Hunting is greater than Venus. Cranachs

From March 4 to May 15 at the State Museum fine arts named after Pushkin for the first time in Russia will take place large-scale exhibition, dedicated to creativity outstanding master Northern Renaissance Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and representatives of several generations of this illustrious dynasty.

Forty-eight paintings and more than fifty graphic works from the collections of museums in Gotha, Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Budapest, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod and several Russian private collections reflect different stages in the development of the creative tradition of the Cranach family, which combines interest in a truly Renaissance interpretation of religious and mythological themes with elements of late Gothic fabulousness. The exhibition traces the important changes that occurred in the artistic consciousness of German masters in the period between the Renaissance and Mannerism.

The exhibition will be decorated with the famous creations of Lucas Cranach the Elder:

• “The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with Saints Dorothea, Margaret and Barbara” (second half of the 1510s, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest);
• “Venus and Cupid” (1509; State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg);
• "The fruits of jealousy. silver Age"(1530; Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow);
• "Judith beheading Holofernes" (1531; Friedenstein Castle Foundation, Gotha).

The exhibition will be complemented by engravings and drawings of the father and son Cranach from the collections of the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin, State Hermitage, as well as the Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha.

The central figure of the exhibition is Lucas Cranach the Elder, a reformer of German painting, whose innovative ideas regarding composition, color and treatment of images had a great influence on the art of the Northern Renaissance. In the first third of the 16th century, the creative searches of Lucas Cranach the Elder marked the final transition from the ideals of the Renaissance to mannerism. The artist organized a workshop that flourished for more than a hundred years, the leadership of which eventually passed to his son Lucas the Younger, and then to his grandson and great-grandson. He was also the creator of an easily recognizable and memorable world of bright artistic images. The Cranachs should be spoken of as the actual founders of the Saxon school of painting, which flourished throughout the 16th century.

Schedule of excursions around the exhibition:

• on Sundays March 13, 20, 27, April 10, 17, 24 at 15:00 and 17:00;
• on Tuesdays March 15, 22, 29, April 5, 12, 19, 26 at 15:00 and 18:00;
• on Wednesdays March 16, 23, 30, April 6, 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11 at 18:00.

Ticket prices:

In weekdays:

• from 11:00 to 13:00 - 300 rubles, discounted rate of 150 rubles;
• from 13:00 to 17:00 - 400 rubles, discounted rate of 200 rubles;
• from 17:00 until the museum closes - 500 rubles, discounted rate 250 rubles.

On Fridays, during the “Fridays in Pushkinsky” events:

• from 17:00 until the museum closes - 700 rubles, discounted rate 350 rubles.

On weekends:

• from 11:00 to 13:00 - 400 rubles, discounted rate of 200 rubles.
• from 13:00 until the museum closes - 500 rubles, discounted rate 250 rubles.

The Pushkin Museum, together with a dozen foreign and Russian institutions, displays 48 paintings and more than 50 graphic works Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop with the subtitle "From the Renaissance to Mannerism." Stylistic subtleties at this exhibition are not the most important thing, says VALENTIN DYAKONOV.

“In the time of Cranach, a German must have looked like a rude and uncouth creature,” wrote the German art critic Richard Muther more than 100 years ago. “It is enough to look at the linocuts of minor German masters to meet a crowd of lame, hunchbacked idiots, hanged men, passers-by, swindlers , charlatan doctors and indulgence merchants who inhabited the art of that time." The bewilderment of a historian brought up on Italian models is understandable: Cranach the Elder and his circle were truly appreciated only in the 20th century, when German avant-garde artists discovered national art, untouched by the ideals of the Southern Renaissance. The deeper the anti-anxiety taste penetrated into German art, the faster the techniques of Cranach’s workshop, which seem so sweet to us today, were forgotten. Cranach and his workshop belong to both their time (contemporaries considered the elder the second master of Germany after Dürer) and ours. Among other things, his workshop is the ancestor of the factory of Andy Warhol and others commercial enterprises XX century like authorized castings of Auguste Rodin.

