Double Portraits of Martin Luther as a Married Man and a Reformer (about 1528 – 1530)

Group IV consists of portraits that show Martin Luther as a married man or as a reformer, wearing a cap and gown (fig. 1). Between circa 1528 and 1530 numerous examples belonging to this group were produced in the Cranach workshop.[1] The portraits of Luther as a married man usually appear in association with those of Katharina of Bora as double portraits in hinged frames as can be seen in surviving examples.[2] In addition to 22 portrait paintings known today (IV.M1 - IV.M15 und IV.M17 - IV.M23)[3] within the investigation period only two corresponding prints were identified. Both can be attributed to Georg Pencz (IV.D1 und IV.D2).

Over the years the Luther portrait was reproduced virtually unchanged, whereas the portrait of Katharina of Bora was soon adapted: the examples from 1528 show Katharina in a black lace up dress with a simple collar as well as a head and chin scarf (IV.M1b–IV.M4b). From 1529 the latter were replaced by the hairnet, which had already been in use since 1525, and a fur-trimmed collar was added to the dress (IV.M6b, IV.M7b, IV.M11b - IV.M14b, IV.M16, IV.M19b - IV.M21b). Her gaze also shifted towards her husband (fig. 2). This portrait type was retained for the later portraits from 1530.

The year 1529 not only saw a change in the representation type of the Bora portraits. As of this date an inscription was added to the top edge of the portraits (IV.M11 - IV.M24). This consisted of two biblical verses to which was added in some cases the name of the sitter. The Luther portraits bear the inscription ‘IN SILENCIO ET SPE ERIT FORTITVDO VESTRA’. This motto comes from Isaiah 30,15 and is translated by Luther himself as ‘in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’[4] The faith or Fiducia implied here is central to Luther’s doctrine of justification. Why precisely this verse was chosen for the portraits can perhaps be understood within the context of Isaiah 30, 8: ‘Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be a witness for the time to come for ever and ever.’[5] 

The portraits of Katharina of Bora bear the inscription ‘SALVABITVR PER FILIORUM GENERACIONEM’. In Luther’s translation the verse reads ‘She will be saved through childbearing’.[6] The text from 1. Tim. 2,15 not only cautions women to do without precious jewelry, but moreover, in accordance with creation theology, instils in them an awareness of their subordination to man: according to Paul women will find fulfilment and salvation in their biological role as child-bearers if in addition they endeavour to live a life of faith, love and modesty.

In comparison with the militant text that appeared with the ‘Junker Jörg’ woodcut[7] the inscriptions accompanying the portraits from 1529 use a decidedly different language that seeks to find salvation in subordination and strong faith.

The panel paintings were produced in three different formats (fig. 3). An upright format of about 38 x 26 cm, that had already been used for the larger works in Portrait Group III, was produced in greater quantities (IV.M1 - IV.M19).[8] A second format is significantly larger with dimensions of about 53 x 37 cm, but the size of the portrait remains the same (IV.M20 - IV.M23). The image was adapted to the larger panel by simply extending the background.[9] The double portrait of Luther paired with Johann Friedrich of Saxony is an isolated case, being considerably larger in format at 76 x 56 cm. The composition is the same as the small format, correspondingly enlarged, and was probably not a serial production.[10]  

Despite the emergence from 1530 of a new variant, classified as Portrait Type V (fig. 4), albeit with only slight differences in Luther’s physiognomy,[1] the earlier portrait type continued to be produced in 1530 and later. Dendrochronological examination of eight panels[2] from this Portrait Group support the assumption that the year inscribed on the portraits records their production date. Findings on a ninth panel confirm that this particular example was created a few years later than the date specifies.[3] Results of the dendrochronological examination of a further two Luther portraits from other Portrait Groups[4] confirm that the copying of individual works over a number of years was not unusual within the workshop.

The panel paintings are to a large extent characterized by the consistent features of their production and provide a vivid picture of serial production within the Cranach workshop. From the choice of wood[5] to the preparation of the panel, the application of the ground, the underdrawing and the paint layers no significant differences were observed in the examples examined, with the exception of one portrait that was painted directly on parchment (IV.M1) (fig. 5).

