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Object of the Month: May 2017

Allegory on the Fall and Redemption of Man

Oil on canvas

Lucas Cranach, the Younger

German, 1515-1586

Click on links for additional reference information.

Lucas Cranach the Younger and his father (also named Lucas) were prominent painters in the town of Wittenberg. The glory of Wittenberg was its university where Martin Luther taught and its village church where the great reformer posted his 95 Theses. At this time the printing press was still in its infancy and textual literacy still the purview of scholars. There was, however, a long tradition of using iconographic painting to educate the masses—most of whom were well-versed in “reading” images. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Cranachs, who were friends of Luther, would use their skill to instruct the populace in emerging Protestant theology. This painting which unfolds Luther’s tenet of justification by faith is a good example.

The tree in the center divides Cranach’s work into a two-chapter narrative that begins with the law (left side of the canvas). The tree overhanging the characters in these scenes is dead and bare—a signification of sin. Adam and Eve’s original transgression opens the story (upper left register). The continuity of sin throughout man’s history is then presented through the Israelites’ worship of the golden calf (toward the center in the upper left register). The high point of the chapter is “played out” in a final scene in the lower left register. Here we are introduced to a hooded prophet who joins Moses in drawing our (and the sinner’s) attention to the law. Condemned by these oracles, the unfortunate Everyman is hurried into hell by grotesque personifications of Death and Satan.

Chapter two opens in the lower right register under the tree’s green bough—a signification of life and resurrection. Here we see another prophet, but this one is facing John the Baptist who points this Everyman to the crucified Christ. At the foot of the cross is the risen Savior with Death and the Devil crushed under His feet. In the distant background is the Old Testament scene of the brazen serpent, referenced by Christ in John 3:14 and 15: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Mary Magdalene, one who has inherited this life, stands with a Lamb (symbol of Christ) on the hillside. Above her in the clouds are the Savior’s feet, signifying both His ascension and His promise to return.

Cranach also inserts into this story one of his contemporaries, Phillip Melancthon (the figure in the hat in the lower right register). Melancthon, a colleague of Luther’s and writer of the Peace of Augsburg, was an important proponent of grace in his own right. One other interesting detail is the artist’s use of text from Romans and Galatians. These Latin verses are a nod to emerging literary forms, including the translations of Scripture that were becoming more accessible through Gutenberg’s press.

To see this work and learn more about the Cranachs and their relationship to the great reformer Martin Luther visit M&G’s exhibition Luther’s Journey:  Experience the History on the campus of Bob Jones University. For more information click here.

Donnalynn Hess, Director of Education

 

 

Published in 2017

Object of the Month: February 2017

Christ before Pilate

Oil on panel

Master of St. Severin

German, active c. 1485–1515

Christ before Pilate

Click on the links throughout the article to view additional artists’ works and reference material.

Little background history exists for the artist referred to as the Master of St. Severin. While scholars remain uncertain as to his identity, they have confidently identified a body of works they believe to be by his hand. The Church of St. Severin houses what are considered his best works, thus he became known by the pseudonym, the Master of St. Severin. His body of work primarily reflects oil paintings on panel, however, there is some indication that he might have also designed and produced stained glass windows.

Christ before Pilate brings together several of the events of the Passion Week leading to the crucifixion of Christ. He did a similar work called Passion Scene: Christ at the Mount of Olives. Both works embody his style evidenced in the stiffness of the figures and the similarity in facial features and expressions of all figures. In the foreground of M&G’s work, a solemn and calm Christ appears before Pilate for trial. The surrounding miniature scenes reveal the events preceding and following his trial. To the left in the distant background, the artist portrays Christ’s prayer and arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane along with Peter cutting off Malchus’ ear. Centrally located in the background and enclosed in a cathedral-like structure, Christ receives beating with the cat of nine tails and then just below He is crowned with a ring of thorns. Finally, to the far back right, Pilate presents Christ to the Jews.

