Lucas Cranach the Elder

1472 - 1553 • German • Painter/Printmaker • Northern Renaissance

"... without images we can neither think nor understand anything." - Martin Luther, 16th century

Early in his career, paintings-e.g., Crucifixion (c. 1500)-and drawings by Lucas Cranach were highly charged, almost exploding with emotion. That changed with his embrace of the Protestant Reformation. Despite his disapproval of some religious imagery, such as crucifixes, Martin Luther, quoted above, was well aware of the persuasive value of art . Luther worked closely with Cranach, his friend and follower, in the development of numerous works. Cranach also painted Luther's portrait several times. In fact, the evangelical fervor of both Lucas the Elder and his son, Lucas the Younger, also an artist, was so great that they created the equivalent of a school of visual rhetoric on behalf of the Reformation that lasted some 50 years. Cranach's WOODBLOCK print Allegory of Law and Grace (c. 15 29) is a clearly propagandistic image: With the writings of Luther as his source, Cranach used biblical imagery to distinguish the Protestant belief in salvation through faith from the Catholic stress on good works. Part of the new Protestant ethic was a more positive and encouraging attitude toward sexuality. This helps to explain Cranach's paintings of nude women, such as the three Graces in The Judgment of Paris (c. 1530). While the women wear only necklaces and transparent veils around their loins, Paris is outfitted as a German knight in a full suit of armorsomewhat inconvenient for romantic overtures, as is the advanced age of his companion. When he developed his nudes, Cranach's style became oddly stylized: His figures flattened, looking stilted or awkward. They seem retrospectively GOTHIC, decorative, and affected- anachronistic. Why he adopted this style is uncertain, but one speculation is that it was an easy model for the members of his very large and successful WORKSHOP to copy.