Sibylle of Cleves (c. 1547): Art, History and Details

Sibylle of Cleves (c. 1547) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Lucas Cranach (German, 1515–1586).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This hand-colored woodcut depicts Sibylle of Cleves, wife of Johann Friedrich of Saxony, shortly after the Schmalkaldic War (1546–47), when Protestant princes in Germanic lands fought against the Catholic emperor Charles V. After her husband’s defeat, Sibylle famously pleaded before the emperor on bended knee, helping secure commutation of his death sentence. Produced by Lucas Cranach the Younger around 1547, the print belongs to a series portraying key figures in the conflict and may have functioned as Protestant propaganda for distribution to allied courts. Sybille of Cleves was the only woman portrayed in the series.

Object facts

• Title: Sibylle of Cleves
• Date: c. 1547
• Creator attribution: Lucas Cranach (German, 1515–1586)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: woodcut with hand-coloring
• Dimensions: Image: 32.6 x 21.4 cm (12 13/16 x 8 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Woodcut
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2026.20

A detail from the museum

The subject is shown in the height of German court fashion around 1550, with her purple, dyed-velvet, pleated gown, gold brocade, slashed and banded sleeves, open bodice revealing a pleated and ruffled collared chemise, ample jewelry, and plumed Wulsthaube, or cap.

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. Richard W. Whitehill Art Purchase Endowment Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.