Lucas Cranach. The ill-matched couple , 1517
Lucas Cranach. The ill-matched couple , 1517
The ill-matched couple is a theme with a long tradition which was one of the favourite arguments of Lutheran Reform, and which Cranach represented often. The panel, in small format presents the couple in three quarters, with a plain background in which there is no indication of where the scene is taking place. The moralising intention is evident: it represents the theft, by a young girl, from an imprudent old man who doesn’t see what is happening because of her charms, while she smiles in satisfaction and puts her hand in the lustful bag.
The work, which belongs to the Cambó bequest, is signed and dated next to the arm of the girl, with the anagram that the artist used in all his works until 1537: a winged snake looking upwards. From this date on, the year of the death of his son, Hans, the wingtips would point downwards.
The Ill-Matched Couple, Lucas Cranach (the Elder), 1517