Lucas Cranach the Elder

Luther's portraitist — German Renaissance

The painter of the Reformation. As court artist to the Electors of Saxony and close friend of Martin Luther, he created the visual identity of Protestantism — the portraits of Luther that spread across Europe. His slender, sinuous nudes and his jewel-like altarpieces define the Saxon Renaissance.

Key works

• Portraits of Martin Luther1520s-1540s— The face of the Reformation — reproduced across Europe
  Various — Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; Uffizi, Florence; others
• Venus1532— The Northern nude — slender, mannered, unmistakable
  Stadel Museum, Frankfurt

Connections

External