CRANACH, Lucas the Elder
(b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar)

Ill-Matched Couple: Young Man and Old Woman

1520-22
Oil and tempera on red beechwood, 37 x 31 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

This panel in Budapest is regarded as the earliest version of the subject of Ill-Matched Couple. The later versions omit the stone balustrade in the foreground. Although most versions show old man with young woman, here the roles are switched, it is a toothless old woman who is buying the affections of a young man. The painting is not erotic rather grotesque.