Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder, portrait at age 77, c. 1550, by Lucas Cranach the Younger. Oil on panel, 67 × 49 cm. Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Born	Lucas Maler c. 1472 Kronach, Holy Roman Empire
Died	16 October 1553(1553-10-16) (aged 80–81) Weimar, Holy Roman Empire
Known for	Painting
Movement	German Renaissance
Children	5, including Hans and Lucas
Patron(s)	Electors of Saxony
Signature

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German: Lucas Cranach der Ältere [ˈluːkas ˈkʁaːnax deːɐ̯ ˈʔɛltəʁə]; c. 1472 – 16 October 1553) was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. He was a close friend of Martin Luther. Cranach also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion.

Cranach had a large workshop and many of his works exist in different versions; his son Lucas Cranach the Younger and others continued to create versions of his father's works for decades after his death. He has been considered the most successful German artist of his time.^[1]