CRANACH, Lucas the Elder German painter (b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar).
German painter and engraver. The son of a painter, he settled in Wittenberg c.1504 and was court painter successively under three electors of Saxony. There he maintained a flourishing workshop and was twice burgomaster. Cranach was a close friend of Martin Luther, whose doctrine he upheld in numerous paintings and woodcuts, and he has been called the painter of the Reformation. He was a rapid and prolific painter, and the work turned out by his studio is uneven in quality. Naïve and fanciful, often awkward in draftsmanship, it has, nonetheless, freshness and originality and a warm, rich palette. His portraits are particularly successful. Among his best-known works are Repose in Egypt (Gemäldgalerie, Staatliche Mus., Berlin-Dahlem); Judgment of Paris (Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe); Adam and Eve (Courtauld Inst., London); and Crucifixion (Weimar). The latter contains figures of Luther and Cranach. His many famous protraits include those of Elector John Frederick and Self-Portrait (Uffizi). Cranach was also an accomplished miniaturist. He produced a few copperplates and designs for woodcuts. His son and pupil Lucas Cranach, the Younger, 1515C86,
St Catherine of Alexandria and St Barbara sdg Oil on wood, 61,2 x 220,1 cm (left wing), 61,3 x 19,8 cm (right wing)
Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp
Painting ID:: 6258
St_Catherine_of_Alexandria_and_St_Barbara_sdg Oil on wood, 61,2 x 220,1 cm (left wing), 61,3 x 19,8 cm (right wing)
Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp
Portraits of Henry the Pious, Duke of Saxony and his wife Katharina von Mecklenburg dfg 1514
Oil on canvas transferred from wood, 184 x 82,5 cm each
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
Painting ID:: 6262
Portraits_of_Henry_the_Pious,_Duke_of_Saxony_and_his_wife_Katharina_von_Mecklenburg_dfg 1514
Oil on canvas transferred from wood, 184 x 82,5 cm each
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden
CRANACH,_Lucas_the_Elder German painter (b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar).
German painter and engraver. The son of a painter, he settled in Wittenberg c.1504 and was court painter successively under three electors of Saxony. There he maintained a flourishing workshop and was twice burgomaster. Cranach was a close friend of Martin Luther, whose doctrine he upheld in numerous paintings and woodcuts, and he has been called the painter of the Reformation. He was a rapid and prolific painter, and the work turned out by his studio is uneven in quality. Naïve and fanciful, often awkward in draftsmanship, it has, nonetheless, freshness and originality and a warm, rich palette. His portraits are particularly successful. Among his best-known works are Repose in Egypt (Gemäldgalerie, Staatliche Mus., Berlin-Dahlem); Judgment of Paris (Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe); Adam and Eve (Courtauld Inst., London); and Crucifixion (Weimar). The latter contains figures of Luther and Cranach. His many famous protraits include those of Elector John Frederick and Self-Portrait (Uffizi). Cranach was also an accomplished miniaturist. He produced a few copperplates and designs for woodcuts. His son and pupil Lucas Cranach, the Younger, 1515C86,