Torgauer Altar
Painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder
The Torgauer Altar, Torgau Altarpiece or Altarpiece of the Holy Kinship is a triptych altarpiece painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1509.[1]
Description
The painting includes Joseph, the Virgin, Anna and the child Christ, with Anna's three husbands in the background of the centre panel. The "Holy Kinship" is shown resting in a lavishly decorated room, including marble columns and stone benches.[2]
The three men depicted in the gallery have been identified as having the likenesses of Emperor Maximilian (centre), Imperial Councillor Sixtus Oelhafen (right) and the artist (left).[2]
Unusually, Lucas Cranach signed and dated the painting in Latin: LUCAS CHRONUS/FACIEBAT/ANNO 1509, visible in the notice hanging on one of the central columns. It is suggested that the choice and treatment of the subject shows that he knew the St Anne altarpiece by Quinten Metsys while still in the master's Antwerp studio. Cranach chose an explicitly German theme by means of the forested and mountainous landscape in the background, and including portraits of Emperor Maximilian, Elector Frederick the Wise and his brother, Duke John the Steadfast, among members of the Holy Family. He later painted another version of the Kinship on a single panel.[3]
The history of the altarpiece
The triptych was purchased by the Städel Museum Frankfurt in 1906 at auction in Paris.[2]
References
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- Torgauer Altar (1509)
- Martyrdom of Saint Barbara (c. 1510)
- Madonna with Child with Young John the Baptist (1514)
- Portraits of Henry IV of Saxony and Catherine of Mecklenburg (1514)
- Prague Altarpiece (c. 1520)
- Adoration of the Shepherds (1515–1520)
- Cupid Complaining to Venus (1526–1527)
- Adam and Eve (1528)
- Judgement of Paris (1528)
- Law and Gospel (c. 1529)
- Law and Grace (1529)
- Female Portrait (c. 1530)
- The Three Graces (1531)
- Venus and Cupid with a Honeycomb (c. 1531)
- Melancholia (Colmar) (1532)
- Melancholia (Copenhagen) (1532)
- The Crucifixion (1532)
- Lukas Spielhausen (1532)
- Portrait of a Saxon Noblewoman (1534)
- Caritas (1537)
- Christ Blessing the Children (1537)
- Schneeberg Altarpiece (1539)
- The Fountain of Youth (1546)
- Wittenberg Altarpiece (1547)
- The Procuress (1548)
- Weimar Altarpiece (1555)
- Hans Cranach (son)
- Lucas Cranach the Younger (son)
- Augustin Cranach (grandson)
- Portrait of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1550 portrait by Lucas Cranach the Younger)