Cranach was far from being “rude and uncouth” - on the contrary, he revolved at the very center of events that were key to the history of Europe. He was born in a small town, moved to Vienna, from there, at the invitation of the Saxon Elector Frederick the Wise, he moved to Wittenberg, where he settled, turning into an important person: twice burgomaster, owner of various businesses and even a wine merchant. Yes, and also the court artist of the Elector, granted his own coat of arms - a winged dragon, which is projected onto the walls of Pushkinsky so that Cranach's trademark resembles the set design at a concert of some metalheads.

In Wittenberg, the master met and became friends with Martin Luther, the founder of the Reformation, and became his ardent follower. Main monument friendship, Cranach the Elder engraved in 1521, depicting Luther as the cadet Jorg - under this name the founder of Protestantism hid from the authorities. This thing is not shown at the exhibition, but there is an excellent graphic portrait Luther's closest ally - Philip Melanchthon. Friendship with Luther, however, did not prevent Cranach the Elder from accepting orders from his ideological enemy, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg. The popularity of his style forced Cranach to organize a workshop in which the most famous things were painted dozens of times. ready-made samples. That is why in almost all European museums there are Cranach's "Lucretias" - naked beauties with a dagger at the rib. In total, the workshop's output includes about 1,000 works - an impressive figure for an era when the production of paintings was an extremely labor-intensive process. Like any circulation, the workshop's products are subject to erosion, and even the most talented apprentices of Cranach the Elder (his son, the full namesake, is considered the best, only the youngest) produce excellent portraits at best.

Of all the variety of plots around the workshop and its founder, Pushkinsky chooses the most uninteresting and old-fashioned. The question of style and era was once important, but now, in an era of mass nostalgia for the Middle Ages, one could treat the artist’s rich biography with great respect. Moreover, the workshop touched upon the Renaissance tangentially. In Cranach, as in the small Dutch, for example, we see an amazing combination of photographic precision of faces and absurdity of bodies, painted as if on purpose in the poses of gutta-percha boys and girls. Which, of course, is also understandable: knowledge in the field of nudity was drawn from rare and - in the case of Cranach - primitive engravings from treatises on paganism popular in Europe. Pushkinsky appointed main picture at the exhibition of the Hermitage "Venus with Cupid", placing it in the apse of the White Hall, and this good example ambivalent attitude towards antiquity. The first nude, written, apparently, under the influence of humanist friends from the University of Wittenberg, Cranach the Elder provided with a formidable warning: “Drive away Cupid’s voluptuousness with all your might, otherwise Venus will take possession of your blinded soul.” On the basis of this thing, perhaps, it is only possible to attribute Cranach to the Renaissance or Mannerism: almost all his other works belong to a different moral universe. Here the “Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism” are born, if we recall Max Weber: supply depends on demand, erotic pictures and portraits are put on stream - in general, Luther and Lucretia in every home

Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop. Christ and the sinner. 1532 Wood, tempera, oil. Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest)

For the first time in Russia, a large-scale exhibition dedicated to the work of the famous German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) and representatives of his illustrious dynasty has opened. More than a hundred ancient works from the leading museums of Gotha, Berlin, Madrid, Prague, Budapest and St. Petersburg were brought to the Pushkin Museum named after A.S. Pushkin, who, together with German colleagues, prepared this project for several years.

In the brilliant triad of names of outstanding German artists - Albrecht Durer, Hans Holbein the Younger and Lucas Cranach the Elder - the latter has a special place. Lucas was the most enterprising and prolific among them. He founded a workshop that flourished for more than a hundred years, the leadership of which eventually passed to his descendants, and created an individual, easily recognizable and memorable world of artistic images. Cranach's main merit is that he passed the most difficult creative path from the ideals of Renaissance art to the grace and intricacy of Mannerism. The standard he created female beauty inspired Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti and Ernst Kirchner. The old German master turned out to be so close to the avant-garde artists of the 20th century. Moreover, Western journalists to this day compare Cranach’s female images with modern top models, finding common features in them.

