Representations of the Virgin
by Lucas CRANACH the Elder

Portrayals of the Virgin and Child were among the favourite themes of Cranach, the Wittenberg court painter. Although the number of surviving pictures shows that this was an extremely successful product, Cranach carried out the many versions with great care. Even after the beginning of the Reformation, his pictures of the Virgin were bought not only by the Old Believers, Luther himself took a comparatively liberal view of devotional pictures and might well have owned an image of the Virgin.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Virgin and Child with a Bunch of Grapes
1509-10
Oil on panel, 72 x 44 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

755*1300
True Color
150 Kb



Madonna and Child with the Infant St John
c. 1512
Oil and tempera on limewood, 76 x 59 cm
Private collection

1200*1609
True Color
177 Kb



Madonna and Child with the Infant St John
1514
Oil and tempera on wood, 71 x 44 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

1000*1313
True Color
172 Kb



Virgin and Child
c. 1518
Tempera and oil on limewood, 41 x 31 cm
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

1000*1323
True Color
191 Kb



Virgin and Child (detail)
c. 1518
Tempera and oil on limewood
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

1002*1300
True Color
210 Kb



The Virgin of the Grapes
1520-25
Oil and tempera on beechwood, 60 x 42 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

1000*1439
True Color
156 Kb



Virgin and Child under an Apple Tree
1525-30
Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 87 x 59 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

1022*1600
True Color
231 Kb



Virgin and Child (detail)
1525-30
Oil on canvas transferred from panel
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

672*950
True Color
120 Kb



Virgin and Child on a Crescent Moon
1520-23
Oil and tempera on limewood, 90 x 60 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

853*1250
True Color
196 Kb



Virgin and Child (Maria Hilfbild)
c. 1530
Wood, 40 x 24 cm (without frame)
Dom zu St. Jakob, Innsbruck

936*1400
True Color
188 Kb



Virgin and Child (detail)
c. 1530
Wood
Dom zu St. Jakob, Innsbruck

766*1020
True Color
197 Kb



Virgin and Child with Grapes
after 1537
Oil and tempera on wood, 77 x 57 cm
Private collection

1184*1600
True Color
176 Kb



Virgin and Child with Grapes
1534
Oil on limewood, 50 x 34 cm
Private collection

900*1296
True Color
163 Kb



Virgin and Child
1540s
Oil on panel, 21 x 16 cm
Private collection

903*1200
True Color
125 Kb




Summary of works by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Paintings
altar retables | representations of the Virgin | St Jerome
religious themes until 1515 | from 1516
biblical scenes | biblical nudes
mythological nudes | Venus and Lucretia | allegorical scenes
portraits until 1515 | 1516-1526 | from 1527
miscellaneous paintings
Graphics
drawings | woodcuts