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toggle works and art subsection 4 1 religious subjects 4 2 mythological scenes 5 paintings toggle paintings subsection 5 1 portraits 5 2 religion mythology allegory 6 looted cranachs 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links toggle the table of contents lucas cranach the elder 57 languages afrikaans العربية مصرى azərbaycanca беларуская тарашкевіца беларуская български brezhoneg català čeština dansk deutsch ελληνικά esperanto español eesti euskara فارسی suomi français gaeilge galego hausa עברית hrvatski magyar հայերեն interlingua bahasa indonesia ido italiano 日本語 ქართული 한국어 latina lietuvių latviešu മലയാളം nederlands norsk nynorsk norsk bokmål polski português română русский srpskohrvatski српскохрватски simple english slovenčina slovenščina српски srpski seeltersk svenska kiswahili ไทย türkçe українська 中文 edit links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikimedia commons wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia german painter and printmaker 1472 1553 lucas cranach the elder portrait of lucas cranach the elder by lucas cranach the younger 1550 born lucas maler c 1472 kronach prince bishopric of bamberg holy roman empire died 16 october 1553 1553 10 16 aged 80 81 weimar duchy of saxony holy roman empire known for painting movement german renaissance children 5 including hans and lucas patrons electors of saxony signature lucas cranach the elder german lucas cranach der ältere ˈluːkas ˈkʁaːnax deːɐ̯ ˈʔɛltəʁə c 1472 16 october 1553 was a german renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving he was court painter to the electors of saxony for most of his career and is known for his portraits both of german princes and leaders of the protestant reformation whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm he was a close friend of martin luther and eleven portraits of that reformer by him survive cranach also painted religious subjects first in the catholic tradition and later trying to find new ways of conveying lutheran religious concerns in art he continued to paint nude subjects from mythology and religion throughout his career cranach had a large workshop and many of his works exist in different versions his son lucas cranach the younger and others continued to create versions of his father s works for decades after his death he has been considered the most successful german artist of his time 1 early and personal life edit signature of cranach the elder from 1508 on a winged snake with ruby ring depicted in a 1514 portrait he was born at kronach in upper franconia now central germany probably in 1472 his exact date of birth is unknown he learned the art of drawing from his father hans maler his surname meaning painter and denoting his profession not his ancestry after the manner of the time and class 2 his mother with surname hübner died in 1491 later a variant of the name of his birthplace was used for his surname another custom of the times where cranach was trained is not known but it was probably with local south german masters as with his contemporary matthias grünewald who worked at bamberg and aschaffenburg bamberg is the capital of the diocese in which kronach lies 3 there are also suggestions that cranach spent some time in vienna around 1500 2 from 1504 to 1520 he lived in a house on the south west corner of the marketplace in wittenberg 4 according to gunderam the tutor of cranach s children cranach demonstrated his talents as a painter before the close of the 15th century his work then drew the attention of duke frederick iii elector of saxony known as frederick the wise who attached cranach to his court in 1504 the records of wittenberg confirm gunderam s statement to this extent that cranach s name appears for the first time in the public accounts on the 24 june 1504 when he drew 50 gulden for the salary of half a year as pictor ducalis the duke s painter 3 cranach was to remain in the service of the elector and his successors for the rest of his life although he was able to undertake other work 2 cranach married barbara brengbier the daughter of a burgher of gotha and also born there she died at wittenberg on 26 december 1540 cranach later owned a house at gotha 3 but most likely he got to know barbara near wittenberg where her family also owned a house which later also belonged to cranach 2 cranach had two sons both artists hans cranach whose life is obscure and who died in bologna in 1537 and lucas cranach the younger born in 1515 who died in 1586 2 he also had three daughters one of them was barbara cranach who died in 1569 married christian brück pontanus and was an ancestor of johann wolfgang von goethe his granddaughter married polykarp leyser the elder thus making him an ancestor of the polykarp leyser family of theologians 5 6 career edit apollo and diana 1530 portrait of martin luther 1529 the first