The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Hunting near Hartenfels Castle

Hunting near Hartenfels Castle

1540
(German, 1472–1553)
Germany, 16th century
oil, originally on wood, transferred to masonite
Framed: 133 x 185.5 x 7.3 cm (52 3/8 x 73 1/16 x 2 7/8 in.); Unframed: 116.8 x 170.2 cm (46 x 67 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1958.425
Location: 114 Late Northern Renaissance

Did You Know?

Humans, dogs, and deer make up most of the creatures in this busy scene—but not all of them! Look closely at the background to spot a bear and three boars.

Description

The Protestant rulers of Saxony commissioned this animated hunt scene, set near their residence seen in the background, Hartenfels Castle (in eastern Germany). John Frederick the Magnanimous, in the bottom left corner, wears dark green hunting attire; he spans his crossbow and waits for his courtiers and dogs to chase a stag across the river. His wife, the Electress Sibylle, stands at right, poised to take the first ceremonial shot. The prince electors of Saxony were passionate practitioners of hunting with dogs—elaborate, highly rehearsed occasions, coordinated by the use of signals from hunting horns. Cranach dated this work and his signature is the winged snake at lower right. 1577 in the right corner is an inventory number.
  • 1540-1950s
    Royal Collection of Saxony, Schloss Hartenfels and Schloss Moritzburg, consigned to M.H. Drey
    Until 1958
    (M.H. Drey, London, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1958-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 On October 4, 1543, Cranach was paid 123 florins, 10 groschen, and 8 pfennig for various works (Staatsarchiv, Weimar Reg. Bb. 4551, Bl. 24b (Schuchardt [1851] 162ff.), including a hunting picture presented to Duke Maurice of Saxony [1521-1553], presumably the Cleveland painting.  Cranach had been appointed court painter to the Electors of Saxony in 1505 by Frederick the Wise.   A House of Saxony inventory number (1577) is inscribed in the lower right corner of the painting.  The painting remained at Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau for generations, and with the Dukes of Saxony at Schloss Moritzburg until the 1950s.  
  • Margaret H. Drey, letter to Henry Sayles Francis, April 9, 1959, in CMA curatorial file.
    Margaret H. Drey, letter to Henry Sayles Francis, March 18, 1959, in CMA curatorial file.
    Margaret H. Drey, letter to Henry Sayles Francis, March 18, 1959, in CMA curatorial file.


