Lucas Cranach d. Ä., Martin Luther, 1528 (Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, M 417; Loan from the collection of Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt)

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) entertained close personal ties to Luther’s family. The artist acted as best man during the marriage ceremony of Luther with Katharina von Bora (1499–1552) and the great number of his Luther portraits would shape our perception of Martin Luther’s appearance and character.

The likenesses of the married made in the year of Luther’s wedding of 1525 were part of reformed propaganda. They were meant as the means to disseminate the then spectacular news about the marriage of the reformer with a former nun.

Cranach was the only artist to create portraits of Luther during his lifetime. The Luther portraits from Cranach’s workshop were supposed to render a particular image which was going to be adapted to the particular situation in Luther’s life and work. While early prints show him as the young Augustinian friar fatigued by the long hours of studying Holy Scripture, in this painting of the year 1528 he bears far more distinctive facial features. He is presented ponderously as a scholar with gown and mortar board. His sharp profile before a background in turquoise reinforces the impressive impact which the by now middle-aged Luther supposedly emanated.

To the digitised copy