Venus and Cupid

The huge canvas “Venus and Cupid” (1509) occupies a central place in the exhibition. This is the most meaningful work V early work Cranach. The painting is kept in the Hermitage collection and rarely leaves its walls, despite numerous requests from the world's leading museums.

The artist depicted the ancient goddess of beauty and love in full height, completely naked, and already in this he showed his craving for innovation. Cranach's Venus was the first nude depiction of a woman in German Renaissance art. Before this, only Eve was drawn this way.

The beautiful young woman is depicted against a black background, and the audience’s attention is immediately concentrated on her plastic body and voluminous forms. At the top of the picture, as if by chance, is a golden inscription in Latin: “Drive away Cupid’s voluptuousness with all your might, otherwise Venus will take possession of your blinded soul.”. This is how the artist combined art so easily and brilliantly Italian Renaissance with the strict morality of German humanism.

An attentive viewer will notice a small winged snake in the picture - Cranach’s signature signature, which is present on all his canvases. The original signature did not disappear with the artist’s death, becoming the coat of arms of his family workshop.

Four maiden protectors

To the number best works Cranach the Elder, art historians attribute the painting “The Mystical Betrothal of St. Catherine of Alexandria, with Saints Dorothea, Margaret and Barbara” (second half of the 1510s, Budapest Museum of Fine Arts). At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, the cult of the four main virgins was very popular, and they repeatedly became the heroes of many German works.

Cranach's scene of the mystical betrothal of St. Catherine takes place against the backdrop of a rocky landscape typical of southern Germany. In the center of the composition is a small Christ supported by the Mother of God. With one hand the baby puts on wedding ring on the finger of St. Catherine, the other touches a bunch of grapes, symbolizing the blood shed on the cross. Rich palette of colors, perfectly beautiful women's faces, complex composition, extraordinary expressiveness, a plot filled with symbols - all these typically “Cranachian” features are reflected in this picture in the best possible way.

Frederick the Wise, Martin Luther and Sibylla of Cleves

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Madonna and Child under an Apple Tree. Late 1520s. Canvas, tempera, oil. State Hermitage Museum
Photo: Inspector/Margarita Glukhova

Opening of the exhibition "Cranachs. Between the Renaissance and Mannerism" at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin
Photo: Inspector/Margarita Glukhova

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Female portrait. Around 1526. Wood, tempera, oil. Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Photo: Inspector/Margarita Glukhova

Lucas Cranach the Elder lived in an important historical era for Germany, and this could not but affect his work. He was a court artist for Frederick the Wise, one of the most educated and powerful electors (princes) of Germany, and, of course, did not suffer from poverty. Moreover, over time, Cranach was granted the nobility, began publishing books, and received the privilege to trade in medicines. Gradually he became the richest burgher of the city of Wittenberg and was repeatedly elected its burgomaster.

High social status Cranach's influence was also reflected in his art. He achieved great mastery in the genre of portraiture, capturing a huge number of famous contemporaries. For example, the artist was friends with Martin Luther, and most of the surviving portraits of the great reformer are by Cranach. Some of them can be seen at the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum.

Working on an individual and easily recognizable style, Lucas devoted Special attention women's portraits. He created his own standard of female beauty - thin, elongated female figure, with a peculiar oval face and somewhat slanted eyes. This stereotype appeared thanks to the artist’s acquaintance with Princess Sibylla of Cleves. Since then, the master painted a huge number of her portraits, and depicted all other women in appearance similar to her. This can be easily noticed when visiting the new exhibition.

Crane engraver

Along with picturesque works The exhibition features more than 50 engravings by Cranach the Elder. Among them is the large composition “The First Tournament”, on which you can see a real kaleidoscope of genre scenes. Around the fenced center where the battle of the knights took place, the artist placed a motley crowd of horsemen and foot soldiers, women, old people and children, musicians and representatives of the nobility. In the background is the Elector's box. Onlookers watch from the windows and doors of buildings located around the square.

