An Unknown Lady, possibly Anna of Hesse (1485-1525), formerly called Sybille of Cleves, Wife of John Frederick of Saxony
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Oil painting on panel of a portrait of a woman in three-quarter length, turned slightly to the left with her hands holding her wrists at her waist. She wears a jewelled cap of seed pearls that covers her hair, a red and orange dress with an embroidered bodice above a laced section, and a high neck set with three oval jewels, two red flanking one green; an upturned open collar decorated with seed pearls; padded and slashed sleeves with bands round the sleeves and wide cuffs decorated with seed pearls; and a striped skirt. She wears three necklaces: a short thick one with a round pendant and a pearl; a necklace of single interlinked hoops and a wide necklace of multiple interlinked hoops around pearls on stalks. She wears two rings on the thumb and index finger visible on her left hand.
Richly dressed in pearls and necklaces, this unknown noblewoman was no doubt a member of the court of Duke Frederick III of Saxony where Cranach worked as court painter. Formerly identified as Frederic's neice, this little-known painting is dated 1515 when Sybille was only three. Sybille did not marry Frederic's nephew, John Frederick I (1502-1556), until 1526. The sitter's heavy necklaces were the height of fashion for Flemish and German ladies in the early years of the sixteenth century.
Lucas Cranach the elder was appointed as Frederick III's court painter at Wittenberg in 1505 at the age of 33. He made a brief trip to the Netherlands in 1508-1509, but most of his time was spent producing numerous portraits of courtiers as well as religious and mythological panels, mural painting designs and prints. He often replicated or reworked portraits with his workship to meet demand, however this portrait is not known in any other versions. It bears his signature of a winged serpent, the coat of arms conferred on him by the Duke in 1508. After the Duke's death in 1525, Cranach continued to work for his successors even when John Frederick was deposed from power as a result of his Protestant policies.
The portrait demonstrates Cranach's development of a slightly elongated depiction of the sitter, either in full or half-length pose, combined with a passive facial expression. These techniques draw out and focus attention on the body's frame, allowing each detail of the sitter's costume to be meticulously rendered and appreciated. Tiny seed pearls decorate much of this lady's cap and dress. The elaborate heavy gold necklaces were a common feature of Cranach's female portraits. While in England and France such chains were worn exclusively by men, in Flanders and Germany they were women's accessories. The heavier the necklace, the greater the status and wealth of the sitter's family. The four intricately interlinked necklaces worn by this sitter must have been considerably weighty. In appearance, the portrait is somewhat similar to Cranach's portrait probably showing Princess Emilia of Saxony of 1537 (Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen), indicating that the Waddesdon sitter was from the highest ranks of the nobility.
Phillippa Plock, 2012
Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)
551 x 373 x 22 (sight size)
Signature & date
signed and dated, lower left:1515 / [serpent]
Labels
Luc Cranach
Label
on frame, lower centre
Provenance
- Acquired by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922); inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); inherited by his wife Dorothy de Rothschild (b.1895, d.1988); then to a Rothschild Family Trust.
Collection
- Waddesdon (Rothschild Family)
- On loan since 1996
Subject person
- Sybille of Cleves, Previous identification