Provenance

Mrs. von Watzdorf-Bachoff

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Shown from the waist up, a clean-shaven man with pale, peachy skin is dressed in black and burgundy red in this vertical portrait painting. His shoulders are as wide as the composition and his hat nearly touches the top edge, so he almost fills the painting. His body and face are angled to our right, and he looks off in that direction with hooded brown eyes under slightly raised brows. He has a long, bumped nose, high cheekbones, the hint of a five-o-clock shadow, and his pale pink lips are closed. His hair is cut straight across at ear length, and fuzzy sideburns come down to his jawline. A wide, soft black cap curves down either side of his head to ear level. He wears a white shirt with a delicate black pattern on the neckline, which is tied with a thin black ribbon. A voluminous dark red shawl or wrap has two black bands along the bottom hem, and it engulfs his sloping shoulders. In the lower corners of the painting, we see long black sleeves under the wrap. The sleeves have slashes to allow the white undergarment to show through. He is set against a lime-green background and illuminated by bright light from the upper right, which creates a darker green shadow behind him, to our left. The artist signed the painting with a symbol on a small, light brown panel, which appears to be affixed to the back wall in the upper left corner of the painting. The date, “1522,” appears over a winged serpent holding a ring in its mouth.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portrait of a Man, 1522, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.1

Portrait of a Man

Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1522 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1959.9.1

Shown from the lap up, a pale-skinned woman looks off to the left in front of a vivid green background in this vertical portrait painting. The woman’s whole body angles to the left as she gazes in that direction with gray eyes under faint brows. Her nose is indented on the long side, and her thin pink lips are closed in a line. Her strawberry-blond hair is pulled back over her left ear, to our right, and is otherwise hidden under a wide, floppy black cap. A glint of gold at the top of the hat could be her hair or a brooch or decoration. Her tightly fitting black bodice has a high collar. Her arms rest by her sides, and the sleeves are wine red. A belt around her narrow waist is laced with black on an orange band at the front, and a section below has a crosshatched pattern painted with delicate black lines on golden yellow. The woman is lit from our left and casts a darker green shadow on the lime-green background. The top and left edges of the panel are also lined with darker green.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portrait of a Woman, 1522, oil on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1959.9.2

Portrait of a Woman

Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1522 · oil on panel ·  Accession ID  1959.9.2