Both black and white and watercolor-painted prints have survived to this day. Coloring woodcuts has been traditional in Germany since the Middle Ages, and this method was often used by Cranach the Elder.

Lucas Cranach the Younger

Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515-1586) continued his multifaceted activities in the family workshop, primarily engaged in the repetition of his father’s originals, created in the most different genres. After the death of his father, he became the head of a thriving family workshop, and only then did his individual painting style finally take shape. The exhibition features several works by Cranach the Younger, including Madonna and Child with a Bunch of Grapes (circa 1537, private collection) and The Judgment of Paris (1540s, Friedenschein Castle Foundation, Gotha).

Not just an exhibition

Director of the Friedenstein Castle Foundation Martin Eberle at the opening of the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin
Photo: Inspector/Margarita Glukhova

Director of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkina Marina Loshak
Photo: Inspector/Margarita Glukhova

It remains to add that the exhibition was successful largest project not only cultural, but socio-historical significance. For the first time in Russia, you can see together the works of two Lucas Cranachs - the Elder and the Younger. But this is only part of the organizers' plan. Another and most important idea is to show together the works of the Cranachs from the Friedenstein Gotha Castle Foundation and Russian collections.

The thing is that after the Second World War, many works from German collections ended up on the territory of the USSR. Thus, in 1946, the Pushkin Museum received about 40 artwork, most of them were paintings by the Cranach dynasty. In 1955, the USSR returned a significant number of works to the GDR, but some of the works by old masters, including Cranach, still remained in Russia. And now, for the first time in 70 years, all the Cranach masterpieces from the previous (pre-war) Gotha collection have been reunited in one exhibition.

“We do not forget the crimes that were committed by Germany during the Second World War, and we especially remember that thanks to Russia, works of art were saved from destruction in the 40s, and then more than a million works were returned to Germany. We are very happy to continue cooperation with Russia,” Director of the Friedenstein Castle Foundation Martin Eberle.

Exhibition "Cranachs. Between the Renaissance and Mannerism" - a joint project Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, the State Hermitage and the Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha. The exhibition was organized with the support of the German Embassy in the Russian Federation.

What: Exhibition "Cranachs. Between the Renaissance and Mannerism"

Where: State Museum Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin (Main building, Volkhonka, 12)

At the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, until May 15, there is a large exhibition of works by the German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, his son, assistants and followers - 48 paintings and more than 50 graphic works. At the request of The Village, journalist Dasha Borisenko breaks down the work of the Cranach dynasty into components that will help to better understand the exhibition in Pushkin Museum.

Experiment

In 1505, Lucas Cranach the Elder was appointed court painter to the Elector of Saxony in Wittenberg, the city where the Reformation would begin 12 years later. While freethinking reigns at the University of Wittenberg, Martin Luther is determined to put an end to the obscurantism that has gripped the Church and to translate the Bible into German, so that the sacred text can again be understood by mere mortals. Being an enlightened and wealthy burgher, Cranach supports Luther not only morally - he finances the publication of a translated Bible and draws illustrations for Protestant pamphlets.

The turbulent era encourages the artist to experiment. On duty and for commercial purposes, Cranach paints numerous commissioned portraits and does not try to embellish his models, transferring their ridiculous beards, crooked noses and asymmetrical eyes to the canvas. Inspired by the experience of the Italian Renaissance, he studies the laws of perspective. The Wittenberg spirit of freedom allows him to frankly depict the human body and touch on taboo topics. And his entire visual language, which today may seem dry and medieval to the untrained eye, was a real slap in the face to public taste in 16th-century Germany. It is not for nothing that 400 years later, Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso were inspired by Cranach’s works.

top left:"Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony", 1536

top right:"Martin Luther", 1529

Girl power

In the art of the Middle Ages, women received little attention - mostly artists depicted the Virgin Mary and saints. Cranach gives women a central role. His work reflects the concept of Weibermacht, or “women's power,” which was popular at the time. Of course, “power” here is not understood in a modern feminist way - what is meant is the power of female sexuality. The heroines of his paintings attract the gaze of surrounding men and openly use their appearance.

