Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf

Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf

Title

Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

Medium

Painting on limewood (Tilia sp.)

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

The Mother of God is shown standing on a silver crescent moon in a mandorla against a gilded gold background. Her right leg is set back slightly and she has moved her left leg forward making it visible through her dress from the knee down and the black tip of

The Mother of God is shown standing on a silver crescent moon in a mandorla against a gilded gold background. Her right leg is set back slightly and she has moved her left leg forward making it visible through her dress from the knee down and the black tip of her shoe protrudes beyond the crescent. The Christ Child sits on her left arm. He gazes up towards his mother's face. His right hand rests on an apple, which his mother offers him with her right hand. The Virgin attends to her child; she has turned her head to the right and bends over in the same direction. She wears a small gold-wired crown on her head. The locks of her blond hair fall evenly over both shoulders, on her left it reaches the child's shoulder and falls down his side. Over a blue undergarment the Virgin wears an iridenscent pink coat with a bright green lining. The hem of the coat slips off her right shoulder, looping broadly around her right arm, whereby the large turn-up stands out as a consistent green shape [...].

The mandorla is created by the surrounding dark blue clouds. These are compact and appear to crowd in from the edge and are dotted with isolated heads of cherubs, with grey-white, green or yellow pairs of wings. On either side three angels float in front of the clouds and venerate the Virgin. It is striking that without exception they all wear vestments: the amice is common to them all, whereas the robes vary, depending on whether the wearer is characterised as a priest, a deacon or a sub-deacon. The first angel floats towards the Virgin from the top left with his hands held in front of him angled to the right in an attitude of prayer; he wears a green dalmatica and beneath a white alba. Half way up the painting the back of an angel in a yellow tunic is visible, turning right into the pictorial space. The bottom angel on the left side is shown in three-quarter profile and appears behind the donor's head with his arms crossed in front of his chest in an ancient devotional gesture and gazes upwards. He wears a green damatica with fringes. On the right side the uppermost angel floats diagonally forward to the left and towards the centre of the image with outstretched arms. He wears an iridescent dark red chasuble over an orange-red tunic. Beneath him an angel kneels, facing left in three-quarter profile, he lowers his hands in an attitude of prayer and gazes up at the Mother of God in veneration. His dalmatica consists of a black patterned gold brocade; under which a white alba is visible. At the bottom right once again we encounter an angel from the reverse this time in a green tunic. He kneels so that the bare soles of his feet are visible, his hands are raised to chest height and his mouth is open: he appears to be singing or reciting.

In the bottom left corner a half-length figure of the donor is included in the painting (to about hip height). The old man is turned to the right in an attitude of prayer. Over a light coloured shirt he wears a dark robe, over which he wears a black, large patterned cloak with fur-trimming. The sitter has stuck his arms through the slits in the sleeves of his cloak. His aged face is framed by a grey beard. His narrow mouth with its compressed lips and his aquiline nose bestow him with a particular severity. He wears a precious gold cap on his head; on his right ring finger he wears a simple gold band. On the right beside his head his coat-of-arms covers the tip of the crescent moon.

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Attribution
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attribution

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Production date
before 1523

Production date

before 1523

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 89.9 x 60.3 x 1.3 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 89.9 x 60.3 x 1.3 cm

  • [Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

  • Dimensions of painted surface: 87.8 x 59.4 cm

  • [Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Signature / Dating

None

Inscriptions and Labels

Recto: until the conservation treatment in 1991 there was an inauthentic inscription (probably 19th century) above the coat-of-arms:
'HIERONYMVS

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Recto: until the conservation treatment in 1991 there was an inauthentic inscription (probably 19th century) above the coat-of-arms:

  • 'HIERONYMVS

  • RVDELLANT AETA.

  • TIS SVAE 74 IAHR

  • ANNO 1500'

  • Reverse of the panel:

    • yellow label 'Atelier für Retouchiren u. Einrahmen v. Bildern, P. Reinermann, Frankfurt a/M., Bornheimer Landstrasse 280a' (early 20th century)
  • [Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Owner
Städel Museum Frankfurt a.M.
Repository
Städel Museum Frankfurt a.M.
Location
Frankfurt am Main
CDA ID
DE_SMF_1731
FR (1978) Nr.
FRSup006H
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_1731/

Provenance

  • from 1911 lent by Freiherr Adolph von Holzhausen to the Städel
  • 1923 acquired as a bequest from the above mentioned owner

