(Wittenberg 1515–1586)
Portrait of a bearded man,
oil on panel, 22.5 x 17.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
David Goldmann (1887–1967) Collection, Vienna;

seized from the above by Hitler’s agents and allocated to the central depot of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (inv. D. G.2), where it was reserved for the Führermuseum, Linz; transferred to Altaussee (inv. 4699) for the Kunstmuseum, Linz (inv. 2635, as German/Upper Austrian, 16th century);
recovered by the Allied Forces and sent to the Munich Central Collecting Point (Mü. no. 9479, as South German, manner of Schäuffelein);
given over to the Austrian government’s Kremsmünster depot (inv. K1366) on 25 April 1946;
restituted to David Goldmann, New York, on 1 March 1948;
his heirs;
sale, Sotheby’s, New York, 6 June 2013, lot 103 (as Manner of Lucas Cranach II);
Private collection, Germany

Technical analysis:

Painted on a thin panel of light wood with a thin craquelure. IRR image shows a change in the position of the pupils of the man, originally turned on his right, not looking at the observer. A previous position of the eyes a little under the current ones can be hypothesized. The under drawing is thin and probably made with a black chalk, as a sketch, indicating the degree of confidence of the author with this kind of subjects. Among pigments, non-invasive analyses detected azurite in the sky and in the man’s clothes, in the sleeves, together with lead white.

We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for the technical examination.