Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin

Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin

Title

Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin

[cda 2017]

Painting on hardwood (not oak)

Medium

Painting on hardwood (not oak)

[Exhib. Cat. Lübeck 2021, no. 22]

Poplar wood
Limewood (?)

[unpublished examination report I. Sandner]

In front of a city gate Jesus takes leave of his mother, who has collapsed and is encircled by weeping women. Three disciples are grouped behind Jesus.

Attributions
Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Hans Kemmer

Attributions

Follower of Lucas Cranach the Elder

['Cranach Schüler', Exhib. Cat. Lübeck 2021, no. 22] [Emmendörffer 1997, 172-173] [Schaefer 1917, 7]

Hans Kemmer

[St. Annen-Museum, revised 2017]
[Museen Nord, accessed 22.11.2016]

Hans Krell

[Junius 1935, 79]

Hans Leonard Schäufelein

'Wahrscheinlich Hans Schäufelein' [Label on the reverse of the panel, 1832]

Production dates
about 1520
about 1530

Production dates

about 1520
about 1520 - 1525

[Exhib. Cat. Lübeck 2021, no. 22]

about 1530

[Schaefer 1917, 7]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 46 x 34 cm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the pillar of the gate: 'HK' (not linked)

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia on the pillar of the gate: 'HK' (not linked)

Inscriptions and Labels

None Reverse of the support: Label: 'Wahrscheinlich von Hans Schäuffelein, Blühte um 1515, ? 1539 oder 1540. Schüler des …

Inscriptions and Labels

Inscriptions, Badges:

  • None

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the support: Label: 'Wahrscheinlich von Hans Schäuffelein, Blühte um 1515, ? 1539 oder 1540. Schüler des Albrecht Dürer, auf der auction v. Einsiedel von Roibersdorf 1832. Dahl.'

  • [http://www.museen-sh.de/Objekt/DE-MUS-088015/lido/1979-36] (accessed 22.Nov.2016)

Owner
Kulturstiftung Hansestadt Lübeck, die Lübecker Museen
Repository
St. Annen-Museum, Lübeck
Location
Lübeck
CDA ID
DE_SAML_1979-36
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SAML_1979-36/

Provenance

  • in the 19th century in the collection of the painter Johann Christian Claussen Dahl
  • auction of Einsiedel von Roibersdorf 1832. Dahl (label on the reverse)
  • private collection, Darmstadt
  • 1917 in the von Seydlitz collection, Dresden-Blasewitz
  • since 1979 in the collection
    [Emmendörffer 1997, 173]

Exhibitions

Lübeck 2021, no. 22

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Lübeck 2021 200 022 Fig. p. 200
EditorDagmar Täube
TitleLucas Cranach der Ältere und Hans Kemmer. Meistermaler zwischen Renaissance und Reformation [Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2021
Mayer 2021 112
AuthorMiriam Mayer
TitleInschriften und Signaturen. Überlegungen zur Verwendung von Schrift in ausgewählten Werken von Hans Kemmer.
Publicationin Dagmar Täube, ed., Lucas Cranach der Ältere und Hans Kemmer. Meistermaler zwischen Renaissance und Reformation [Lübeck, St. Annen-Museum]
Place of PublicationMunich
Year of Publication2021
Pages103-113
Emmendörffer 1997 72, 172, 173 A4 Pl. 28, Figs. 77, 78
AuthorChristoph Emmendörffer
TitleHans Kemmer. Ein Lübecker Maler der Reformationszeit
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1997
Wittstock 1982 147
AuthorJürgen Wittstock
TitleKemmer, Hans (Johann)
Publicationin Schleswig-Holsteinischen Landesbibliothek, Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte und des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, eds., Biographisches Lexikon für Schleswig-Holstein und Lübeck
Volume6
Place of PublicationNeumünster
Year of Publication1982
Pages146-147
Cat. Lübeck 1981 187 137 Fig.
AuthorJürgen Wittstock
TitleKatalog St. Annen-Museum. Kirchliche Kunst des Mittelalters und der Reformationzeit
Place of PublicationLübeck
Year of Publication1981
Junius 1935 79
AuthorWilhelm Junius
TitleMeister des thüringisch-sächsischen Cranach-Kreises
JournalZeitschrift für Thüringische Geschichte und Altertumskunde
IssueNF. 31
Year of Publication1935
Schaefer 1917 7
AuthorKarl Schaefer
TitleDer Lübecker Maler Hans Kemmer. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Cranach-Schule
JournalMonatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue10
Year of Publication1917
Pages1-11

Research History / Discussion

As observed by Emmendörffer [Emmendörffer 1997, 172, no. A4] the arrangement of the figures, their gestures and the motif of the tower strongly suggest that the artist drew on a composition developed in the Cranach workshop [formerly Dresden, missing since 1945). According to the opinion of various experts the pen and ink drawing can be dated between 1518 – 1525. [Girshausen 1937, 38/39, no. 44] (about 1520/25); [Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937, 64, no. 174] (um 1520/25) [Rosenberg 1960, 22, no. 38] (about 1525); [Exhib. Cat. Basel 1974, 457, no. 301] (about 1525); [Emmendörffer 1997, 172, no. A4] (about 1525); [Hofbauer 2010, 144, no. 38] (about 1520/25).

[cda 2021]

  • Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin, about 1520

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • x_radiograph

Technical studies

1997Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

The underdrawing appears to have been executed with quill and the short, comma-like lines describing the faces seem rather hesitant. The draperies on the other hand are freer in execution. Particularly characteristic are Christ’s sleeves and robe: long wiry and bendy lines indicate the folds and were adhered to during the painting process. Also characteristic for this area are straight or slightly curved lines that end with a hook. [..] These features are typical of the practice employed in Cranach’s workshop at the beginning of the 1520s.

[Emmendörffer 1997, 173]

1997Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph

The x-radiograph shows that lead white was employed in the flesh paint of Christ, the Virgin and Mary Magdalene to create volume. Generally, however grey tones predominate in the x-radiograph, like for example in the draperies. This suggests that the artist used admixtures containing lead white, using lead white highlights for emphasis. This rational method is typical of the technique employed by Cranach and his workshop, particularly in the second and third decades.

[Emmendörffer 1997, 172, 173]

  • Infrared reflectography

Underdrawing

- an underdrawing is visible in the infrared reflectograph; dark, fluid medium and a brush (?)

[unpublished examination report, I. Sandner]

Condition Reports

Date1997

As revealed by the x-radiograph the figure of Christ is intact except for a few very minor losses. There is more extensive paint loss in the group of women, while the Virgin has suffered least. […] Large losses are visible at the front side of the gate, which has in part been reconstructed as has the landscape in the background.

[Emmendörffer 1997, 173]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SAML_1979-36/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Christ Taking Leave from the Virgin', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SAML_1979-36/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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