Lucas Cranach d. Ä., Martin Luther als Augustinermönch, 1520 (Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, K 868)

The copperplate print dated to the year 1520 is the earliest portrait of Martin Luther (1483–1546) created by the artist Lukas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) and the first authentic likeness of Luther. It shows the 36-year old reformer as Augustinian friar with the religious habit and tonsure of his order. The portrait shows little detail, in the foreground stand the personal aura and personality of the sitter.

In 1505, Elector Frederick III the Wise (1463–1525, elector from 1486) called Lucas Cranach to the Saxon court at Wittenberg, where he was going to live for nearly half a century and created the paintings that provide to this day an insight into the time of the great reformers.

The caption can be translated as: “Luther himself expresses the perpetual image of his spirit, Lucas, however, depicts the mortal figure.” Below the date of 1520, the symbol of Lucas Cranach the Elder can be seen. The winged serpent with a ruby ring in its mouth was the artist’s emblem. Cranach and his workshop created several further portraits of Luther and thus established a type of imagery which would become the model for depictions of Luther.

Three years after formulating the 95 theses in 1517, Martin Luther had become a well-known personality, not least through the enormous amount of his publications, circulating by the end of 1519. By means of this portrait, Cranach responded to the human need to become acquainted with Luther face to face. This first likeness was only published in a small edition and was replaced by Cranach in the same year by a second version.

To the digitised copy