Beautifully detailed in oil, the painting provides a window into the culture of the artist. Click the dropdown below to learn more about the clothing featured by the Master of St. Severin.

Dagging
 

Dagging is cutting the edges of garments, hangidaggingng sleeve flaps, or even hats into pointed or squared scallops. This trend was especially popular during the late Middle Ages. The man in red at Christ’s crowning with thorns features dagging at the bottom of his doublet (jacket).

 

Poulaines
 

Also known as crakowes, these were an elongated, exaggeratedly pointed-toed shoe often worn by nobles or the wealthy. King Edward III poulainestried to take matters into his own hands by declaring a law that “no Knight under the estate of a lord, esquire or gentleman, nor any other person, shall wear any shoes or boots having spikes or points exceeding the length of two inches, under the forfeiture of forty pence.” The law was ineffective, and the trend lasted until 1480!  The man, at right foreground and near to Pilate, models poulaines.

 

Hanging Sleeves
 

These were a special non-functional, decorative sleeve attached to the jacket; in the early Renaissance, they were mostly ushangingsleevesed for ceremonial occasions as seen here on the soldier kneeling in the foreground.

 

Parti-colored
 

Parti-colored is the sewing together sections of different colored fabrics within the same garment. This was used in both men’s and women’s clothing and could reflect the colors of a particular city or families joined in marriage. The man kneeling in front of Christ at his crowning with tparti-colouredhorns featuresparti-coloured2 a parti-colored doublet. At the beating of Christ, the man to the left of Christ also wears a parti-colored doublet.

 

Rebekah Cobb, Guest Relations Manager

 

 

Published in 2017

Object of the Month: October 2016

Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist

Oil on panel, Signed: winged dragon symbol (upper right)

Lucas Cranach, the Elder

German, 1472–1553

 

Click on the links throughout the article to view additional artists’ works and reference material.

A young girl in a lavish red dress with gold trimming stands against a stark black background. Ornate gold necklaces hang from her neck, and on her left index finger, a ring peeks through intricate slashed gloves. Her face has a smug expression as she holds a platter on which rests a man’s severed head.

This painting, by Lucas Cranach the Elder is a sixteenth-century portrayal of Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist and is based on the Biblical story recorded in Mark 6:14-29. While the image appears morbid to many, one author has pointed out that beheadings like this are frequently seen in Cranach’s oeuvre.

As is often the case with the Old Masters, Cranach did not paint Salome in traditional Middle Eastern clothing, with which he would have been unfamiliar. Instead, he painted her as a contemporary German noblewoman, giving us a glimpse of the beautiful clothing of the time period. It is interesting to note that Cranach’s paintings have proven invaluable to fashion historians and costumers studying and recreating Renaissance dress. One New York designer even created a special exhibition focusing on the slashed gloves that Cranach’s models are often shown wearing!

Perhaps the painting’s most fascinating detail, however, is distinct from the subject matter.  In the upper right hand corner is the kleinod, which served as his signature stamp. This symbol of a winged serpent biting down on a ruby was given to Cranach by Frederick the Wise of Saxony.  Since Cranach painted at a time when many artists were not even signing their works, this unique signature is particularly striking.

Cranach’s kleinod does at times pose a conundrum for art connoisseurs. Like many well-known and established artists of that time period, Cranach had a large workshop with many craftsmen working with him. Oftentimes these craftsmen worked on details and even produced entire pieces so similar to those of the master that scholars are sometimes left to wonder whether a painting with the kleinod symbol was actually produced by him or simply received his stamp of approval.

In addition to his many Biblical scenes, Cranach was a renowned portraitist. In fact, we owe him a debt of gratitude for providing us with more than one picture of Martin Luther, a personal friend of his. Cranach’s workshop was located in Wittenberg, Germany, the birthplace of the Protestant Reformation. It was here on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the church door. Eyre Crowe, an artist for London’s Royal Academy, captured the event over three hundred years later with drama and historical accuracy.  Cranach is the bearded man seen looking out at the viewer.

