Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
The Harttung Family Epitaph
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

The Harttung Family Epitaph

Artist/Maker (Artist Unknown)
Dateca. 1540
Mediumoil on panel
DimensionsSight: 32 3/16 x 45 13/16 in. (81.8 x 116.3 cm)
Framed: 53 1/2 x 40 1/2 x 3 in. (135.9 x 102.9 x 7.6 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of Colonel C. Michael Paul
Terms
    Object number67.023.001
    DescriptionThe Harttung Family Epitaph is a rare, early example of a Lutheran memorial, modeled after the earliest Protestant epitaphs created by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Donated to a Protestant church by the Harttung family in honor of two deceased relatives, Elisabeth (d. 1553) and her husband, Heronimus (d. 1539), the commemorative inscription at the bottom of the painting concludes with a petition on the part of the donors for mercy on the souls of the deceased and the expression of hope for resurrection. The painting depicts the couple kneeling in a landscape with members of their immediate family, and looking upward at a large figure of Christ resurrected, triumphant over Death, symbolized here by a skeleton, and Evil, represented by Satan. Illustrated to the left and right of Christ are the biblical scenes alluding to the Resurrection, of Jonah and the Whale and Ezekiel in the Valley. In the former scene, Protestant propaganda is conveyed by the image of Jonah being thrown overboard by a member of the Catholic Church.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Portrait of Giambattista Memmo
    Vincenzo di Biagio Catena
    ca. 1510
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Portrait of a Scholar
    Lucas Cranach the Elder
    ca. 1515
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Male Figure [Ere Ibeji]
    Nigeria, Yoruba people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Male Figure [Ere Ibeji]
    Nigeria, Yoruba people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Arch
    Mino da Fiesole
    1461
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donors and Saints Dominic and Elizabeth of Hungary
    Lippo Vanni
    ca. 1343
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Face Mask (Kanaga)
    Dogon people
    20th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    La Mano Poderosa (The Powerful Hand) or Las Cinco Personas (The Five Persons)
    Artist Unknown
    19th century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Hero Relief
    Artist Unknown
    2nd to 3rd century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    A Family in Dusk Bay, New Zealand
    Artist Unknown
    1784-1786
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Ghismonda with the Heart of Guiscardo
    Bacchiacca
    1520s
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels
    Bernardino Fungai
    ca. 1510-1515
    eMuseum
    Copyright © eMuseum