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Exhibitions

  • Frankfurt/London 2007/2008, No. 65

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Tacke 2015 84 Fig. 2
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleGleich dem Kaninchen vor der Schlange? Altgläubige und die Wittenberger Bildpropaganda.
Publicationin Julia Carrasco, Justus Lange, Benjamin D. Spira, Timo Trümper, Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha and Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, eds., Bild und Botschaft. Cranach im Dienst von Hof und Reformation, [Exhib. Cat. Gotha, Kassel]
Place of PublicationHeidelberg
Year of Publication2015
Pages82-90
Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt 2007 250-251 65 p. 251
EditorBodo Brinkmann
TitleCranach der Ältere, [Frankfurt, Städel Museum, 23 Nov 2007 - 17 Feb 2008]
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Koepplin 2007 B 76
AuthorDieter Koepplin
TitleCranachs Bilder der Caritas im theologischen und humanistischen Geiste Luthers und Melanchthons
Publicationin Bodo Brinkmann, ed., Cranach der Ältere [Exhib. Cat. Frankfurt]
Place of PublicationOstfildern
Year of Publication2007
Pages63-79
Cat. Frankfurt 2005 235-242
AuthorStephan Kemperdick, Bodo Brinkmann
EditorStädelsches Kunstinstitut
TitleDeutsche Gemälde im Städel 1500 - 1550
Place of PublicationMainz
Year of Publication2005
Cat. Frankfurt 1999 17, 30 pl. 22
AuthorBodo Brinkmann, Jochen Sander
TitleDeutsche Gemälde vor 1800 im Städel
Place of PublicationFrankfurt
Year of Publication1999
Heydenreich 1998 A 191 Fig. 21.10
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleHerstellung, Grundierung und Rahmung der Holzbildträger in den Werkstätten Lucas Cranachs d.Ä.
Publicationin Ingo Sandner, Wartburg-Stiftung Eisenach and Fachhochschule Köln, eds., Unsichtbare Meisterzeichnungen auf dem Malgrund. Cranach und seine Zeitgenossen, Exhib. Cat. Eisenach
Place of PublicationRegensburg
Year of Publication1998
Pages181-200
Tacke 1991 B 191-198
AuthorAndreas Tacke
TitleDie Mondsichelmadonna des kursächsischen Kanzlers und Rates Hieronymus Rudelauf im Städel
Publicationin Friedhelm Jürgensmeier, ed., Erzbischof Albrecht von Brandenburg (1490 - 1545), ein Kirchen- und Reichsfürst der Frühen Neuzeit [Mainz, 1990]
JournalStädel-Jahrbuch
IssueN. F. 13
Year of Publication1991
Link http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/volltexte/2012/1969/pdf/Tacke_Die_Mondsichelmadonna_des_kursaechsischen_Kanzlers_und_Rates_Hieronymus_Rudelauf_1991.pdf
Pages19-198
Waldeis 1991 197
AuthorPeter Waldeis
TitleZur Restaurierung der Mondsichelmadonna
JournalStädel-Jahrbuch
IssueN.F. 13
Year of Publication1991
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 113 217A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 161 Sup6H
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Rieffel 1911 346
AuthorFranz Rieffel
TitleDie Freiherrlich von Holzhausensche Gemäldesammlung in der Städelschen Galerie (zugleich ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der mittelrheinischen Malerei im XVI. Jahrhundert, namentlich in Frankfurt)
JournalMonatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft
Issue4
Year of Publication1911
Pages341-352
Michaelson 1902 53
AuthorHedwig Michaelson
TitleLukas Cranach der Ältere. Untersuchung über die stilistische Entwicklung seiner Kunst
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1902
Flechsig 1900 A 101
AuthorEduard Flechsig
TitleCranachstudien
Volume1
Place of PublicationLeipzig
Year of Publication1900
Link page/n5/mode/2up
Exhib. Cat. Dresden 1899 83
EditorKarl Woermann
TitleDeutsche Kunstausstellung Dresden 1899. Abteilung Cranach-Ausstellung. Wissenschaftliches Verzeichnis der ausgestellten Werke
Place of PublicationDresden
Year of Publication1899
Link http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB00002A2400000000
  • Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf, before 1523

Images

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

Technical studies

09. 2012Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography
  • irr

Underdrawing

DESCRIPTION

Tools/Materials:

- fluid, black medium; brush; possibly combined with a dry drawing material (?)

Type/Ductus:

- freehand summary underdrawing

- thin to broader lines; occasionally delicate, fine lines (facial features of the Virgin)

Function:

- relatively binding for the final painted version; the lines define the contours of the figures and partly indicate facial features and some details; no representation of volume

Deviations:

- adjustments made during the painting process

INTERPRETATION

Attribution:

- workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

Comments:

- possibly with reference to a pre-existing design

[Smith, Sandner, Heydenreich cda 2014]

  • photographed by Städel Museum Frankfurt a.M.

2005 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • X-radiography

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

2005Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • reverse

Support

- four vertically aligned planks with the grain running vertically

- widths from left to right:

Plank I: top 18.1; bottom 20.6 cm

Plank ll: top 14.5; bottom 15.0 cm

Plank III: top and bottom 9.9 cm

Plank IV: top 17.6; bottom 14.6 cm

Reverse:

- not thinned, roughly smoothed with a gouge, brown coating

- along the edge of the panel a strip of wood was removed to leave a thickness of 0.8 cm, top and bottom c. 1.2-1.4 cm wide, right and left c. 1.0 cm wide

- on the right edge of the panel, c. 18 cm below the top edge there is a c. 4 cm knot hole, which was filled at the time of creation by a 7 x 6 cm insert. This is now visible on the painted surface.

Underdrawing

a sparse underdrawing executed with a brush and restricted to contours and a summary rendering of the folds is only occasionally visible in the infrared reflectogram. Most clearly defined are the contours of the Virgin's chin and where her neck begins

Paint Layers and Gilding

the original painted edges are retained on all four sides along with the barb of the ground; at the top and bottom there is c. 1 cm of bare wood to the panel edge, 0.5-0.7 cm on the left and 0.3 - 0.5 cm on the right

Framing

modern

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

2005 - Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Infrared reflectography

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Condition Reports

Date2005

The gilding has been completely redone. There are retouches particularly along the joins between I/II and II/III; the Virgin's forehead is particularly affected. The pink coat in particular on the thigh has been extensively retouched over areas of cupping. Retouching in the face and coat of the donor as well as the undergarment and dalmatica of the angel at the top right. Numerous other small retouches. The green dalmatica of the angel at the bottom right has been unevenly overcleaned.

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Conservation History

Date1991 -

until the conservation treatment in 1991 there was an inauthentic inscription above the coat-of-arms:

'HIERONYMVS

RVDELLANT AETA.

TIS SVAE 74 IAHR

ANNO 1500'

[Cat. Frankfurt 2005, 235-242]

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_1731/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Virgin on the crescent moon venerated by Hieronymus Rudelauf', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_SMF_1731/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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