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This woman dressed in contemporaneous clothing has clasped her hands in prayer. As in many of Baldung’s portraits, the area of the face has been emphasized with red chalk, which makes the figure seem more lifelike. Despite the work being dated 1519, it is difficult to identify the sitter, but it has been noted that she bears similarities to the female donor in Baldung’s Baptism of Christ (Städel, Frankfurt am Main).

Details

  • Title: Praying Woman
  • Creator: Hans Baldung Grien (?)
  • Date Created: c. 1519
  • Physical Dimensions: 39.5 × 30.8 cm
  • Technique and Material: Charcoal and red chalk
  • Provenance: Esdaile Collection
  • Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett
  • Inv.-No.: KdZ 296
  • ISIL-No.: DE-MUS-018511
  • External Link: http://www.smb.museum/museen-und-einrichtungen/kupferstichkabinett/home.html
  • Copyright: Photo © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett/ Jörg P. Anders; Text © Renaissance and Reformation: German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach, A Cooperation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nov 20, 2016 – March 26, 2017, Munich: Prestel, 2016; cat. no. 109 / Nadine Söll
  • Catalogue: https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/book/Renaissance-and-Reformation/Stephanie-Buck/Prestel-com/e504919.rhd
  • Artist Dates: c. 1485 Schwäbisch Gmünd (?)–1545 Strasbourg
  • Artist Biography: Baldung, born into a family of intellectuals, entered Dürer’s workshop in 1503. There he worked on altarpieces and designs for stained glass and woodcuts. In 1509 he settled in Strasbourg, but he continued to accept commissions for the City of Freiburg and for Emperor Maximilian I (prayer book of 1515). Baldung, whose oeuvre includes both portraits and fantastic scenes (with witches), was considered by his contemporaries Dürer’s true artistic successor.

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