Artwork
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child is an oil painting by the Mannerist artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. It dates from 1535 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:upper right, above the Madonna's shoulder, the artist's device, a serpent with folded (?) wings
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in 1535, this religious painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder utilizes oil paint applied to a wooden panel support.
Executed in 1535, this religious painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder utilizes oil paint applied to a wooden panel support. The work measures 71.2 cm in height and 52.1 cm in width. Stylistically, the composition focuses on the Madonna and Child, depicting the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child in a format characteristic of Cranach's devotional imagery from the mid-16th century.
The piece is classified as a painting within the religious genre. While specific details regarding the artist's brushwork, surface condition, or underdrawing are not provided in the available records, the material construction is confirmed as oil on panel, a standard medium for the artist during this period.
History & Provenance
Dated to 1535, this oil painting on panel by Lucas Cranach the Elder likely resided in the H. Michels Gallery in Berlin by 1929, though this early ownership remains unverified. By November of that year, the work was held by Van Diemen & Co. in New York; it avoided liquidation sales of the firm's Berlin branches ordered by the Nazis in 1935, indicating it had already been transferred to or sold from the American branch. The painting was recorded in the collection of Adolph Caspar Miller in Washington, D.C., by April 1937, when it appeared in an exhibition at the Phillips Memorial Gallery.
Miller subsequently donated the work to the National Gallery of Art in 1953, where it remains part of the permanent collection.
The work is housed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection as a 1953 gift. Its accession is recorded under the museum’s inventory of paintings acquired by donation. Prior to its donation it was owned by Adolph Caspar Miller and before that passed through the H. Michels Gallery in Berlin and the Van Diemen Galleries in New York, being shown in the latter’s 1929 exhibition.
The painting was also included in the 1937 Phillips Memorial Gallery exhibition “Paintings and Sculpture Owned in Washington,” listed as work no. 6. The National Gallery of Art’s catalogue records the piece as a 1535 oil on panel by Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Overview
Lucas Cranach the Elder's Madonna and Child, painted around 1535, is a small oil on panel work that exemplifies the artist's mature style during the Mannerist period. As a prominent German Renaissance painter, Cranach frequently depicted religious subjects, and this piece reflects his evolving approach to Christian imagery. It presents the Virgin Mary cradling the Christ Child, showcasing the delicate draftsmanship and distinctive palette characteristic of his output.
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays the Virgin Mary in a blue garment, holding a lively infant Jesus. This traditional motif is reinterpreted through Cranach's lens, reflecting the religious shifts of his era. The depiction moves away from earlier Catholic iconography towards imagery influenced by the nascent Protestant Reformation.
The Christ Child, rendered with the features of a miniature adult, was a common artistic convention of the time, imbuing the figure with a sense of precocious wisdom.
Context
Lucas Cranach the Elder held a significant position as court artist to the Electors of Saxony, a role that shaped much of his career. While initially working within established Catholic traditions, he later became closely associated with the Protestant Reformation. This alignment led him to produce portraits of its key figures and to adapt religious themes in his art, such as this Madonna and Child, to align with the evolving theological perspectives of the time.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving.
