Portrait of Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach

That the sitter is Margrave Albrecht – which had to date not been recognized – could be established from the signet ring, the gown of his order and the correlation of the facial features (in particular the squint) with those of the portrait in Heilsbronn (copy after Hans Krell – illustrated in the Zeitschrift für Kunstwissenschaft I, 1932, p. 20). As Albrecht, who was the third born son of Margrave Friedrich the Elder of Ansbach, was appointed Grand Master of the Teutonic Order on the 13. February 1511 the painting cannot have been created before this date. However, the style, which is fresh, and the youth of the sitter argue against a much later date of completion. Cranach portrayed him again in 1528 – as is established below (No. 260) – after Albrecht had already cast-off the gown when in 1525 the order-state was converted to a secular ducy and became Duke of Prussia. – that a long standing relationship between Cranach and the margrave existed is revealed in Albrecht’s letters that were published by A. Hagen in the Jahrbüchern für Kunstwissenschaft VI (1873) p. 118ff. Cranach’s relationship to the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzoller house is further confirmed by a series of portraits of Albrecht’s brothers: Margrave Johann (Fig. 120), Margrave Kasimir of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (Fig. 129) and Georg the Pious (Fig. 263.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, No. 24]