evidence of cranach s skill as an artist comes in a picture dated 1504 early in his career he was active in several branches of his profession sometimes a decorative painter more frequently producing portraits and altarpieces woodcuts engravings and designing the coins for the electorate 3 early in the days of his official employment he startled his master s courtiers by the realism with which he painted still life game and antlers on the walls of the country palaces at coburg and locha his pictures of deer and wild boar were considered striking and the duke fostered his passion for this form of art by taking him out to the hunting field where he sketched his grace running the stag or duke john sticking a boar 3 before 1508 he had painted several altar pieces for the castle church at wittenberg in competition with albrecht dürer hans burgkmair and others the duke and his brother john were portrayed in various attitudes and a number of his best woodcuts and copper plates were published 3 in 1509 cranach went to the netherlands and painted the emperor maximilian and the boy who afterwards became emperor charles v until 1508 cranach signed his works with his initials in that year the elector gave him the winged snake as an emblem or kleinod which superseded the initials on his pictures after that date 3 portrait of frederick iii elector of saxony c 1530 1535 cranach was the court painter from 1505 to 1550 7 to the electors of saxony in wittenberg an area in the heart of the emerging protestant faith his patrons were powerful supporters of martin luther and cranach used his art as a symbol of the new faith cranach made numerous portraits of luther and provided woodcut illustrations for luther s german translation of the bible 8 somewhat later the duke conferred on him the monopoly of the sale of medicines at wittenberg and a printer s patent with exclusive privileges as to copyright in bibles cranach s presses were used by martin luther his apothecary shop was open for centuries and was only lost by fire in 1871 3 cranach like his patron was friendly with the protestant reformers at a very early stage yet it is difficult to fix the time of his first meeting with martin luther the oldest reference to cranach in luther s correspondence dates from 1520 in a letter written from worms in 1521 luther calls him his gossip warmly alluding to his gevatterin the artist s wife cranach first made an engraving of luther in 1520 when luther was an augustinian friar five years later luther renounced his religious vows and cranach was present as a witness at the betrothal festival of luther and katharina von bora 2 he was also godfather to their first child johannes hans luther born 1526 in 1530 luther lived at the citadel of veste coburg under the protection of the duke of saxe coburg and his room is preserved there along with a painting of him the dukes became noted collectors of cranach s work some of which remains in the family collection at callenberg castle portrait of martin luther 1526 the phoebus foundation the death in 1525 of the elector frederick the wise and elector john s in 1532 brought no change in cranach s position he remained a favourite with john frederick i under whom he twice 1531 and 1540 filled the office of burgomaster of wittenberg 3 in 1547 john frederick was taken prisoner at the battle of mühlberg and wittenberg was besieged as cranach wrote from his house to the grand master albert duke of prussia at königsberg to tell him of john frederick s capture he showed his attachment by saying 3 i cannot conceal from your grace that we have been robbed of our dear prince who from his youth upwards has been a true prince to us but god will help him out of prison for the kaiser is bold enough to revive the papacy which god will certainly not allow 3 the golden age 1530 national museum of art architecture and design hunting near hartenfels castle 1540 during the siege charles v the holy roman emperor remembered cranach from his childhood and summoned him to his camp at pistritz cranach came and begged on his knees for kind treatment for elector john frederick 3 three years afterward when all the dignitaries of the empire met at augsburg to receive commands from the emperor and titian came at charles s bidding to paint king philip ii of spain john frederick asked cranach to visit the city and here for a few months he stayed in the household of the captive elector whom he afterward accompanied home in 1552 3 death and veneration edit he died at age 81 on 16 october 1553 at weimar where the house in which he lived still stands in the marketplace 1 he was buried in the jacobsfriedhof in weimar the lutheran church remembers cranach as a great christian on 6 april along with dürer 9 and possibly grünewald or burgkmair 10 works and art edit adam and eve woodcut 1509 study for portrait of margaret of pomerania 1518 1569 c 1545 a drawing with all