Lucas Cranach the Elder, studio of - Portrait of Martin Luther
Lucas Cranach the Elder, studio of
Portrait of Martin Luther
Oil on panel. 19.1 x 14.8 cm.
Inscribed and dated centre left with the snake signet between the numbers 15 and 32.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a staunch supporter of the Reformation and a close personal friend of Martin Luther. The Protestant movement had a major influence on both the artist's personal and artistic life. The first portraits of the Reformer were created in the Cranach workshop as early as 1520 and in the years that followed, different types of portraits were developed, showing him as Junker Jörg, a monk or a scholar with and without a doctor's hat. It is these portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop that still shape our perception of Luther's appearance today.
This painting shows Luther with a black beret. He is looking to the side and no longer towards the viewer as in earlier portraits. This type of portrait was developed from 1530 onwards, meaning our work, dated 1532, is a very early example of this type of portrait. In an examination report dated 15 May 2023, Professor Gunnar Heydenreich attributed our painting to the Cranach workshop on the basis of technological and stylistic findings. He also sees evidence in favour of an attribution to Hans Cranach (c. 1513-1537), the eldest son and pupil of Lucas Cranach the Elder and older brother of Lucas Cranach the Younger. Like the latter, Hans Cranach became an employee in his father's Wittenberg workshop at a young age and his works can hardly be distinguished from those of his father. He died very young in Bologna in 1537 while travelling in Italy. His younger brother Lucas Cranach the Younger then rose to become his father's closest collaborator.
Provenance
In family ownership for three generations.
Bid on this lot
Lucas Cranach the Elder, studio of
Portrait of Martin Luther
Oil on panel. 19.1 x 14.8 cm.
Inscribed and dated centre left with the snake signet between the numbers 15 and 32.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a staunch supporter of the Reformation and a close personal friend of Martin Luther. The Protestant movement had a major influence on both the artist's personal and artistic life. The first portraits of the Reformer were created in the Cranach workshop as early as 1520 and in the years that followed, different types of portraits were developed, showing him as Junker Jörg, a monk or a scholar with and without a doctor's hat. It is these portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop that still shape our perception of Luther's appearance today.
This painting shows Luther with a black beret. He is looking to the side and no longer towards the viewer as in earlier portraits. This type of portrait was developed from 1530 onwards, meaning our work, dated 1532, is a very early example of this type of portrait. In an examination report dated 15 May 2023, Professor Gunnar Heydenreich attributed our painting to the Cranach workshop on the basis of technological and stylistic findings. He also sees evidence in favour of an attribution to Hans Cranach (c. 1513-1537), the eldest son and pupil of Lucas Cranach the Elder and older brother of Lucas Cranach the Younger. Like the latter, Hans Cranach became an employee in his father's Wittenberg workshop at a young age and his works can hardly be distinguished from those of his father. He died very young in Bologna in 1537 while travelling in Italy. His younger brother Lucas Cranach the Younger then rose to become his father's closest collaborator.
Provenance
In family ownership for three generations.
