Portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder - with Peter Stanford

Dr Janina Ramirez - Art Detective

Lucas Cranach the Elder (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, becoming a close friend of Martin Luther. He 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. He had a large workshop and many 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. Lucas Cranach the Elder has been considered the most successful German artist of his time.

Peter Stanford is a writer, biographer, journalist, and broadcaster. Peter’s new book, Martin Luther: Catholic Dissident is out now.

View this episode's image here.

Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes and follow Janina on Twitter.

Follow History Hit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Please share this episode on Twitter and Facebook.

Producer: Dan Morelle

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.