Cranach, Lucas (1472–1553)

A German painter and engraver, known for his expressive religious paintings, his portraits of the German nobility, and his association with Martin Luther. His name comes from the town of his birth, Kronach, in central Germany. He may have trained with his father as a painter, and as a young man lived and worked in Vienna, the capital of the Habsburg dynasty. His reputation soon reached the elector of Saxony, who hired him as a court painter in 1504, the date of his first known painting, Rest During the Flight into Egypt. He was skilled in realistic still lifes and nature paintings, and his religious paintings often set his subjects in a gloomy and realistic wilderness. While in Saxony, he won commissions from the Saxon nobility to decorate the walls of their homes with hunting scenes; these same nobles also requested him to do pictures intended for private viewing that depict scantily clad or nude mythological figures. One of the most famous of these erotic paintings is The Judgment of Paris, which he completed in 1530.

In 1509 he journeyed to the Netherlands, where he painted portraits of the Habsburg royal family, including the boy who would later became Charles V. When he returned to Wittenberg, the capital of Saxony, he mastered the arts of engraving and printing, and managed an apothecary shop as well as a press that produced Bibles and tracts written by Luther. Cranach and Luther became friends, with Luther sitting for several famous portraits and Cranach printing woodcuts and tracts meant to spread Luther's message of redemption through faith. The elector Johann Frederick I appointed Cranach as the burgomaster (mayor) of Wittenberg in 1531 and again in 1540. Cranach returned this favor by interceding with Charles V on behalf of the elector when Johann Frederick was captured at the Battle of Mühlberg.

Cranach painted scenes of classical mythology as well as Christian religious subjects. He showed his greatest skill in portraits, and depicted himself as well as Martin Luther in a famous Crucifixion. He was one of the first Renaissance painters to depict his subjects as they sat and posed alone. In the eyes of many art historians Cranach was a more original draftsman than painter, with many seeing his engravings, including St. Christopher and Elector Frederick Praying Before the Madonna, as among his best work. He produced woodcut engravings for the first German edition of the New Testament in 1522. He worked for both Catholic and Protestant patrons, however; and his workshop in Wittenberg became a productive center that attracted artists and patrons from throughout northern Germany.

See Also: Dürer, Albrecht; Luther, Martin

Cranach, Lucas the Elder (b Kronach, Franconia, 1472; d Weimar, 16 Oct. 1553). German painter and designer of woodcuts. He takes his name from the small town in south Germany where he was born. Very little is known of his life before he moved to Vienna in 1501/2 and started working for the humanist circles associated with the newly founded university. His stay in Vienna was brief (he left in 1504), but in this period he painted some of his finest and most original works. They include portraits, notably those of Johannes Cuspinian, a lecturer at the university, and his wife Anna (1502–3, Reinhart Coll., Winterthur), and several religious works in which he shows a remarkable feeling for the beauty of landscape characteristic of the Danube School. The finest example of this manner is perhaps the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), which shows the Holy Family resting in the glade of a German pine forest. It was painted in 1504, just before Cranach moved to Wittenberg as court painter to Frederick III (the Wise), Elector of Saxony.

Cranach remained in Wittenberg until 1550, when he followed the Elector John Frederick (the Unfortunate) into exile, to Augsburg, Innsbruck, and finally Weimar. During his time in Wittenberg he became extremely wealthy and one of the city's most respected citizens, serving as burgomaster for several years. His paintings were eagerly sought by collectors, and his busy studio often produced numerous replicas of popular designs, particularly those in which he showed his skill at depicting female beauty—more than ten versions are known of his Reclining Nymph. He excelled at such erotic nudes, which are influenced by Italian Renaissance models but totally different in spirit, and he also had a penchant for pictures of coquettish women wearing large hats, sometimes shown as Judith or the goddesses in the Judgement of Paris. The most innovative works of his Wittenberg period, however, are probably his full-length portraits (The Duke and Duchess of Saxony, 1514, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden).

Wittenberg was at the centre of the Protestant Reformation and Cranach supported the Lutheran cause. He painted several portraits of Luther and also designed the woodcut illustrations for his translation of the New Testament (1522). However, always an astute businessman, he also worked for Catholic patrons. During his later years he was assisted by his son Lucas the Younger (1515–86), who carried on the tradition of the workshop and imitated his father's style so successfully that it is often difficult to distinguish between their hands.

Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472–1553). German painter and designer of woodcuts. He takes his name from the small town of Kronach in south Germany, where he was born. Very little is known of his life before he moved to Vienna in 1501/2 and started working for the humanist circles associated with the newly founded university. His stay in Vienna was brief (he left in 1504), but in this period he painted some of his finest and most original works. They include portraits, notably those of Johannes Cuspinian, a lecturer at the university, and his wife Anna (1502–3, Reinhart Coll., Winterthur), and several religious works in which he shows a remarkable feeling for the beauty of landscape characteristic of the Danube School. The finest example of this manner is perhaps the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin), which shows the Holy Family resting in the glade of a German pine forest. It was painted in 1504, just before Cranach moved to Wittenberg as court painter to Frederick III (the Wise), Elector of Saxony.

Cranach remained in Wittenberg until 1550, when he followed the Elector John Frederick (the Unfortunate) into exile, to Augsburg, Innsbruck, and finally Weimar. During his time in Wittenberg he became extremely wealthy and one of the city's most respected citizens, serving as burgomaster for several years. His paintings were eagerly sought by collectors, and his busy studio often produced numerous replicas of popular designs, particularly those in which he showed his skill at depicting female beauty—more than ten versions are known of his Reclining Nymph. He excelled at such erotic nudes, which are influenced by Italian Renaissance models but totally different in spirit, and he also had a penchant for pictures of coquettish women wearing large hats, sometimes shown as Judith or the goddesses in the Judgement of Paris. The most innovative works of his Wittenberg period, however, are probably his full-length portraits (The Duke and Duchess of Saxony, 1514, Gemäldegalerie, Dresden). Wittenberg was at the centre of the Protestant Reformation and Cranach supported the Lutheran cause. He painted several portraits of Luther and also designed the woodcut illustrations for his translation of the New Testament (1522). However, always an astute businessman, he also worked for Catholic patrons. During his later years he was assisted by his son, Lucas the Younger (1515–86), who eventually took over the workshop and imitated his father's style so successfully that it is often difficult to distinguish between their hands.

Cranach (the Elder), Lucas (1472–1553) German painter and engraver, court artist to the Electors of Saxony. A friend and follower of Martin Luther, Cranach designed many propaganda woodcuts for the Protestant cause. He also produced some of the first full-length portraits and developed a style of painting female nudes in a unique, enamel-like finish.

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Cranach, Lucas, ‘the Elder’ (1472–1553). German artist whose altar-pieces, drawings, woodcuts, and portraits of leading Reformers gained him wide recognition. Once attracted to the Reformation cause, he became Luther's protector and close friend.

Cranach, Lucas (1472–1553), ‘the Elder’, German painter. In his youth he was celebrated as a painter of altar-pieces and all his life of portraits. In the early days of the Reformation, he espoused the Lutheran cause.