ID 1293544
Lot 231 | Lucas Cranach d. Ä. und Werkstatt
Estimate value
€ 40 000 – 60 000
Inscribed (later) on the left side / right side with the snake signet. Oil auf panel. Both panels relined, the portrait of Melanchthon cradled. Restored. Framed (31.4 x 25 cm). Handwritten number "1207" and Swiss customs stamp from 1930 on the frame of Luthers portrait verso. Handwritten number "1208" on the frame of the second portrait verso.
The portrait of Luther is inscribed on the upper margin: "EST PATEFACTA ITERV[M] CHRISTI [DE]MOSTRANTE LVTHERO GLORIA QUAE TENEBRIS ANTE SEPVLTA FVIT." The portrait of Melanchthon is inscribed on the upper margin: "CONATVR PARVAS ARTES PHILIPPVS MELANCHTON NON TAMEN ID MERITVM DVXERIS ESSE LEVE."
Catalogue raisonné: Corpus Cranach, catalogue raisonné numbers CC-POR-510-080 and CC-POR-530-012.
Provenance: Paul Graupe auction, Berlin, 29-30 January 1934, page 71, catalogue number 366 (with illustration plate 10). - Since then private owner, Germany.
Confirmation of authenticity: Max J. Friedländer, Berlin, 11 July 1929.
We would like to thank Dr. Michael Hofbauer, Heidelberg, for his support during cataloguing and examining the paintings using infrared reflectography. After examining the originals, Michael Hofbauer categorizes both paintings as "C1" (= Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop). In his email statement of 15 July 2024, Hofbauer comments on the snake signets as follows: "Both snake signets differ significantly from the form used in the Cranach workshop and are undoubtedly later additions. Directly below the snake pointing to the right on the Melanchthon portrait could be the overpainted remnants of the original signature."
| Artist: | Lucas Cranach I (1472 - 1553) |
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| Auction house category: | Paintings 15th -18th century |
| Artist: | Lucas Cranach I (1472 - 1553) |
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| Auction house category: | Paintings 15th -18th century |
| Address of auction |
Kunstauktionshaus Neumeister Barer Str. 37 80799 München Germany | ||||||||||||||
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