Cranach, who adopted Protestant theology, went on to become the key Reformation artist. As 2017 will mark the 500th anniversary of Luther’s world-changing actions, many museums, including M&G, are paying tribute to his artistic friend, Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Katie Neal, Docent and Customer Service Assistant

 

Published in 2016

Object of the Month: March 2016

Nazi-looted Art

 

Click on the links throughout the article to view additional artists’ works and reference material.

Seventy years ago this month, German Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goering took the stand at the Nuremburg War Trials where Hitler’s highest government officials were prosecuted for crimes against humanity. In Robert Edsel’s book, The Monuments Men, he relates the following: “Hitler’s would-be successor and rival for the cultural treasures of Europe, Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring…. saved his denials for accusations about his collection of art. ‘Of all the charges which have been leveled against me,’ he is quoted as saying in the Nuremburg Interviews, ‘the so-called looting of art treasures by me has caused me the most anguish.’”

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) is one of the greatest German artists in history. To northern Renaissance painting, his fame is comparable to the recognition level of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in Italy.

Because of Cranach’s standing in German art history, he became a coveted artist to the Nazi regime in Hitler’s agenda to conquer Europe and establish a “super museum” full of works by the great artists in Scandinavia and in European history.  This museum would not only represent the greatness of the Aryan race, but would also demonstrate Hitler’s power over the conquered and plundered nations by seizing their cultural treasures as trophies of the Third Reich.

Aryanization was the Nazi’s process of forcing Jews to transfer their property and wealth to Aryan hands—a sanctioned, organized course of looting. For some Jews, the trade of property (at low rates) in this discriminatory transaction allowed safe passage from Germany, but ultimately aryanization meant for Jews the confiscation of all property, eviction from business and cultural sectors, and outright deportation to the ghettos and eventually the concentration camps.

The Nuremburg Trials began November 20, 1945, and Goering took the stand March 13-22, 1946. In the Nuremberg Interviews, he expressed: “They tried to paint a picture of me as a looter of art treasures. In the first place, during a war everybody loots a little bit. However, none of my so-called looting was illegal… I always paid for them… Perhaps one of my weaknesses has been that I love to be surrounded by luxury and that I am so artistic in my temperament that masterpieces make me feel alive and glowing inside. But always my intention was to contribute these art treasures …to a state museum after I had died or before, for the greater glory of German culture. Looking at it from that standpoint I can’t see that it was ethically wrong.”

M&G’s Art of Sleuthing exhibition at Heritage Green shares behind-the-scenes stories of the art world, including those narratives of a painting’s life experiences. The story of North Carolina Museum of Art’s Madonna and Child in a Landscape by Lucas Cranach represents the voices of many people, particularly the victims of the Nazi aryanization scheme.

On exhibit is the beautiful, detailed Cranach along with its own story of aryanized looting from the Gomperz family in Vienna, Austria.  A high-ranking Nazi official and Governor of Vienna, Baldur von Schirach, hung the painting in his office, and at the war’s end claimed it had been destroyed. Decades later, the Cranach was gifted to NCMA from the estate of WWII Jewish refugees from California, without knowledge of its difficult past. Then, in 2000, New York Holocaust Claims Processing Office contacted the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) with an ownership claim by the heirs of Philipp von Gomperz for Cranach’s Madonna and Child in a Landscape.

Because Cranach, like most Old Masters, painted multiple versions of the painting, extensive research was necessary to determine if the Gomperz Cranach was indeed the same painting at NCMA. The moment of truth came when an old black and white photograph was discovered—an image that was taken while the painting was in Gomperz’s collection. A detailed comparison between the photo and the painting revealed that NCMA’s work was the same one.