Take, for example, the story of Lucretia: a noble Roman woman was dishonored by the king’s son, and, unable to bear the shame, she stabbed herself with a dagger in front of her husband. Cranach's "Lucretia", which can be seen in Pushkinsky, is far from the image of a modest and faithful wife: The completely bare breasts, to which she somewhat playfully raises a dagger, brings to mind sexploitation films, where an attractive female body and violence invariably go hand in hand.

A real revolution in German art was the painting “Venus and Cupid” from 1509 - it occupies a central place at the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum. While Italy has long discovered the delights ancient greek mythology, in Cranach’s homeland, painting a pagan goddess was a bold gesture, perhaps only possible in the advanced city of Wittenberg. Everything is unusual here: naked bodies, hooliganly covered with transparent fabric (one of the favorite techniques of Cranach’s workshop), exotic appearance and even the artist’s signature monogram with a dragon, depicted on a piece of paper with creases seemingly floating in the air - Albrecht Durer loved similar special effects. The picture is crowned with an ambiguous inscription: “Drive away Cupid’s voluptuousness with all your might, so that Venus does not take possession of your blinded soul.” Was Cranach trying to justify the overt eroticism of his painting with an edifying caption? And what does it even mean to “drive away voluptuousness” - to mortify the flesh or to satisfy desires on time in order to maintain a sober mind? Art critics continue to argue.

Exactly according to female images it is easy to distinguish the Cranachs. Redheads curly girls with a high forehead, sloping shoulders and a unique eye shape - completely alien creatures. And this so-called “Cranach type” delighted avant-garde artists.

top left:"Hercules at Omphale", 1537 (work is not on display)

above:"Lucretia", 1532

left:"Portrait of a Woman", 1526

below:"Venus and Cupid", 1509

Collage effect

Lucas Cranach was keenly interested in Italian art and carefully tried to learn from the experience of working with perspective and chiaroscuro. But in the absence of a native tradition, this was not easy. As a result, the portraits emerging from his studio often resemble collages: carefully rendered velvet cuffs and shiny metal details are almost too realistic, while in other elements of clothing and on all the faces one can detect only the slightest hint of volume. Nevertheless, what can be considered a lack of technique testifies to the colossal work that Cranach and his apprentices did for an entire national school of painting. This is what puts Cranach the Elder on a par with such figures as Albrecht Durer and Hans Holbein.

Not only the technique, but also the style of the Cranachs - a kind of collage. For example, in the multi-figure canvases you can see that the father of the dynasty was no less fascinated by Italian painting than Dutch painting. Thus, in the painting “Christ and the Sinner,” “Florentine” faces are combined with the types of Hieronymus Bosch, and Northern Renaissance finally meets the southern. The picture, by the way, is attributed to either the younger or the older Lucas Cranach. There is even a version that it was written by Hans Cranach, the early deceased son of Cranach the Elder, after whose death he almost retired, leaving the workshop to his second son and apprentices.

below:"Christ and the Sinner", 1532

Cartoon portraits

Over time, the fame of Cranach's studio grew, and with it the number of orders for portraits. As a result, the artist and his assistants had to draw, from descriptions, the faces of those whom they had never seen in person. A funny result can be seen at the exhibition - these pocket-sized portraits resemble caricatures in the spirit of artists from Arbat: all facial features are ridiculously exaggerated. However, this was done with the best intentions - to give the portrait at least some tangible resemblance to the object. Apparently, they reassured customers with texts attached to the works with a solemn listing of their virtues and merits.

In general, the main complaint against the figure of Cranach the Elder is that he turned art into a conveyor belt, exploiting assistants, churning out commissioned portraits and copying the same subjects from blanks, which later provided a comfortable life for his son, grandson and great-grandson - that very “dynasty” " But, fortunately, the exhibition at the Pushkin Museum is designed in such a way that you won’t notice it.

