| Notes |
- Lucas Cranach the Elder (* probably around October 4, 1472 in Kronach, Upper Franconia; † October 16, 1553 in Weimar) was one of the most important German painters and graphic artists of the Renaissance. From 1505 he was court painter at the Electoral Saxon court under Friedrich the Wise, Johann the Steadfast and Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous. In addition to numerous altarpieces and allegorical paintings, he and his workshop also made a large number of portraits of his employers and the reformers Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. The Cranach workshop, which is believed to have left around 5,000 paintings, was continued by his son of the same name, Lucas Cranach the Younger.
The chronicler Mathias Gunderam reported in 1556 that Cranach was born on October 4th, 1472 in Kronach and that he received his first artistic training from his father, the wealthy Kronach citizen Hans Maler. There is no documentary evidence of Cranach's origin or his date of birth. Based on court files from the year 1495, which deal with the bad behavior of the painter's children, the year of birth 1472 is doubted by recent research and only vaguely dated to "around 1475".
Cranach had at least six sisters and two brothers. Her mother Barbara died before 1495. After his first artistic training, Lucas probably went on a journey as a journeyman. He came to Vienna in 1502 and stayed there until 1504. Because of the imperial court, Vienna was considered the cultural center of that time, where there were also contacts to numerous princes as potential employers and clients. The paintings from this period show clear influences from the Danube School. In Vienna he made his first contacts with leading humanists. During his stay in Vienna, Cranach began to sign his pictures with Lucas Cranach ("Lucas [from] Kronach").
In 1505 he got a job as court painter to the Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony in Wittenberg. He took over the painting workshop in Wittenberg Castle, previously headed by Jacopo de ’Barbari, whose tasks included not only furnishing churches and castles with paintings, but also making book decorations as well as trivial painting, gilding and drafting festive decorations and ornaments. Impressive evidence of the birth of medal art in Germany are, for example, the so-called Locumtenenstaler with the portrait of Frederick the Wise, for which he provided the design. Numerous invoices received provide information about the type and scope of the activities.
As a court painter, Cranach made numerous portraits of his employer, the first time in 1507 for the Nuremberg Dominican Church.
With effect from January 6, 1508, Cranach was given an emblem (winged serpent with a ruby ring in its mouth) as a family coat of arms by his employer. In the same year he was sent to the Netherlands (to Mechelen) on a diplomatic mandate by the Elector, where he - along with other members of the family - made portraits of Emperor Maximilian I and the later Emperor Charles V.
In 1510, special payments from Lucas Moler are mentioned for the first time in documents from the city of Wittenberg. He also bought various building materials that year. It is concluded that that year he and the workshop moved from the castle to the city.
Around 1512/13 he married Barbara Brengbier († 1541), a daughter of Jobst Brengbier, the mayor of Gotha. His eldest son Hans was born and Lucas was born in 1515, followed by three daughters by 1520.
Around 1513 start of a wine bar. In the years 1515 to 1520 he created the first prints (woodcuts etc.), some of which - similar to Albrecht Dürer - he distributed freely himself.
In 1520 he was able to buy a pharmacy in Wittenberg, a few years later he is also known to be a bookseller, paper dealer and publisher. Together with his business partner, the goldsmith Christian Döring, he oversaw the publishing of Martin Luther's September will in 1522. He became a respected and influential figure in his new home - also as a landowner and publisher.
Cranach first came to the Wittenberg council chair as treasurer in the period of office of 1519/1520 and held this office repeatedly until 1535. Furthermore, he was a member of the council for the period of office 1528/1529.
In 1524 he met Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg; On this occasion Dürer made a portrait of Cranach in silver pencil.
In Wittenberg he made friends with Philipp Melanchthon and Martin Luther. Together with his wife, he was the best man when he married Katharina von Bora in 1525 and was godfather of Luther's eldest son Johannes. The second wife of his son Lucas, Magdalena Schurff, was a niece of Philipp Melanchthon.
