Philipp Melanchthon
Lucas Cranach the Elder1532
Renaissance and Reformation. German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach
These head-and-shoulders portraits of the Reformers Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon against a green background were produced as pendants. Luther is depicted wearing a cloak and a beret as a scholar with a book and Melanchthon, the younger man, without a hat and with his hands folded. Lucas Cranach the Elder is regarded not only as an illustrator of the Reformation but also as a portraitist of the Reformers. The many portraits of Luther produced by Cranach and his workshop were always striving for recognizability. The portraits of the protagonists from Wittenberg were in particular demand after the founding of the Protestant Schmalkaldic League in 1531. Luther and Melanchthon enjoyed the greatest admiration as the new saints of the Reformation.
- Title: Philipp Melanchthon
- Creator: Lucas Cranach the Elder
- Date Created: 1532
- Physical Dimensions: 18.6 × 15 cm
- Technique and Material: Oil on beech
- Provenance: In the gallery prior to 1826
- Museum: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
- Inv.-No.: 1919
- ISIL-No.: DE-MUS-845318
- External Link: http://www.skd.museum/de/museen-institutionen/zwinger-mit-semperbau/gemaeldegalerie-alte-meister/
- Copyright: Photo © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister / Hans-Peter Klut; Text © Renaissance and Reformation: German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach, A Cooperation of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Nov 20, 2016 – March 26, 2017, Munich: Prestel, 2016; Text © cat. no. 25 / Roland Enke
- Catalogue: https://prestelpublishing.randomhouse.de/book/Renaissance-and-Reformation/Stephanie-Buck/Prestel-com/e504919.rhd
- Artist Dates: 1472 Kronach–1553 Weimar
- Artist Biography: Cranach, whose name derived from his birthplace, Kronach, was presumably trained by his father. Around 1502 Cranach was staying in Vienna, where he produced his first documented works. In 1504 Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony called him to his court in Wittenberg, where Cranach would head a very large, extremely productive workshop. The Cranach factory was active in prints as well as paintings. His many portraits of Martin Luther—the Cranach and Luther families were close friends—and his altarpieces with decidedly Reformist programs made Cranach and his memorable style the epitome of Protestant visual culture. Nevertheless, Cranach was also active for Luther’s adversaries, such as Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg.
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