On the basis of this clear evidence, NCMA made an unprecedented decision: to return the painting to the family rather than take the matter to court. Later, the museum expressed interest in purchasing the Cranach from the Gomperz heirs that it might become a permanent part of the NCMA collection. In gratitude for the unusually gracious manner in which the museum restituted the painting, the family sold the painting to NCMA at half of its estimated value. The Cranach now serves as an illustration both of cultural injustice and amicable art restitution.

Erin R. Jones, Executive Director

 

Published in 2016

Object of the Month: December 2013

The Adoration of the Shepherds

Oil on panel

Hans von Aachen

German, 1552-1615

At Christmas, our thoughts naturally turn to gifts. Given a choice, would you choose a large package or a small one? Perhaps it would be wise to remember the adage, “Good things come in small packages.” That sentiment is certainly true of M&G’s Object of the Month, a small painting (9.25” x 7”) that is like a precious jewel in a small gift box.

In addition to the Holy Family and the shepherds, the crowded scene includes women, another child, barn animals, the requisite angels tumbling from heaven, and a huge mastiff. Other innovative additions include bagpipes and a shovel. Far in the background the light of the angelic host can be seen illuminating the hillside. The painting is housed in a tabernacle-type frame with decorative gold tooling and stone insets. Tabernacle frames often held large pieces of art; this version captures the architectural features in miniature.

Aachen lived in Italy from 1574–1588, studying the great Italian masters, and in 1592 he became Court Painter to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, a prestigious position that entailed diplomatic as well as artistic responsibilities. Rudolf was the greatest patron of the arts of his time, acquiring works by Dürer, Brueghel, and Veronese as well as works of contemporary northern Mannerist artists such as Aachen, Archimboldo, Spranger, and Savery.

The provenance, or history, of the painting can be traced to English ownership in 1834. English collectors of the nineteenth century amassed great quantities of art, much of it available because of wars and unrest in Europe. This work was part of an 1834 bequest to the Fitzwilliam Museum of Cambridge University; they retained ownership until 1959 when it was sold at Sotheby’s and acquired by the museum.

Anne Short, Former Research Supervisor

 

Published in 2013

Object of the Month: May 2013

Dresden Monumental Armorial Urn

Porcelain, c. 1888-1901

Carl Thieme

German, 1838-1888

Carl Thieme was born in 1838 in Potschappel, a village on the outskirts of Dresden, Germany. In 1856 he was employed by the Meissen Manufactory, where he honed his porcelain modeling, sculpting, and painting skills under expert craftsmen. In 1865 he opened a porcelain and antique shop in Dresden. At this time he was also a hausmaler (a free-lance porcelain decorator) of unpainted items produced by Meissen and other manufacturers. In 1872 he opened the Dresden Saxonian Porcelain Manufactory in Potschappel. Thieme collaborated with prominent porcelain artists, such as Julius Konrad Hentschel, Eduard Eichler, and Ernst Bohne, and the company grew rapidly. The Dresden Saxony Porcelain Manufactory gained international recognition and received prestigious awards at national and international exhibitions.

Thieme died in 1888, and the business was eventually taken over in 1896 by his son-in-law, Karl August Kuntzsch (1855-1920). Kuntzsch was a talented modeler who started a tradition of lush, sculpted floral decorations. The business flourished and employed several hundred people. In time, the company became known as Dresden Porcelain. After the glory days of Thieme and Kuntzsch the company frequently floundered as it went through a succession of owners and directors. Tragedies destroyed its irreplaceable stock of over 12,000 models. At times Dresden Porcelain employed less than a dozen people, and by 2020 it had only two employees, tasked with selling the remaining pieces. Today the building which once produced Dresden Porcelain serves as a museum.

From its inception the Dresden Saxonian Porcelain Manufactory used various marks. The mark on the bottom of M&G’s urn indicates that the company produced it between 1888 and 1901 and that Thieme is credited with its design, even though it was produced after his death. The sculpted flowers may be early works of Kuntzsch or his apprentices.

