Artist of the Day, June 2, 2025: Lucas Cranach the Elder, a German Renaissance painter and printmaker (#2294)

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 – 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. 

He was a close friend of Martin Luther, and eleven portraits of that reformer by him survive. Cranach also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion.

Cranach had a large workshop and many of his works exist in different versions; his son Lucas Cranach the Younger and others continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death. He has been considered the most successful German artist of his time.

© 2025. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by VisualDiplomacy or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Maria Hilf Innsbruck

Last Supper, circa 1565

Christ as Savior with Martin Luther, circa 1552

Portrait of Martin Luther, circa 1543

Hunting near Hartenfels Castle, circa 1540

Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, circa 1539

Adam and Eve (Original Sin), circa 1539

Lamentation, circa 1538

Adam and Eve, circa 1533

Melancholia, circa 1532

Martin Luther, circa 1532

Lukas Spielhausen, circa 1532

Electors of Saxony- Friedrich the Wise, Johann the Steadfast 

and Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, circa 1532

The Three Graces, circa 1531

Portrait of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, circa 1530-35

Virgin and Child under an Apple Tree, circa 1530

Female Portrait, circa 1530

Apollo and Diana, circa 1530

An Ill-matched Pair, circa 1530

Venus in a Landscape, circa 1529

Law and Grace, circa 1529

Apollo and Diana, circa 1527

The Birth of John the Baptist, circa 1518

A Princess of Saxony, circa 1517

A Princess of Saxony, circa 1517

Madonna with Child with Young John the Baptist, circa 1514

Madonna under the fir tree, circa 1510

Torgauer Altar, circa 1509

Portrait of Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, circa 1509

Adam and Eve in Paradise, circa 1509

Rest of the Virgin during The Flight into Egypt, circa 1504

The Crucifixion, circa 1503