Lucas Cranach the Elder
Apollo and Diana, ca. 1526
This painting, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, shows the sun god Apollo, admired for his moral standing …
A prolific German Renaissance painter, and engraver, Lucas Cranach may have invented the full-length portrait. Cranach served as painter to the court of Frederick the Wise of Saxony in Wittenberg, where he specialized in portraits with bold compositions and strong colors. He was also responsible for decorative schemes around the court, as well as for tournaments and celebrations; the considerable demands of this work led him to open a workshop and to develop techniques and procedures of standardization that sped up the painting process. A close friend of Martin Luther, Cranach also supervised the printing of Luther’s pamphlets, painted altarpieces for Lutheran churches, and produced portraits of Protestant reformers and princes, as well as designing woodcuts for Luther’s translation of the New Testament.
This painting, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, shows the sun god Apollo, admired for his moral standing and physical beauty, and his twin sister Diana or Artemis, goddess of the moon, who was associated with chastity, archery and hunting. The emphasis on humanity closely related to the primeval forest and hunting recalls …
A prolific German Renaissance painter, and engraver, Lucas Cranach may have invented the full-length portrait. Cranach served as painter to the court of Frederick the Wise of Saxony in Wittenberg, where he specialized in portraits with bold compositions and strong colors. He was also responsible for decorative schemes around the court, as well as for tournaments and celebrations; the considerable demands of this work led him to open a workshop and to develop techniques and procedures of standardization that sped up the painting process. A close friend of Martin Luther, Cranach also supervised the printing of Luther’s pamphlets, painted altarpieces for Lutheran churches, and produced portraits of Protestant reformers and princes, as well as designing woodcuts for Luther’s translation of the New Testament.