Horror

Despite the spirit of the Reformation, the Middle Ages in Germany did not end in one day - the ideas of humanism and interest in the worldly were rather intertwined with the old good tradition depict all sorts of devilry and frighten sinners with it, thereby crowding it out. The painting “The Fall, Expulsion from Paradise and the Redemptive Sacrifice of Christ” allows you to fully enjoy the macabre. According to the old custom, many biblical scenes are depicted here at the same time. But first of all, the demons of the underworld attract attention: for example, one has a muzzle in its stomach with an open mouth in which a mysterious mechanism is located - such an image could serve as excellent material for a postmodern detective in the style of Dan Brown.

clockwise: portrait of Sibylla of Cleves, 1525

I am not an art critic or an art historian. Therefore, I refer everyone interested in Cranach to articles on the Internet, of which there are a fair number. And here I’ll show you just a few works.

Well, first of all, this is an unusual work “Christ and the Virgin Mary” from Gotha. In this work one can clearly feel the influence of the ideas of Martin Luther, who was a close friend of Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, "Christ and the Virgin Mary", 1507 ?

The Hermitage “Venus and Cupid”, which the exhibition organizers hung in the semicircular niche of the hall as the dominant work of the master. First time artist Northern Europe dared to depict the goddess of love naked - until that time, “nude” was only allowed to Eve.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, "Venus and Cupid", 1509

With all the love of Cranach the Elder for the ideal forms of the naked female body the artist does not forget about the religious morality inherent German art. Latin inscription the picture says:
“Drive away Cupid's voluptuousness with all your might,
Otherwise, Venus will take possession of your blinded soul.”

The painting “The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine of Alexandria to Saints Dorothea, Margaret and Barbara” from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts is another masterpiece of the exhibition.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, "The Mystical Betrothal of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with Saints Dorothea, Margaret and Barbara", second half of the 1510s

At Margarita’s feet there is a dragon - this is a reminder of the miracle: when the girl was thrown into the dragon’s mouth, he spewed her out unharmed, since the saint had a cross. Behind Varvara rises a tower - according to legend, her father imprisoned her daughter in it after learning that she had accepted Christianity. Dorothea holds a basket of flowers: before the execution, the girl claimed that they were already waiting for her “ heavenly tabernacles and the love of the Lord." Then one unbeliever, mockingly, asked him to show him roses and fruits of paradise from the garden. When a basket of flowers and fruit appeared in Dorothea’s hands, many believed in her holiness after seeing such a miracle in winter.

And this famous painting from the Hermitage dedicated a poem to Joseph Brodsky in 1964.

Lucas Cranach the Elder, "Madonna and Child under the Apple Tree", 1520-1530

(L. Cranach "Venus with Apples")

In a fox cape - herself
smarter than the fox on the hill
forest, which is in the distance
the slope rinses in the river,

having escaped from the grove where God is
hunting, stabs into the side
the boar stings an arrow,
where the trunks are raging,

leaving the familiar cape,
came from under the apple tree
fifteen apples - to them
with my little boy.

I tilt my head to the side,
as if passing me by
child squeezing fruit
also looks forward.

April - May 1964

Cranach depicted the red-haired Madonna as a beautiful young woman, reminiscent of a princess from German fairy tales. It is located in an apple orchard in the background of a landscape with a view of Saxony, a castle and mountains. Madonna and Baby Jesus, with delicately emphasized proportions of a child's body, look carefully at the viewer, as if making it clear that they know everything that fate has prepared for them and they are ready to accept it. The look of the Mother of God's elongated eyes is sad and thoughtful - she knows that she must lose her son. A direct hint of this is the apple and bread in the hands of the Baby, symbols of the atonement of sin.

The exhibition is wonderful. I will say that for the Germans Cranach is the same as Rublev for us. And this is a must watch.