Madonna and Child, 1509

Dimensions: 120 x 43.5 x min. 0.7 cm
maximum depth: 1 cm

Physical Description: Mixed technique on limewood

Inventory Number: 1398

Object Number: 1398D

Acquisition: Purchased in 1906 with funds provided by Carl Schaub-Stiftung, Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V., the City of Frankfurt am Main, and donations

Status: On display, 2nd upper level, Old Masters, room 2

Texts

About the Acquisition

Among the earliest major commissions which Lucas Cranach the Elder carried out in 1509 as court painter to the Electorate of Saxony was the so-called Torgau Altar. The altar was acquired with the help of several sponsors in 1906 at the auction of the Molinier Collection in Paris. The money required to secure this magnificent work for Frankfurt was provided jointly by the City of Frankfurt, private art lovers, the Städelscher Museums-Verein and the recently founded Carl Schaub'sche Stiftung. For Cranach researchers, its arrival at the museum was a small sensation: although the altar clearly bore the signature of the master himself, the work was previously unknown in the relevant literature on the artist.