Cranach not only developed into the characteristic painter of the German Reformation, he also worked nationwide in the intellectual debate of this time through his graphics in Reformation writings. However, he was not only active for Reformation-minded clients, but also for Old Believers. For example, he created the extensive altar cycle for Cardinal Albrecht's new collegiate church in Halle.
After the death of Frederick the Wise, Cranach was employed as court painter by his successors, Johann the Steadfast and Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous. In addition to mostly unknown employees, his two sons Hans and Lucas the Elder were also there from around 1530. J. worked in the Cranach workshop. From 1537 to 1544, Lucas Cranach repeatedly headed the Wittenberg community as mayor and also held the office of assessor of a mayor as a former mayor several times.
In 1547, his third employer, Duke Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, succumbed to the imperial troops in the Battle of Mühlberg and was imprisoned. At Johann Friedrich's request, Cranach followed him three years later into captivity in Augsburg, then in Innsbruck. There, too, he worked for the Duke and his visitors - he had meanwhile handed over his Wittenberg workshop to his son Lucas. In Augsburg he made the acquaintance of Titian.
In 1552 Lucas Cranach the Elder went with the Duke to his new residence in Weimar.
There he lived in the house of his daughter Barbara Cranach (the "Cranach House"). He died on October 16, 1553.
He found his final resting place in the Jakobsfriedhof in Weimar.
On his tombstone he is referred to as "the fastest painter".
The tombstone was created by Cranach's friend, the ducal master builder and trained stonemason Nikolaus Gromann.
The tombstone that today's visitor sees is a faithful copy of the original. The original was replaced by a copy and, for conservation reasons, moved to the city church of Peter and Paul ("Herderkirche") to the left of the altar in 1859.
progeny
Cranach had five children with his wife Barbara:
Hans (* around 1512; † 1537), who also became an artist
Lucas (* 1515; † 1586), known as "the Younger", took over the father's workshop in 1550 (1552?) And, like him, also became a council member and mayor of Wittenberg. The grandson Augustin (1554–1595) and great-grandson Lucas (1586–1645) continued the artistic family tradition.
Barbara († 1601), married to the Saxon Chancellor Christian Brück since 1543. The mother of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe comes from this line, so that Lucas Cranach is the great-great-grandfather of Goethe.
Ursula (life data unknown), first marriage on May 3, 1537 (husband unknown), second marriage in 1544 to the Gotha mayor Georg Dasch
Anna (* unknown; † June 30, 1577), married to the Wittenberg pharmacist and mayor Caspar Pfreund
Work & performance
Lucas Cranach is one of the most important visual artists of the early 16th century in Germany.
Since he held the permanent position as court painter to the Saxon electors in 1505, he also worked for Emperor Maximilian I, for Albrecht of Brandenburg, Albrecht's brother Joachim I Nestor and his son Joachim II of Brandenburg, as well as for other high nobles and - at the same time - for his Protestant friends. Together with Albrecht Dürer and other important artists of the time, he received the honorable commission in 1515 to illustrate Maximilian I's prayer book.
The indirect influence of his great Nuremberg colleague can be found in many of his works. However, Cranach was less interested in dealing with classical Italian forms than Dürer, but rather remained within north Alpine design: he switched from the innovations of the Danube School to Low German traditions. Cranach became particularly well known for his secular and allegorical nudes, which were completely new to German painting.
Cardinal Albrecht von Brandenburg and Martin Luther stand for the conflict between Old Believer Catholics and Reformation Protestants - the artist Lucas Cranach in between. He made no secret of his sympathy for Luther and the Reformation, and although his graphics played a decisive role in the spread of Reformation ideas (Luther's translation of the Bible with Cranach's illustrations appeared in 1522), he always worked - with success - for Catholic clients, especially for Albrecht von Brandenburg or the Albertine Duke George the Bearded. The Cranach workshop completed the most extensive cycle of paintings in German art history for the new collegiate church in Albrecht's favorite residence, Halle. On the other hand, he developed new topics for his Protestant clients, the concept of divine grace or the justification of sin to put people at the center through faith.
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1472 - 1553 (81 years)
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