Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

Title

Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right

[KKL 2022]

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

Medium

Painting on beech wood (Fagus sp.)

[Klein 03.03.2016a]
[Weschenfelder 2018, p. 172]

See German text version

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Weschenfelder 2018, p. 172] [KKL 2022]

Production date
1528

Production date

1528

[dated, KKL 2022]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 39.45 x 25.5 x 1.3 cm (bevelled to 3 - 6 mm at the edges)

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 39.45 x 25.5 x 1.3 cm (bevelled to 3 - 6 mm at the edges)

  • [KKL 2022]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia left edge: winged serpent with elevated wings and dated '1528'; in yellow paint

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia left edge: winged serpent with elevated wings and dated '1528'; in yellow paint

  • [KKL 2022]

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse: - adhesive label 'Sammlung Georg Schäfer Schweinfurt 59173784'
[Weschenfelder 2018, p. 172]

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse: - adhesive label 'Sammlung Georg Schäfer Schweinfurt 59173784'

  • [Weschenfelder 2018, p. 172]

Owner
Oberfrankenstiftung
Repository
Veste Coburg Kunstsammlungen
Location
Coburg
CDA ID
DE_KSVC_M417
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
KKL-No
IV.M2a, Part of portait group IV
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M417/

Provenance

  • 1935 expertise by Max J. Friedländer
  • before 1954 with Dr. Benno Griebert, Munich; then with the art dealer Alexander Gebhardt, Munich
  • 1954 Georg Schäfer Collection (acquired from the art dealer Alexander Gebhardt, Munich), inv. no. 1737
  • since 1984 on permanent loan to the Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
  • 2003 Oberfrankenstiftung; remained on permanent loan to the Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
    [Weschenfelder 2018, p. 172]

See also the entry in the [Lost Art-Database, Stiftung Deutsches Zentrum für Kulturgutverluste, accessed 17 Dec. 2019]

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Cat. Coburg 2018 172-174, 176, 177 37 Pl. p. 174
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
Weschenfelder 2018 A 14
AuthorKlaus Weschenfelder
TitleCranach in Coburg.
Publicationin Klaus Weschenfelder, ed., Cranach 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
Pages7-23
Schuchardt 2004
AuthorGünter Schuchardt
TitleLuther seitenrichtig - Luther seitenverkehrt? Die Bildnisse im Leben und im Tod - Werkstattprinzip und Werkstattprivileg Cranachs und seiner Mitarbeiter
Volume2003
JournalWartburg-Jahrbuch
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication2004
Pages9-30
Exhib. Cat. Schweinfurt 1985 No. 11 Plate p. 74
AuthorIsolde Lübbeke, Bruno Bushart
TitleAltdeutsche Bilder der Sammlung Georg Schäfer Schweinfurt
Place of PublicationSchweinfurt
Year of Publication1985
  • Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right, 1528

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • reverse
  • reverse
  • irr
  • irr
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • detail
  • other

Technical studies

Date2018 - 2021

Support

See German version

2018Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

- beech wood

- single plank, not trimmed. Bevelled on all four sides to a thickness of 0.7 cm; the chamfer is up to 7 cm in width

- marks on the reverse suggest that the panel was originally fitted in a grooved frame

- Dendrochronology: the following annual rings were measured: 152 annual rings, 1522-1371. The plank is from the same tree as planks used for the following paintings:

DE_smbGG_618; DE_BStGS_WAF169; F_MdLP_RF1767; F_MdLP_RF1184; FIN_FNG_AI316; DE_KSW_G6 (II); NL_KMMO_KM111-236 (I)

The youngest annual ring is from 1522. Generally with beech wood the entire section is used and only the bark is removed, therefore a felling date of 1522 can be estimated. The wood was then seasoned for at least two years before it could be used (Klein 2016).

Ground and Imprimatura

- chalk ground

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 172]

03.03.2016Scientific analysis

  • Dendrochronology / identification of wood species

Support

Identification of wood species: beech wood

Plank I: 152 annual rings, 1522 - 1371

the youngest annual ring is from 1522; the earliest felling date is therefore 1522; following a two year seasoning period the panel could have been used from 1524.

[Klein report, 03.03.2016]

  • analysed by Peter Klein

Condition Reports

Date2018

Support:

  • at the centre a few isolated incidents of woodworm damage (inactive)

Varnish:

  • the painting has a glossy resin varnish, which was probably applied repeatedly with a brush. The strong fluorescence of this layer restricts the identification of retouches under UV light to a few relatively new ones.

[Cat. Coburg 2018, 172]

Versions

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M417/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Martin Luther, bust-length, facing right', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_KSVC_M417/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.