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Lot Essay
The first representation of Christ the Man of Sorrows appears on the reverse of the wing of an altarpiece in the Bode Museum, Berlin, as early as 1520. Friedlnder and Rosenberg, however, record that it was not until around 1537-40 that Lucas Cranach I began to include this subject in the Cranach family repetory. Furthermore, they note that it is probable that Lucas Cranach II was responsible for all these panels and not his father (see M.J. Friedlnder and J. Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, 1978, pp. 145-6, nos. 380-4, figs. 380-3).
Lucas Cranach II's versions differ largely in the position of the hands and the instruments of torture, with a few works also including angels and figures in mourning. The meek position of the hands in the present work, fully crossed in a position of suppliance make it closest in format to the Christ the Man of Sorrows, flanked by the Virgin and Saint John, in the collection of the Historical Society, Regensburg. However, in that work Christ holds no instruments. Rosenberg and Friedlnder record this as being executed after 1537 with another version extant in the Vatican Gallery, Rome, Inv. no. 271 (op. cit., p. 146). In all these versions Christ's wounds are fully displayed. It is only in the present work, and in a panel attributed to Lucas Cranach II (sold at Christie's, London, July 21, 1989, lot 84), that these are not in evidence.
The present painting is sold with certificates from Dr. Ludwig Baldass, dated March 1, 1937; Dr. Gustav Gluck, dated March 21, 1937 and Wilhelm Suida, dated March 8, 1937 all attributing the painting to Lucas Cranach I. We are grateful to Dr. Ludwig Meyer for confirming the attribution to Lucas Cranach II on the basis of a photograph.
Lucas Cranach II's versions differ largely in the position of the hands and the instruments of torture, with a few works also including angels and figures in mourning. The meek position of the hands in the present work, fully crossed in a position of suppliance make it closest in format to the Christ the Man of Sorrows, flanked by the Virgin and Saint John, in the collection of the Historical Society, Regensburg. However, in that work Christ holds no instruments. Rosenberg and Friedlnder record this as being executed after 1537 with another version extant in the Vatican Gallery, Rome, Inv. no. 271 (op. cit., p. 146). In all these versions Christ's wounds are fully displayed. It is only in the present work, and in a panel attributed to Lucas Cranach II (sold at Christie's, London, July 21, 1989, lot 84), that these are not in evidence.
The present painting is sold with certificates from Dr. Ludwig Baldass, dated March 1, 1937; Dr. Gustav Gluck, dated March 21, 1937 and Wilhelm Suida, dated March 8, 1937 all attributing the painting to Lucas Cranach I. We are grateful to Dr. Ludwig Meyer for confirming the attribution to Lucas Cranach II on the basis of a photograph.