A Monumental Urn

Monumental porcelain urns are generally large, ornate, highly decorated, and rarely intended to store anything. Some have ornate lids. Some come in pairs. The Dresden Saxony Porcelain Manufactory urns are legendary for their intricate beauty.

M&G’s monumental urn is 30 inches high. On its square base is a spindle-shaped pedestal with a pair of sculpted young people gathering flowers; between them, on the front, is a painted scene of Cupid and Venus.

In mythology, Cupid is the god of love and desire. He is often depicted as a mischievous, winged child, armed with a magical bow and arrows which he uses to strike people and gods madly in love. He enjoys the chaos of broken hearts and unexpected matches. Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is Cupid’s mother. In some stories Cupid goes too far with his pranks, and Venus stops him by taking away his bow. The scene painted on the front of the pedestal of M&G’s urn depicts Cupid trying to reclaim his bow. (Figure 1)

The body of M&G’s urn is ovoid, with the smaller end pointed down. Two, curved handles are embellished with gold. The back of the urn’s body features hand-painted florals. The front of the urn has two garlands of sculpted flowers and fruits, surrounding a painted scene of the Expulsion of Hagar. (Figure 2)

The Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar is a found in the Book of Genesis chapters 16, 19 and 20. It is also mentioned in the Quran. Abraham was a righteous man chosen by God. God promised that he would become the father of a great nation. However, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, was unable to conceive.

In an attempt to fulfill God’s promise, Sarah suggested that Abraham take her Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, as a concubine. According to the customs of that time, a child born to Hagar would be considered Sarah’s child.  Abraham agreed. Hagar became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Ishmael.

As years passed, God appeared to Abraham and reiterated the promise, specifying that Sarah would bear a son. Despite their old age, Sarah conceived and bore Isaac. This miraculous birth fulfilled God’s promise, and Isaac became the child through whom the covenant with Abraham was established.

Tension grew between Sarah and Hagar, and eventually, Sarah asked Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Reluctantly, Abraham did so. This is the event portrayed on M&G’s urn. The 100-year-old Abraham, the elderly Sarah and the young Isaac are central in the painted scene. The departing Hagar with her back to viewer is leading Ishmael into the wilderness. (The seated female is unknown, probably a servant introduced by the artist to balance the picture.)

In the wilderness Hagar and Ishmael faced desperation and thirst. Hagar thought they would die. However, God heard their cries and provided for them. God also promised to make a great nation of Ishmael’s descendants. He is the ancestor of the Arab people. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, and Ishmael’s story is one of faith, obedience, and the fulfillment of divine promises, emphasizing the importance of trust in God’s plan.

An Armorial Urn

An armorial porcelain piece includes a coat of arms. Occasionally large sets of armorial dinnerware have been commissioned. Other times a centerpiece or single serving piece is armorial. In the case of armorial monumental urns, there is generally only one created, but occasionally there are pairs.

Monumental armorial urns in porcelain were generally commissioned to commemorate an event: winning a battle, the completion of a major project, a significant anniversary. A piece with two family crests, like M&G’s, would most likely be a wedding or anniversary gift, or perhaps commemorating some joint victory or project completion. As the recipient proudly displayed the beautiful piece, it would serve as a reminder of the event.

On M&G’s urn just under the painted scene of Hagar, two winged cherubs hold a swag of small, sculpted flowers which appear to support the crest-bearing medallion topped by a sculpted crown. The right crest has crossed swords, a green ornamented band, and a stylized purple crown, all of which are parts of Saxony crests. The crest on the left has not yet been identified.

Although today we may not know what M&G’s armorial urn commemorates, we can still appreciate its delicate beauty and admire the supreme craftsmanship required to produce it.

 

William Pinkston, retired educator and M&G volunteer

  

References

Dresden Porcelain Studios: Identification & Value Guide by Jim and Susan Harran

 

Updated from 2013 and republished to reflect new research in 2024

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