GERMAN SCHOOL CIRCA 1537, WORKSHOP OF LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER The Deploration of Christ Parquet panel 41.7 x 30.5 cm Monogrammed upper left with the serpent and the dragon Provenance : Sale in Paris, Palais Galliera, 25 March 1965, no. 20 presented as Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 -1553). The sale was announced in the German magazine Weltkunst XXXV, No. 5, 1 March 1965 (ill.). Private collection Aix-en-Provence. Our panel is referenced in the Corpus Cranach of the Cranach Research Institute (cranach.net) under CC-BNT-410-005. Lucas Cranach and his workshop painted the subject of the Deposition from the Cross on several occasions (for example, in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Klosterkirche in Lüneburg). Our composition does not appear to be a replica of the known versions, but rather a relatively original work. It is the only one with the very open, deep, bluish perspective characteristic of the master. The execution of the women's faces and the moiré aspect of the red velvet dress of Mary Magdalene and the Saint John bear witness to the very meticulous aspect and high quality of the work. We would like to thank Dr Michael Hofbauer, Director of the Cranach Research Institute, for his help in describing this painting (e-mail dated 18 April 2025). He tells us that he dates it to around 1537 or a little later, and that the signature of the snake with folded wings, as attested since 1536 at the earliest, is in his opinion authentic.