Thread by @ngadc

Today’s tour takes us to gallery 35 on the Main Floor of the West Building, devoted to our collection of 15th- and 16th-century German paintings.

See a list of all the works included: go.usa.gov/xvq7t

The gallery includes examples by some of the most important Northern Renaissance artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Dürer, Hans Holbein the Younger, and Bernhard Strigel.

The earliest work in gallery 35 is Albrecht Dürer’s “Madonna and Child” (c. 1496/1499).

Born in Nuremberg in 1471, Dürer first trained as a goldsmith in his father’s shop before becoming an apprentice in the workshop of the painter Michael Wolgemut in 1486.

After leaving Wolgemut’s workshop in 1490, Dürer traveled around Europe, returning to Nuremberg for a few months in 1494, before leaving again and ending up in Venice.

In Venice, Dürer met Giovanni Bellini, whose influence is evident in “Madonna and Child” (c. 1496/1499) in the athletic Christ Child, the pyramid of the Virgin's form, and the sculptural modeling of the figures.

[Bellini, “Madonna and Child in a Landscape, c. 1480/1485]

What differences do you see in Dürer’s treatment of the subject?

For one, the setting is a room with a window open on a distant view, recalling Netherlandish devotional images.

Made after returning to Nuremberg, Dürer’s “Madonna and Child” was probably intended for private devotion. The tiny coat-of-arms in the lower corners have been identified as those of the Hallery family on the left, and Koberger family on the right.

The painting may have been commissioned by Wolf III Haller who married Ursula Koberger in 1491.

The one painting is really two—the reverse features another work by Dürer of “Lot and His Daughters.”

In the scene depicting the story from the Book of Genesis, Lot and his children flee the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Visible on the path in the distance is Lot’s wife, who has turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying the divine command by looking back on the scene of retribution.

The combination of the story from the Book of Genesis with depictions of the Virgin and Child is very unusual. While the exact relation of the two images remains unclear, they could be understood as two examples of the value of a just life and of the pervasive grace of God.

Gallery 35 also includes Dürer’s “Portrait of a Clergyman (Johann Dorsch?)” (1516).

The figure is portrayed with exacting detail, from the wrinkles and lines of his face to the individual strands of hair. He even represented the reflection of window panes in his eyes.

The remarkable portrait was painted on parchment rather than wood, giving the paint surface a fine, smooth quality and lending a richness to the colors.

Among the gallery’s works by Hans Holbein the Younger is a portrait of Edward VI, probably made in 1538.

Holbein was born in 1497 or 1498 in Augsburg into a family of artists.

He lived and traveled in Switzerland, France, and England from 1515 to 1529. By 1532, he returned to England, eventually working as a court painter to Henry VIII.

Edward, Henry VIII's only legitimate son, was born on October 12, 1537 to Henry's third wife, Jane Seymour.

The portrait is believed to be the one given to the King on the New Year of 1539. The Latin verse by Richard Morison flatters the father and emphasizes the succession.

The latin verse reads:
"Little one, emulate thy father and be the heir of his virtue; the world contains nothing greater. Heaven and earth could scarcely produce a son whose glory would surpass that of such a father…”

“...Do thou but equal the deeds of thy parent and men can ask no more. Shouldst thou surpass him, thou hast outstript all kings the world has revered in ages past.”

The gallery also includes “Sir Brian Tuke,” made during Holbein's first or second visit to England, c. 1527/1528 or 1532/1534.

After serving as Master of the Posts, Tuke was appointed treasurer and secretary of the royal household, a position he held until his death in 1545.

While dignified, Tuke is also shown a bit sorrowful.

On the table beneath his left hand is a folded paper bearing a quotation from the Book of Job (10:20) which begins, "Are not my days few?"

Lucas Cranach was born in 1472 in the Franconian town of Kronach, from which he took his name. His father was also an artist.

As early as 1505, Cranach was employed in the court of Friedrich the Wise, Elector of Saxony.
["A Princess of Saxony" and "A Prince of Saxony, c. 1517]p

In 1508 Duke Friedrich the Wise granted Cranach a coat-of-arms to use to sign his paintings.

It depicted a serpent with upright bat wings holding a ring in its mouth. The serpent could stand for Kronos, the Greek god of time, a pun on the artist’s name in Latin and German.

After 1534, the serpent’s wings became folded bird’s wings, perhaps an attempt to distinguish his work from the work of his sons, Hans and Lucas the Younger.

Made after 1537, Cranach’s “The Nymph of the Spring,” shows this new coat-of-arms.

The painting depicts the classical nymph, but with a moralizing twist common to late Gothic courtly and amorous subjects.

On the top left is the inscription “ I am the nymph of the sacred spring, do not disturb my sleep. I am resting.”

The inscription and the spring seen behind her, may be an allusion to an ancient Roman fountain with which a Latin verse (later discovered to be from the 15th century) was associated.

But despite the inscription, the nymph isn’t sleeping, is she?

And a bow and quiver hanging on the tree suggest an association with the goddess Diana while the robe on which she rests her head is that of a German court lady.

Together, these references could suggest Cranach was warning the viewer to resist lust and amorality.

Cranach painted more than 16 versions of this subject over his career.

Thanks for following along on today’s tour of gallery 35! #MuseumFromHome

You can read more about this period of German painting in our systematic catalog, one of many free backlist titles available: go.usa.gov/xvqHA

And for today’s #MuseumMomentofZen, a look at the many incredible textures painted by Bernhard Strigel in his portrait of Margarethe Vöhlin from 1527.