publication1972
Pages368-375
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

An x-radiograph of the panel shows both the signature and date from the year '1531'. In addition a technical examination revealed that the panel had been trimmed by c. 6 cm at the bottom, but that it had not been cut out of a larger image and was conceived of as an autonomous portrait from the beginning.

[Sebastian Dohe, Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015, 92, No. 1]

The colour black together with white, red and yellow make up the four colours that according to Pliny were employed by artists such as Apelles to create their best works (Plin. Nat. hist., 35, 50) - with its reduced palette of black, grey, brown and flesh tones Cranach's portrait is also executed employing admixtures of these four colours. An interpretation of the self-portrait based on sources would suggest that it is a testimony of his professional identity rather than a self-questioning snap-shot.

[Sebastian Dohe, Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel 2015, 92, No. 1]

  • Self-portrait, 1531

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • irr
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph

Technical studies

05.06.2013 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing is not readily visible

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich, cda 2013]

  • photographed by Gunnar Heydenreich
  • photographed by Ingo Sandner

1974Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • created by n. a.

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Self-portrait', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_GKER_GK-I-2553/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Self-portrait', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_GKER_GK-I-2553/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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