New photography by Ed Pollard captured with a digital camera-2006.

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery

Artist Lucas Cranach the Younger (German, 1515-1586)

CultureGerman

Dateafter 1537

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions29 1/4 x 48 in. (74.3 x 121.9 cm)
Overall, Frame: 38 x 57 x 3 1/2 in. (96.5 x 144.8 x 8.9 cm)

InscribedInscribed: "Wer unter Euch...(on sund 1st der werffe den ersten stein auff si)" Not dated, but signed with Cranach monogram: a serpent with upraised wings of a bat (upper right after inscription).

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.484

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 202

DescriptionThis is an oil on panel painting. The panel contains evidence of eighteen people, although, for some only the tops of their heads can be seen. The perspective is in close range, bringing the viewer into an intimate space. Christ is in the center wearing a red robe over a bluish gray tunic. His left hand holds the wrist of the adulterous woman, his right points two fingers at her. She wears an orange dress, the bodice of which is slightly torn open revealing her breast. She wears a thin filmy scarf around her shoulder and over her head. Her eyes are cast downward. To Christ's right are two white bearded men, they seem to be in discussion with Christ. The one man in the foreground has a bag of rocks; he clutches one stone behind his back. Each man has a different facial expression as well as distinct features: there are no perfect generic faces, they are all very individual. The man in soldier's garb on Christ's left in the foreground looks directly at the viewer, as if suddenly he is aware of being observed.

Label TextLucas Cranach the Younger German, 1515–1586 Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, after 1537 Oil on wood By packing people together against a flat black backdrop, this painting makes its message of divine forgiveness as direct as possible. The scene depicts the story’s climax, when Christ defends an adulteress before an angry mob that wants to stone her to death for her sins. Christ deflates the mob with his compassionate, clever response: “Let any of you who is without sin cast the first stone.” To ensure viewers got the moral punch line, the artist inscribed it in German at the painting’s upper edge. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.484 ProvenanceWesendonck auction, Cologne (Lempertz), Nov. 27, 1935, lot 24, on loan to Bonn, Provinzialmuseum (cat. 1927, nr. 50); Wesendonck collection, Hamburg, Germany; Gsell collection, Vienna, Austria; Schonemon Galleries, NYC; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Permanent Collection," Provincial Museum, Bonn, Germany. "An Exhibition of Dutch, Flemish, and German Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," 1957-1958 at The Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL; George Washington University, Washington, D.C., Atlanta Art Association and High Museum, Atlanta, GA; The Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, OH; The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, TX; The Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts, Columbus, GA; The Isaac Delgado Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; The Norton Gallery of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; The Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC; The George T. Hunter Gallery, Chattanooga, TN. (Exhib. cat. no. p. 13). "Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown Inaugural Exhibition," Provincetown, MA, 1958. (Exhib. cat. no. 13). Published ReferencesC. Andersson. "Religiöse Bilder Cranachs im Dienste der Reformation," HUMANISMUS UND REFORMATION ALS KULTURELLE KRÄFTE IN DER DEUTSCHEN GESCHICHTE, p. 58, note 43. Max J. Friedländer und Jakob Rosenberg. DIE GEMÄLDE VON LUCAS CRANACH. Berlin: Deutscher Verein für Kunstwissenschaft. 1932: p. 83, no. 292. Exhibition catalogue. AN EXHIBITION OF DUTCH, FLEMISH, AND GERMAN PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR.. New York: Birmingham Publishing Company. 1957: p. 13. Bertina S. Manning. CHRYSLER ART MUSEUM OF PROVINCETOWN INAUGURAL EXHIBITION. Provincetown, Massachusetts: Chrysler Art Museum of Provincetown. 07/1958: pp. 10, 53; illustrated b/w no. 13, p. 53. Max J. Friedländer & Jakob Rosenberg. Catalogue translated by Heinz Norden; introd. translated by Ronald Taylor. THE PAINTINGS OF LUCAS CRANACH. Rev. ed.. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. 1978: pp. 141-142, no. 364. Katharina Frank, _Die biblischen Historiengemälde der Cranach-Werkstatt_, (Heidelberg University: Heidelberg, 2018), Abb. 46, p. 127.