    Margaret H. Drey, letter to Henry Sayles Francis, April 9, 1959, in CMA curatorial file.
    Cranach-Ausstellung: Lucas Cranach d. Ä., und Lucas Cranach d. J., Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik, april-juni 1937 im Deutschen Museum Berlin. Berlin: Staatliche Museen, 1937.
    Schade, Werner, Lucas Cranach, Lucas Cranach, and Hans Cranach. Cranach, a Family of Master Painters. New York: Putnam, 1980.
    Schuchardt, Christian. Lucas Cranach des Aeltern leben und werke. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1851.
    Flechsig, Eduard. Cranachstudien. Leipzig, Germany: K.W. Hiersemann, 1900. Reproduced: p. 275; Mentioned: p. 288
    Friedländer, Max J., and Jakob Rosenberg. Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach. Berlin, Germany: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft, 1932. Reproduced: no. 331a, p. 91
    Lilienfein, Heinrich. Lukas Cranach und seine Zeit. Bielefeld, Germany: Velhagen & Klasing, 1944. Reproduced: p. 86
    Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vinzenz Oberhammer, Friderike Klauner, and Günther Heinz. Katalog der Gemäldegalerie. Wien, Austria: Kunsthistorisches Museum, 1958. Reproduced: p. 39, no. 117
    Francis, Henry S. "The Stag Hunt by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XLVI, no. 10 (November, 1959):198-205. Reproduced: p. 198-199, fig. 1
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 108 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 108 archive.org
    Schütz, Karl. Lucas Cranach der Ältere und seine Werkstatt. Jubiläumsausstellung museumseigener Werke, 1472-1972. Wien, Austria: Kunsthist. Museum, 1972. Reproduced: p. 32
    Museo del Prado. Museo del Prado: catálogo de las pinturas. Madrid, Spain: El Museo, 1972. Reproduced: 0. 165, no. 2175
    Lurie, Ann T. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1982. Mentioned: p. 162-165; Reproduced: p. 163
    Schade, Werner. Die Malerfamilie Cranach. Dresden, Germany: Verlag der Kunst, 1974. Reproduced: p. 210 and 211
    Findeisen, Peter, and Heinrich Magirius. Die Denkmale der Stadt Torgau. Leipzig, Germany: Seemann, VEB, 1976. Reproduced: p. 108-109, plates 64, 65
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 128 archive.org
    Morse, John D. Old Master Paintings in North America: Over 3000 Masterpieces by 50 Great Artists. New York, NY: Abbeville Press, 1979. Reproduced: p. 77
    Kathman, Barbara A. A Cleveland Bestiary. Cleveland, OH; Cleveland Museum of Art, 1981. Reproduced: p. 9; Mentioned: p. 7-11, p. 60
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Catalogue of Paintings, Part 3: European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982. Mentioned: p. 162-164; Reproduced: p. 163
    Weber, Erwin. Cranach and Luther: With Selected Works of the "Painting Evangelist" in the United States. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 1983. Reproduced: p. 60, plate 42
    Grimm, Claus, Johannes Erichsen, and Evamaria Brockhoff. Lucas Cranach: ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken. Augsburg, Germany: Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, 1994. Reproduced: no. 131; Mentioned: p. 311-313
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms and Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 135
    Kolb, Karin, and Harald Marx. Cranach: [anlässlich der Ausstellung Cranach vom 13. November 2005 bis 12. März 2006 in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz ; eine Ausstellung in Kooperation mit der Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden]. Köln, Germany: Wienand, 2005. Reproduced: p. 160, fig. 72
    Ferino Pagden, Sylvia, and Andreas Beyer. Tizian versus Seisenegger: die Portraits Karls V. mit Hund : ein Holbeinstreit. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2005. Mentioned: p. 169; Reproduced: p. 171, fig. 4a
    Klein, Holger A. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Reproduced: cat. 112, Mentioned: p. 294, 295
    Fliegel, Stephen N. Arms & Armor: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Reproduced: p. 155
    Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: United Kingdom: Scala Books, 2012. Reproduced: p. 168-169
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 179
    Greub, Suzanne. Von Meisterhand: die Cranach-Sammlung des Musée des beaux-arts de Reims. Munich, Germany: Hirmer, 2015. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 54-55, Abb. 6
    Gengler, Matthew. "You Ask, We Answer." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58, no. 5 (September/October 2018): 22. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 22.
    Cranach, Lucas, Lucas Cranach, and Michael Hofbauer. Corpus Cranach: Lucas Cranach I und Lucas Cranach II : Verzeichnis der Gemälde unter Berücksichtigung von Werkstattumfeld und Epigonen. Heidelberg, 2022. Reproduced: p. 481, CC-SJM-100-006
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 On October 4, 1543, Cranach was paid 123 florins, 10 groschen, and 8 pfennig for various works (Staatsarchiv, Weimar Reg. Bb. 4551, Bl. 24b (Schuchardt [1851] 162ff.), including a hunting picture presented to Duke Maurice of Saxony [1521-1553], presumably the Cleveland painting.  Cranach had been appointed court painter to the Electors of Saxony in 1505 by Frederick the Wise.   A House of Saxony inventory number (1577) is inscribed in the lower right corner of the painting.  The painting remained at Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau for generations, and with the Dukes of Saxony at Schloss Moritzburg until the 1950s.  
  • Luther and the Princes. Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau, Germany (May 15-November 1, 2015).
    Lucas Cranach. L'altro rinascimento. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy (organizer) (October 13, 2010-March 3, 2011).
    Arms and Armor from Imperial Austria. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 24-June 1, 2008).
    Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009).
    Faith and Power: Saxony in the Europe of the Reformation Era. Hartenfels Castle, Torgau, Dresden, Germany (May 24-October 10, 2004).
    Lucas Cranach: Ein Maler-Unternehmer aus Franken. Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig (May 17-July 1, 1994); Fortress of Rosenberg Kronach (September 7-November 6, 1994).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    A Cleveland Bestiary. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15-December 16, 1981).
    Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965).
    Lucas Cranach d. A und Lucas Cranach d. J. Staatliche Museen (duetsches Museum) Berlin, Germany (1937).
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 On October 4, 1543, Cranach was paid 123 florins, 10 groschen, and 8 pfennig for various works (Staatsarchiv, Weimar Reg. Bb. 4551, Bl. 24b (Schuchardt [1851] 162ff.), including a hunting picture presented to Duke Maurice of Saxony [1521-1553], presumably the Cleveland painting.  Cranach had been appointed court painter to the Electors of Saxony in 1505 by Frederick the Wise.   A House of Saxony inventory number (1577) is inscribed in the lower right corner of the painting.  The painting remained at Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau for generations, and with the Dukes of Saxony at Schloss Moritzburg until the 1950s.  
  • {{cite web|title=Hunting near Hartenfels Castle|url=false|author=Lucas Cranach|year=1540|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 On October 4, 1543, Cranach was paid 123 florins, 10 groschen, and 8 pfennig for various works (Staatsarchiv, Weimar Reg. Bb. 4551, Bl. 24b (Schuchardt [1851] 162ff.), including a hunting picture presented to Duke Maurice of Saxony [1521-1553], presumably the Cleveland painting.  Cranach had been appointed court painter to the Electors of Saxony in 1505 by Frederick the Wise.   A House of Saxony inventory number (1577) is inscribed in the lower right corner of the painting.  The painting remained at Schloss Hartenfels, Torgau for generations, and with the Dukes of Saxony at Schloss Moritzburg until the 1950s.  

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1958.425