Lucas Cranach the Elder

Virgin and Child

Lucas Cranach the Elder
Virgin and Child

c. 1515-1520 Not on view

In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, numerous pictures were made of the Virgin and her child Jesus. This Madonna is by the German artist Lucas Cranach. He painted her with a beautiful, round idealised face and long wavy hair. She is looking ahead rather submissively, while her child tries to pluck a grape – a remarkably playful gesture. Two cherubs are holding up a cloth by way of a baldachin.

Technical details

Lucas Cranach the Elder
Virgin and Child

c. 1515-1520 Not on view

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Details

General information
Artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (Kronach 1472 - 1553 Weimar)
Title Virgin and Child
Dated c. 1515-1520
Object name painting
Inventory number 917
Material and technical details
Technique oil
Material panel
Dimensions 62.7 x 42 cm

Provenance

Prince Lichnowsky, Kuchelna, Silesia, before 1906-1928; Paul Cassirer Gallery, Berlin and Amsterdam, 1929; Hans W.C. Tietje, Amsterdam (pledged by him to Daniel Wolf, Wassenaar), 1932-1940; sold in June 1940 by Tietje to Miedl (35.000 guilders); Alois Miedl, Amsterdam, 1940; W.A. Hofer, Berlin, 1940; E. Göpel, The Hague; Hermann Göring, Berlin; Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit (inv. no. NK 3071), 1946; on loan to the Mauritshuis, 1953-1955; transferred, 1960

Second World War

This painting is part of the Netherlands Art Property Collection (‘NK collection’): objects that were stolen, seized or purchased during the Nazi regime. After the Second World War they were placed under the administration of the Dutch State. In recent decades, applications for restitution are taken into consideration again and some objects have been returned to the heirs of their rightful owners.

For more information: visit our page on provenance research