Lucas Cranach the Elder - master of colorful portraits, creator of genre and biblical compositions, founder of the Danube School of Painting, talented painter. His paintings of the Renaissance provide him with popularity today.
His homeland is North Franconia (southeastern part of Germany), the town of Kronach, whose name was used by the artist as part of his surname.
Young years
Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose paintings are now in many museums around the world, was born in 1472 in the family of the artist Hans Meyer, who became the first teacher of the art of drawing for his son. From an early age, a talented young man traveled all over Germany, visited the Holy Land - Palestine, trying to find his place in life.
The painting "Crucifixion"
From 1501 to 1504, Lucas Cranach stayed in Vienna, where the first works came out from under his brush, the main theme of which was religion. “Crucifixion” - a picture of 1501, the plot of which was taken from the Holy Scriptures. It reveals a completely new approach by Lucas Cranach to the theme of the crucifixion of Christ.
Five characters on the stage of life played a real drama. The main figures on the canvas are leading the conversation John and Mary, whose poses and glances direct the viewer's eyes to asymmetrically located crucifixes - the artist's own innovation. The gloomy breath of nature, heavy clouds above the Savior’s head and a large bandage on the body seem to enliven the picture, and the dying agony of two executed robbers aggravates the whole tragedy of the situation.
Painting "St. Christopher"
Images of St. Christopher at different times were written by many artists. The creation of Lucas Cranach worthily occupied its niche in religious subjects. The following legend formed the basis of the created canvas. There lived in Canaan a man named Reprev, whose enormous growth and remarkable strength distinguished him from the general crowd. Not knowing where to apply his exceptional abilities, he decided to enter the service of the most omnipotent person - the king. It turned out that the devil is more powerful than the king, who, in turn, trembles from the mere sight of the cross. With a request to suggest how to serve Christ, Reprev turned to the hermit, who sent him to the bank of the river and ordered him to help people who want to cross it. Somehow, among those who wanted to cross the river was a boy whom the giant easily put on his shoulders and began his journey.
With each step, the boy sitting on his shoulders grew heavier and heavier, and in the middle of the road, with difficulty holding the child, Reprev was afraid that both could drown. When the other shore was finally under the feet, the baby opened to Reprev and said that he was Christ, bearing all the burdens of the world upon himself. Then Jesus immediately christened Reprev in the river and named it Christopher (translated from Greek - “he who carries Christ”). The Savior ordered the giant to stick a staff in the ground, and the next morning he was covered with green branches and aromatic fruits. Many people, having seen such a miracle, have converted.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose paintings in the early period of his work are distinguished by the innovation of design, the freedom of composition, the natural harmony between man and nature, has been estranged from its original manner of writing since about 1520. In his works, traits of stylization and mannerism begin to be traced.
Favorite Theme - Spiritual
From 1504 until the end of his days, Lucas Cranach worked as a court painter at the court of the Duke Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. He painted altars, designed coins, engraved and woodcut. Lucas did a great job of landscape work. The painting "Rest on the Flight into Egypt", painted in 1504, shows the perfect pastime of the family, located on the lawn among birches and fir trees.
Like playful children, angels play with little Christ, play music and collect flowers. Saturated red tones of clothes perfectly harmonize with juicy greens. Pictures of spiritual subjects reflected the development and formation of the Protestant Reformation. A number of works were created in a Lutheran manner. For example, Christ is traditionally depicted, and the apostles - without halo and with the faces of the reformist leaders.
Lucas Cranach the Elder: paintings
Cranach showed himself especially vividly in the portrait genre, capturing a huge number of his compatriots. In 1532, Lucas received an order from 60 portraits from Frederick III. Thanks to the hand of the master, the modern world can now peer curiously at the faces of people who lived several centuries ago and find out what the leaders of the Reformation looked like, from the earliest stages of its inception, Lucas Cranach was a supporter. Several portraits of Martin Luther (a Catholic priest, the initiator of the movement in the Church, called the Reformation), his wife and children, courtiers and princes, and many clergy of the Catholic Church came out from under his brush .
Working on portraits, the master did not idealize his customers, trying to look into their inner world; for him only the external appearance mattered. Often the accessories and clothes of people in portraits were painted by his students - future German artists, including the youngest son. The artist illustrated the Protestant pamphlets and financed the publication of the Bible, which he translated into German. Like many German artists of the time, Cranach was an engraver, the images in his works were directed against the Catholic clergy and the papacy.
Subject pictures as a tribute to fashion
With the light hand of Cranach, small pictures with mythological subjects entered the fashion, which stand out among others with a certain naivety of the composition. The feminine nature, thin and elongated, is mainly depicted in large headdresses, in the style of “nude” or covered with a slightly draped fabric. The same technique can be traced in paintings on biblical themes. In the late works of the master in the style of “nude”, the influence of Italian art of that era is seen: seductive poses, a magnificent chest and high waist, narrow shoulders and a small head.
Areas of Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder published books and traded them, headed a large art workshop that contributed to the popularization of his art and numbered more than 10 assistants. The disciples of Cranach the Elder either wrote in the manner of their mentor, or repeated many of his paintings. Gradually, the artist became the wealthiest burgher of the city of Wittenberg and was elected several times by his burgomaster. Since 1508, he replaced his initials in paintings with a seal in the form of a serpent, and placed it both on his works and on the works of his students that came to taste as an approving symbol. In addition to his own huge workshop, Lucas Cranach the Elder had licenses for the sale of wines and permission for the monopoly sale of medicines in Wittenberg, granted by Frederick the Wise. By the way, the German artist's pharmacy worked until 1871 and burned out as a result of a fire.
He spent the last years of his life in Ausburg, Innsbruck and Weimar. Lucas Cranas died on October 16, 1553 in Weimar.
The legacy of a German artist
A huge artistic legacy remains after Lucas Cranach the Elder; some of his works exist in several versions or copies.
This can be explained by the fact that the artist developed his own method, which allowed him to create paintings in a short time: two sons worked in his workshop, Hans and Lucas Jr. They actively participated in writing plot paintings and portraits, and the work was signed with the seal of his father. The artist had three more daughters. When Lucas Cranach the Elder died, his sons continued to create pictures in their own versions. Today it’s hard enough to determine the true authorship of some of them.