Saints Catherine, Margaret, and Barbara

Artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (German, 1472-1553)

Place of OriginGermany

Dateabout 1515-1520

DimensionsPainting: 48 1/2 × 22 in. (123.2 × 55.9 cm)
Frame: 55 3/4 × 29 × 2 1/16 in. (141.6 × 73.7 × 5.3 cm)

Mediumoil on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott

Object number

1961.32

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 19

Label TextHow did 16th-century viewers of this panel know which of these saints was which? Martyred Christian saints were depicted with identifying objects (attributes) usually associated with their death. These attributes were well known to Medieval and Renaissance audiences. The wheel and sword identify Catherine of Alexandria, who was tortured on spiked wheels before being beheaded. Margaret, reading a prayer book, was tortured with fire. Barbara’s identity may have been less clear. She holds the chalice and wafer used for Catholic Holy Communion instead of her more common attribute, the tower in which she was imprisoned. To help the viewer, part of her name is embroidered on the neckline of her dress (the meaning of the initials on Catherine’s dress remains mysterious).Published References"Treasures for Toledo," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 7, no. 4, Winter 1964, repr. p. 85 (also published as handbook).

Wittmann, Otto, "Treasures at Toledo, Ohio," Apollo, vol. LXXXI, no. 35, January 1965, pp. 28-35, mentioned p. 29, not repr.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

"Painting in Northern Europe 1450-1550," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 13, no. 2, Summer 1970, p. 41, repr.

Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 44-45, pl. 64.

Friedlander, Max J. and Rosenberg, Jakob, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach, Ithaca, 1978, no. 117, p. 93, repr.

Morse, John D., Old Master Paintings in North America, New York, 1979, p. 84.

Marx, Harald and Ingrid Mössinger, Cranach, Köln, Weinand Verlag, 2005, p. 392, fig. 176.

Cranach digital archive: the research resource, Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast; Cologne University of Applied Sciences, 2009-,Link to resource

Hamsikova, Magdalena Nespensna, Lucas Cranach: a malirstvi v ceskych zemich (1500-1550), Praha, NLN, Ltd. The Lidove noviny Publishing House, 2016 repr. (col.) p. 281.

Rauscher, Janet S. Record: Princeton University Art Museum Vol. 77-78, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2017-18, repr. (col.) fig. 7, p. 105.

Exhibition HistoryDublin, Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Paintings from Irish Collections, 1957, no. 81, pl. XVII.