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MNAC - Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya

Lucas Cranach, Ill-matched couple, 1517

Ill-matched couple, Lucas Cranach, 1517. Oil on wood, 27.3 x 18 cm. MNAC - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Barcelona.

Ill-matched couple, Lucas Cranach, 1517. Oil on wood, 27.3 x 18 cm. MNAC - Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Barcelona.

The subject of lovers of different age enjoyed a long tradition. It was one of the favourite themes in Lutheran reform and Cranach returned to it regularly. It is a moralising scene in which a young girl robs a foolish old man, who  is entirely befuddled by her charms, while she smiles and helps herself to the contents of his purse.

This work, part of the Cambó bequest, is signed and dated next to the girl’s arm with the artist’s emblem: a small dragon with its wings raised.

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