Whereas the smaller portraits[1] (IV.M2 - IV.M19) generally consist of a single upright board[2] that is bevelled along the edges of the reverse, the larger formats[3] (IV.M20 - IV.M23) are usually constructed from three horizontal boards (fig. 6).[4] Both panel sizes were only roughly smoothed with a plane on the reverse and the finished painting was then framed.[5] The examples in Darmstadt (IV.M6), Gotha (IV.M.11) and Bretten (IV.M12) have retained their original grooved frames and are hinged together.[6] A dark protective coating was subsequently applied to the reverse of some of the works.[7] Although it was common practice, in Cranach’s workshop as well[8], to paint the reverse of double portraits with a heraldic emblem or ornamental design no such decorative element was employed here.    

The underdrawing of the facial contours (fig. 7) and the extent to which the infrared reflectograms of different paintings correspond when superimposed suggest that the facial features were transferred from a template or pre-existing design to the prepared panel. The outer and inner contours are defined by consistently thin strokes. On numerous examples (IV.M2 - IV.M4, IV.M12, IV.M14, IV.M15) these thin lines appear in sections to be overlapped at regular intervals by thicker strokes of c. 1-1.5 mm in length and have the appearance of a broken line. Occasional double contours are also evident for example on the chin.[1] Both of these features suggest the use of a template.[2]

Greater discrepancies in the shape and size of the cap as well as the contours of Luther’s shoulder or the decoration of Bora’s dress may indicate a freehand underdrawing or that these areas were executed directly in paint.[3]

A particularly interesting phenomenon was observed on the portraits of Katharina of Bora dated 1529: in the underdrawing there is a curved line on the left near her forehead that appears to be without function and was not executed in paint. It can be explained by a comparison with earlier portrait versions where the bonnet or hairnet is depicted in this position. As this motif is present without exception on all the documented underdrawings it may be assumed that the underdrawing was transferred from a template to the examined works in a single operation, and that it was probably based on older drawings of an earlier portrait type. It is unclear whether the line was accidentally transferred or if the decision to change the image was made at a later stage. The phenomenon illustrates how serial production of single stages across many panels was employed to increase efficiency.

The majority of the double portraits exhibit a striking uniformity in their painterly execution (fig. 8). [1]  Differences can be observed for example in the quality of finish in the flesh paint or in the execution of the azurite blue backgrounds.

Whereas single examples are distinguished by a particularly three-dimensional modelling of the flesh paint the skilful application of painted highlights others are of a lesser quality, exhibiting flat facial features and a reduced level of detail. These differences in the painterly quality also suggest the participation of different workshop members for this group.[2] The majority of the portraits have a vibrant background created by the application of glazes and the uneven opacity of the paint. However, on certain examples it appears much calmer because of the stippled or flat application of the paint. Some portraits appear to have been completed more quickly than others as the paint applications are smudged whereas on other works they overlap.

The serial production in the Cranach workshop culminated in these Luther portraits and those of the Electors completed about 1532. The Cranach workshop’s economic production process facilitated an early widespread distribution of the serial portraits across and beyond confessional and ideological borders. According to a household inventory from 1556 Georg Hörmann, an agent for the Fuggers and mayor of Schwaz/Tyrol owned ‘a portrait of Martin Luther and his wife […] completed on two panels’.[3] The versions in the Uffizi (IV.M7) were recorded in the Medici inventory as early as 1561.[4] In 1540 the Venetian artist Lorenzo Lotto also created this kind of double portrait, which must ultimately be traced back to Cranach’s work, possibly transmitted via printed medium.[5] Christoph Scheurl of Nuremberg assigned portraits of this type a place of honour ‘in the parlour’, as is documented in the inventory of his estate from 1542. There a double portrait of Luther and Bora hung in the company of portraits of emperors and dukes beneath an altan.[6]

After the portrait type had been reproduced in paint many times by the Cranach workshop it was also used from about 1530 in printmaking by Georg Pencz in Nuremberg (IV.D1) (fig. 9). Incised lines on the raised area of the unique woodcut attributed here for the first time to Pencz can be identified as marks from a scriber used to transfer the design to the block.[7] The small format engraving is also by Pencz (IV.D2a). Dated to 1530 it appears in combination with a companion piece of Philipp Melanchthon (IV.D2b) (fig. 10). Whereas the image dimensions of the woodcut closely correspond with the format of the painting, the reproduction in the engraving is reduced to a small format of 90 x 73 mm. The paper used for the impression of IV.D1 is also recorded in other Nuremberg printers at the same time.[8] Pencz also executed a variant of this portrait type in paint on a wooden panel[9], which has not been included in the KKL catalogue due to its later date of completion in 1533.