Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

Title

Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)

[cda 2019]

Painting on wood

Medium

Painting on wood

[Sotheby's online catalogue, accessed 20.03.2019]

Small-scale portraits such as these were produced by Cranach and his studio to satisfy the enormously high demand for images of famous contemporaries. These panels portray two of the great intellectual figureheads of their day. Melanchthon was Luther's voice of reason in all matters theological and philosophical and defended his

Small-scale portraits such as these were produced by Cranach and his studio to satisfy the enormously high demand for images of famous contemporaries. These panels portray two of the great intellectual figureheads of their day. Melanchthon was Luther's voice of reason in all matters theological and philosophical and defended his views to the end. He was a key figure in the Lutheran revolution and referred to Luther as his spiritual father.

The earliest depictions of these sitters by Cranach, are dated 1532 and of even smaller dimensions. Although dated 1543 the present works depict the sitters at a similar age to the earlier pictures.

[Sotheby's online catalogue, accessed 20.03.2019]

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Sotheby's online catalogue, accessed 20.03.2019]

Lucas Cranach the Elder and workshop

'The extremely high quality of the present works, and in particular that of the faces, suggests that Cranach himself may have played a part in their execution'
[Sotheby's online catalogue, accessed 20.03.2019]

Production date
1543

Production date

1543

[dated]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 20.7 x 15.5 cm

Dimensions

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia at left side above shoulder: serpent with elevated wings, facing right and dated '1543'; in black paint (not genuine) [cda 2019]

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia at left side above shoulder: serpent with elevated wings, facing right and dated '1543'; in black paint (not genuine) [cda 2019]

Owner
Private Collection
Repository
Private Collection
CDA ID
PRIVATE_NONE-P266
FR (1978) Nr.
FR-none
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P266/

Connected Works

Portrait of Philip Melanchthon (1497 - 1560)
  • Portrait of Philip Melanchthon (1497 - 1560), 1543
  • PRIVATE_NONE-P267
  • Painting
  • Private Collection

Provenance

  • King Ludwig I of Bavaria (1786-1868), Nuremberg
  • by whom sold in 1832 to Albert Reindel (1784-1853), director of the Nuremberg Academy
  • thence by descent to his son, Jacob Reindel, from whom acquired by Carl Haag (1820-1915) in 1858 [1]
  • thence by descent to the former owner
  • 10.07.2008 sold by Sotheby's, London
    [1] According to undated Haag family documents these two portraits formerly formed part of the collection in the castle at Nuremberg, where the town's art school and library were also located. In 1832, King Ludwig I attended the town festival and, in preparing the castle for his residence, the art collection was transferred to the Landower Bruderhouse; this cloister not being large enough to house the entire collection, a large number of works were sold publicly. Albert Reindel, the director of the Nuremberg art school, acquired a large number of these works, including this pair of portraits. They were then sold by Albert's son to Carl Haag, a pupil of Reindel who had always admired them in the latter's house.
    [...] Carl Haag (1820-1915) was a very notable painter of Oriental subject matter.
    [Sotheby's online catalogue, accessed 20.03.2019]

Exhibitions

London 1872-3, no. 170 (lent by Carl Haag).

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Graves 1913 227
AuthorA. Graves
TitleA Century of Loan Exhibitions, 1813-1912, vol. I
Place of PublicationLondon
Year of Publication1913
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. London 1872 170
Authorn. a.
TitleWinter Exhibition [London, Royal Academy, 1872 -1873]
Place of PublicationLondon
Year of Publication1872
Show Literature
  • Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546), 1543

Images

Compare images
  • overall

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P266/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of Martin Luther (1483 - 1546)', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/PRIVATE_NONE-P266/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

Help us to improve the Cranach Digital Archive.

Please contact us, if you have noticed a mistake.