Portrait of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (1503-1554), bust-length

This small portrait represents one of Lucas Cranach’s greatest patrons, John Frederick the Magnanimous, the fourth and last Elector of Saxony in the Ernestine Saxon line. Cranach painted John Frederick on numerous occasions, including the arresting portrait recently returned to the heirs of Fritz Gutmann and sold at Christie’s, New York, 19 April 2018, lot 7 ($7,737,500). The present lot appears to be a fragment corresponding to a type for which several examples exist, including the portraits in the Schlossmuseum Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha, and the Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Coburg, both of which were paired with portraits of the Elector’s wife, Sybille of Cleves (1512-1554). In these portraits, John Frederick holds a hat surmounted by a golden garland of berries and pearls, the top of which is just visible along the lower edge of the present lot. A label on the reverse presents the coat of arms for the Elector of Saxony’s office of Imperial Arch-Marshal: Per fess sable and argent two swords in saltire gules (two red swords crossed on a black and white field).