2024-04-25
The Swedish government, following the recommendation of the National Museum in Stockholm, has decided to return the "Lamentation of Christ" from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder free of charge. The work will go to the National Museum in Wrocław. The painting was stolen just after the war and was included on the list of lost and wanted war losses.
Painted in 1535-1541, the work depicts the scene of the Mourning of Christ. In the painting, in addition to biblical figures, the viewer will see the family of the founders. What is surprising in the representation, none of the founders is looking at Jesus, the main character of the scene. The painting can also be a great contribution to the study of period costumes. The family of the commissioner, Anna Alnpeck, is dressed in elegant clothes in the German, Lutheran fashion.
The painter used the technique of oil painting, the picture was painted on a linden board and measures 156 x 131.5 cm.
It is known that until 1810 the painting was in the Ducal Chapel of the Cistercian monastery church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lubiąż. After the suppression of the collection in 1880 the work found its way to the collection of the Silesian Museum of Fine Arts in Wrocław. During the Second World War it was taken to the art depot in Kamieniec Ząbkowicki and stolen from there in 1946.
In 1970 the National Museum in Stockholm bought the "Lamentation of Christ" from the heirs of the Swedish entrepreneur. In recent years research by the director of the National Museum in Wrocław has led to its identification in Sweden. Both the Museum in Stockholm and the Swedish government have acted in an exemplary manner - the work has returned to Poland.
This is another recovered painting from the master's workshop. In 2012, we managed to recover 'Madonna under the fir trees'. ,,Mourning for Christ'' will be on display at the exhibition "European art of the 15th-20th century" at the National Museum in Wrocław.