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In this version of the Ill-Matched Couple it is not the difference in ages of the two protagonists which discredits the idea of an amorous liaison but the difference in their social status. The man is not much older than his partner, but he is a peasant and wears a coarse smock and a fur cap with brim. The girl, on the other hand, wears a courtly costume with puffed sleeves.
This panel is the only surviving painting by Cranach to treat the subject with such an unusual twist, and one that is rarely found in works by other artists.
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