Lucas the Elder Cranach
(1472 - 1553) |
|
Painter and printmaker of portraits; religious and mythological scenes; coquettish, seductive temptress; luscious landscapes. precise outlines Art Work
| Name: |
Lucas the Elder Cranach |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Kronach, Germany |
| Nationality: |
|
| Birth: |
1472 |
| Death: |
1553 |
| Website: |
|
| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
|
|
Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Painter and printmaker of portraits; religious and mythological scenes; coquettish, seductive temptress; luscious landscapes. precise outlines |
| Medium: |
Oil, Woodblock prints |
| Method: |
|
| Style: |
|
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painter and Printmaker
|
|
|
Biography
| Lucas Cranach the Elder ran a busy workshop in Wittenberg, North Germany, as court painter to the electors of Saxony. In time, he became a wealthy and valued member of Wittenberg society, respected as a scholar, artist, and politician. More than 1,000 paintings connected to Cranach's workshop have survived, but the overall output must have been several times greater. Many themes and compositions were repeated and have become hallmarks of his work. His images of Venus and Cupid and of Adam and Eve were extremely popular. He excelled at luscious landscape painting. Behind these foreground figures lie rolling hills, glasssmooth lakes, and rocky outcrops. The elector of Saxony was an enthusiastic hunter and is likely to have enjoyed the animals and topographic detail of Cranach's paintings. He was clearly influenced by the work of Albrecht Durer, whom he met in later life. Like Durer, Cranach was a prolific printmaker he produced several series of woodcuts, and pioneered a threecolor tonal technique. As his career progressed, he developed a clearer, more polished painting style. His mature works have little spatial depth and portray an eerily unreal world, populated by skinny naked figures set against minutely detailed dark foliage. Cranach's subject matter and use of symbolism were strongly influenced by the Protestant reformist views of his close friend Martin Luther, who was active in Wittenberg. In 1508 the Elector Frederick the Wise awarded Cranach the right to use a coat of arms, from which he adapted his famous signature of a dragon bearing a ring. |
Samples of Work
|
|
