LUCAS CRANACH the Elder and workshop (Kronach 1472-1553 Weimar) The Marriage of St Catherine in the circle of the Holy Virgins Barbara, Margaret and Dorothea. Oil on wood. 40.6 × 26.5 cm. Provenance: - Jauner von Schroffenegg Collection, Vienna. - Auction Kunstsalon Pisko, von Schroffenegg Collection, 11 November 1907, lot 77 (as German School, 16th century), sold to Berger. - Collection Dr Berger, Vienna. - Collection of Princess Hilda Schwarzenberg (1897-1979). - Returned by the above to Dr Berger, USA, after 1945. - By inheritance, private collection. - Acquired from a European private collector, 1995. - By inheritance, European private collection. Literature: - Max J. Friedländer and Jakob Rosenberg: The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, London 1978, p. 86, no. 85A. - Max J. Friedländer and Jakob Rosenberg: Die Gemälde von Lucas Cranach, Basel/Boston/Stuttgart 1979, p. 87, no. 85A. - E. Ullmann: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Betrothal of St Catherine of Alexandria, in: Acta Historiae Artium Scientiarum Hungaricae, vol. XXXIV, Budapest 1989, pp. 81-85, fig. 2, p. 83 (there incorrectly identified as the Dessau painting), and fig. 3, p. 84 (datable as c. 1512/13). With an examination report by Dr Gunnar Heydenreich, 23.8.2008. After the large altarpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop, which Koller Auctions successfully sold last spring, it is particularly pleasing that another masterful work by the unique virtuoso of the German Renaissance, Lucas Cranach the Elder, is now coming up for auction. Recently rediscovered in a private collection, it depicts the mystical marriage of St Catherine surrounded by the Holy Virgins, Barbara, Margaret and Dorothea. They are characterised by their attributes of sword, tower, dragon and a basket filled with flowers. Here, Cranach takes up a theme of the "Virgo inter virgines", the virgin mother of God in the circle of the holy virgins, which has been popular since the 15th century, particularly in the Netherlands. He focusses on the four "virgines capitales" Catherine, Barbara, Margaret and Dorothea. At the same time, he combines this theme with the mystical marriage of St Catherine and embeds it in a dynamic composition of symmetrically resting and diagonally animated lines. It has been reported since the 14th century that the subject of St Catherine of Alexandria, the beautiful and clever daughter of a king, would only dedicate herself to a man if he could match her in all respects. Accordingly, no suitable candidate could be found. A hermit taught her that only Christ could fulfil this requirement. In a first dream encounter, however, he had refused her. It was only after her baptism that Christ is said to have appeared to her in a second dream experience, where he placed a ring on her head as a symbol of marriage. The theme can be found in two other larger panels in the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts (oil on wood, 67.5 × 47.3 cm, Friedländer 1979, cat. no. 86, p. 87 with illus.) and in the Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dessau Schloss Georgium (oil on wood, 119 × 83 cm, Friedländer 1979, cat. no. 85, p. 87 with illus.). Compared to the aforementioned versions in Dessau and Budapest, the composition presented here is rather compact. The landscape design of the background should also be emphasised, which demonstrates the masterly skill of the artist and is characterised by staggered perspectives, a geographical variety of plains and rocky landscapes and meticulously crafted fauna. Stylistically, it is not surprising that Dr Ernst Ullmann dates the panel to the period around 1512-1514 and compares the virginal, delicate figures with Cranach's paintings from the Dresden St Catherine's Altar of 1506. The girlishly lovely faces remind him of the Sippenaltar of 1509 in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt am Main, as well as the centre panel of the Dessau Fürstenaltar, around 1510, or the panels with the Education of Mary, 1510-12, in Dessau-Wörlitz. According to current art-historical knowledge and art-technological examination, Dr Gunnar Heydenreich confirms that this high-quality mystical marriage was produced around 1520 by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop. The virtuoso underdrawings, which can be seen with the help of IR reflectographs, prove that the master applied the composition directly to the painting ground with his own hand (Fig. 1). In accordance with Wittenberg workshop practice, the painterly design was completed in the workshop with the help of an employee. The appearance of Martin Luther around 1517 and his friendship with Cranach, who served as a pictorial mediator and disseminator of the new revelation of faith, had consequences for the pictorial representation. Accordingly, our depiction was created on the eve of the Reformation and, due to its format and renunciation of theological and dogmatic motifs, was probably commissioned for private devotion. The finely crafted materiality, the virtuoso diversity of the depiction and the coherence of the composition are certainly particularly fascinating. The depiction is convincing due to the intimacy of the sitters and their individuality as well as their masterly pictorial quality. These objects marked with * (asterisk) are fully subject to VAT, i.e. VAT will be charged on the hammer price plus buyer's premium. Buyers who present a legally stamped export declaration will be reimbursed the VAT.