The Spring Nymph at the Fountain () is the earliest example of a series of paintings by Renaissance artists Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger, depicting a resting spring nymph. There are at least 24 versions that were made in the Cranach workshop in Wittenberg. It is sometimes difficult to determine to what extent the master himself painted.
The first was painted in 1518 and is in the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig, Germany. The version in the National Museum of Norway in Oslo from 1550 is attributed to the son Lucas Cranach the Younger, who worked in his father's workshop and later took it over.
Description In the foreground, a completely unclothed woman lies across the entire width of the picture, the hand of her bent right arm at the nape of her neck. The legs are crossed. All the details of the flawlessly depicted body are clearly visible. In the left half of the picture, directly behind the woman's upper body, there is the regular rectangle of a fountain. The woman lies on a crimson blanket, the drapery of which is worked out in detail. On the fountain is the following Latin inscription:
The gaze from half-closed eyes is directed at the viewer. In the background is a landscape and a small section of sky with a threatening rain cloud.
Interpretation The painting is considered the first "reclining female nude in landscape" north of the Alps.Kluttig-Altmann, Ralf (2017), S. 249 It has been compared to Giorgione's Sleeping Venus, whose motif bears a close resemblance to the Resting Spring Nymph. Another source refers to a woodcut illustration in the allegorical novel Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, published in Venice in 1499, which could have served as a model.
The painting is attributed to the genre of mythological painting, in which classical themes and figures are taken up. In the present case, it is the figure of the Nymph of Castalia. The Castalian Spring is a fountain where ancient poets and philosophers came to drink to find inspiration. The landscape in the background also corresponds to the style of mythological paintings.
However, the painting's inherent attitude to reality and nature and the restrained sensuality of the sleeping female nude go beyond the attitude of classical antiquity. The Cranach workshop has produced numerous revealing depictions of women, such as Cupid Complaining to Venus, Judgment of Paris, The Three Graces – all with mythological undertones to cover up the erotic.
In the version La ninfa de la fuente (ca. 1530–34), which can be seen in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the spring nymph wears nothing but jewellery and a transparent veil that conceals nothing and, on the contrary, draws attention to nudity. A bow and quiver hang from a tree, indicating that she belongs to the entourage of Diana, the goddess of the hunt. Another interpretation is that the bow belongs to Cupid, the companion of Venus. Below the tree are two partridges, which are usually considered to be birds of Venus. In the background there is a waterspring, and in the upper left corner a Cartellino with the same Latin text as in the picture of 1518.
According to Greek mythology, nymphs lived as goddesses of the great outdoors on mountains and trees, in the sea, in grottos and in springs, and any mortal who came too close to them was in danger. The gloomy clouds in the evening sky in the painting from 1518 also allow the viewer who is not familiar with Latin to feel something of the eerie, dramatic warning of the fountain inscription. All images in the series contain such an "interplay between seduction and warning".
Versions Image Title Year Material Size (cm) Collection Liegende Quellnymphe 1518 Oil on wood 59 × 92 Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig Quellnymphe Oil on wood 58,1 × 86,7 Jagdschloss Grunewald, Berlin Quellnymphe (schlummernde Diana) Oil on wood 15 × 15 La ninfa de la fuente Oil on wood 75 × 120 Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid The Nymph of the Fountain 1534 Oil on wood 64 × 90 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool La Nymphe à la source Oil on wood 48,5 × 74,2 Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Besançon The Nymph of the Spring after 1537 Oil on wood 48,4 × 72,8 National Gallery of Art, Washington Quellnymphe after 1537 Oil on wood 34,3 × 56 Kunsthalle Bremen The Nymph of the Springattributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger Oil on wood 58 × 79 San Diego Museum of Art (since 2018) The Nymph of the Spring Oil on wood 82.1 × 120.5 Private collection Hvilende kildenymfeattributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger 1550 Oil on wood 71.5 × 122 National Museum, Oslo
Other In 1972, the Deutsche Post of the GDR issued a postage stamp with the painting in the 1518 version.
Bibliography
References
External links