details of the sitter s costume meticulously described was intended for the future reference and to facilitate the work on large number of commissions in the artist s atelier the oldest extant picture by cranach is the rest of the virgin during the flight into egypt of 1504 the painting already shows remarkable skill and grace and the pine forest in the background shows a painter familiar with the mountain scenery of thuringia there is more forest gloom in landscapes of a later time 3 following the huge international success of dürer s prints other german artists much more than italian ones devoted their talents to woodcuts and engravings this accounts for the comparative unproductiveness as painters of albrecht dürer and hans holbein the younger and also may explain why cranach was not especially skilled at handling colour light and shade constant attention to contour and to black and white as an engraver seems to have affected his sight and he often outlined shapes in black rather than employing modelling and chiaroscuro 3 the largest proportion of cranach s output is of portraits and it is chiefly thanks to him that we know what the german reformers and their princely adherents looked like he painted not only martin luther himself but also luther s wife mother and father he also depicted leading catholics like albert of brandenburg archbishop elector of mainz anthony granvelle and the duke of alva 3 a dozen likenesses of frederick iii and his brother john are dated 1532 it is characteristic of cranach s prolific output and a proof that he used a large workshop that he received payment at wittenberg in 1533 for sixty pairs of portraits of the elector and his brother on one day 3 inevitably the quality of such works is variable religious subjects edit allegory of law and grace c 1529 cranach s religious subjects reflect the development of the protestant reformation and its attitudes to religious images in his early career he painted several madonnas his first woodcut 1505 represents the virgin and three saints in prayer before a crucifix between 1517 and 1519 he painted an altarpiece for the altar of mary at naumburg cathedral the central panel which depicted the virgin mary was destroyed in 1541 during the protestant bilderstorm 11 later on he painted the marriage of st catherine a series of martyrdoms and scenes from the passion 3 after 1517 he occasionally illustrated the old subjects but he also gave expression to some of the thoughts of the reformers although his portraits of reformers were more common than paintings of religious scenes in a picture of 1518 where a dying man offers his soul to god his body to earth and his worldly goods to his relations the soul rises to meet the trinity in heaven and salvation is clearly shown to depend on faith and not on good works 3 other works of this period deal with sin and divine grace one shows adam sitting between john the baptist and a prophet at the foot of a tree to the left god produces the tables of the law adam and eve taste the forbidden fruit the serpent raises its head and punishment manifests in the shape of death and the realm of satan to the right the conception crucifixion and resurrection symbolize redemption and this is duly impressed on adam by john the baptist there are two examples of this composition in the galleries of gotha and prague both of them dated 1529 3 his workshop made an altarpiece with a crucifixion scene in the centre which is now in the kreuzkirche hanover towards the end of his life after luther s initial hostility to large public religious images had softened cranach painted a number of lutheran altarpieces of the last supper and other subjects in which christ was shown in a traditional manner including a halo but the apostles without halos were portraits of leading reformers he also produced a number of violent anti catholic and anti papacy propaganda prints in a cruder style his best known work in this vein was a series of prints for the pamphlet passional christi und antichristi 12 where scenes from the passion of christ were matched by a print mocking practices of the catholic clergy so that christ driving the money changers from the temple was matched by the pope or antichrist signing indulgences over a table spread with cash see gallery below some of the prints were echoed by paintings such as his adoration of the shepherds c 1517 one of his last works is the altarpiece completed after his death by lucas cranach the younger in 1555 for the stadtkirche city church at weimar the iconography is original and unusual christ is shown twice to the left trampling on death and satan to the right crucified with blood flowing from the lance wound john the baptist points to the suffering christ whilst the blood stream falls on the head of a portrait of cranach and luther reads from his book the words the blood of christ cleanseth from all sin 3 further informatio...