Altar retables and altar wings
by Lucas CRANACH the Elder

The earliest monumental work that Cranach completed in his office as court painter to the Elector of Saxony was the St Catherine Altarpiece (now in Dresden). The triptych of 1506 is the first in a series of altar retables in which the two brothers Frederick the Wise and John the Steadfast appear either in role portraits or closely associated with the saintly figures in the composition, mostly as half-length donors. He continued the series of retables in 1509 by producing the Triptych with the Holy Kinship.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Triptych with the Martyrdom of St Catherine
1506
Lime-tree
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

1600*727
True Color
187 Kb



Triptych: The Martyrdom of St Catherine (central panel)
1506
Lime-tree, 126 x 140 cm
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden

1030*936
True Color
167 Kb



Housealtar of Count William II of Hessen
c. 1508
Panel, 38 x 25 cm (central), 39 x 10 cm (each wing)
Staatliche Museen, Kassel

1200*837
True Color
193 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 100 cm (central panel), 121 x 45 cm (each wing)
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

1182*703
True Color
176 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 100 cm (central panel), 121 x 45 cm (each wing)
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

1323*800
True Color
194 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship (left wing)
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 45 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

595*1700
True Color
222 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship (central panel)
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 100 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

1000*1208
True Color
208 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship (detail)
1509
Oil on panel
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

800*1566
True Color
200 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship (right wing)
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 45 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

589*1700
True Color
193 Kb



Triptych with the Holy Kinship (verso)
1509
Oil on panel, 121 x 100 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

1327*1700
True Color
193 Kb



Altarpiece (first opening)
1539
Wood
Wolfgangskirche, Schneeberg

1200*1042
True Color
244 Kb



Altarpiece (second opening)
1539
Wood
Wolfgangskirche, Schneeberg

1200*1053
True Color
258 Kb



Reformation Altar
1530s, consecrated in 1547
Oil on panel
Stadtkirche, Wittenberg

1024*781
True Color
198 Kb



Reformation Altar
1530s, consecrated in 1547
Oil on panel
Stadtkirche, Wittenberg

1900*1267
True Color
244 Kb



High Altar (open)
c. 1540
Tempera on wood
Marktkirche, Halle

1200*928
True Color
184 Kb



High Altar (closed)
c. 1540
Tempera on wood
Marktkirche, Halle

1200*939
True Color
178 Kb



Sts Elizabeth and Anne (inside)
c. 1514
Oil on panel, 85 x 31 cm (each wing)
Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Pedralbes

900*1233
True Color
141 Kb



Sts Christopher and George (outer side)
c. 1514
Oil on panel, 85 x 31 cm (each wing)
Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, Pedralbes

900*1233
True Color
163 Kb



Beheading of St Catherine
1515
Oil and tempera on limewood, 85 x 58 cm
Archbishop's Palace, Kromeriz

897*1300
True Color
180 Kb



Beheading of John the Baptist
1515
Oil and tempera on limewood, 85 x 58 cm
Archbishop's Palace, Kromeriz

904*1300
True Color
200 Kb



Beheading of John the Baptist (detail)
1515
Oil and tempera on limewood
Archbishop's Palace, Kromeriz

925*1200
True Color
196 Kb



Beheading of John the Baptist (detail)
1515
Oil and tempera on limewood
Archbishop's Palace, Kromeriz

1000*1305
True Color
202 Kb



St Valentine with a Donor
c. 1502
Tempera on wood, 91 x 50 cm
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

821*1500
True Color
196 Kb



Stigmatisation of St Francis
c. 1502
Tempera on wood, 87 x 48 cm
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

791*1500
True Color
160 Kb



Stigmatisation of St Francis (detail)
c. 1502
Tempera on wood
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

1000*1348
True Color
210 Kb



The Holy Kinship with a Self-Portrait
1510-12
Tempera on wood, 89 x 71 cm
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

1100*1231
True Color
187 Kb



The Holy Kinship with a Self-Portrait (detail)
1510-12
Tempera on wood
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

1000*1248
True Color
186 Kb



The Holy Family and The Education of the Virgin
1510-12
Oil and tempera on wood, 77 x 30 cm (each)
Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie, Dessau

1030*1300
True Color
180 Kb



St Stephen of Hungary
1510-15
Oil and tempera on limewood, 101 x 30 cm
Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg

526*1800
True Color
184 Kb



St Jerome
1515
Lindenwood, 25 x 12 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

689*1500
True Color
106 Kb



St Leopold
1515
Lindenwood, 25 x 12 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

695*1500
True Color
112 Kb



St Maurice
1520-25
Oil on linden panel, 135 x 38 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

450*1581
True Color
233 Kb



St Helena
1525
Oil and tempera on red beechwood, 40 x 27 cm
Art Museum, Cincinnati

1000*1510
True Color
133 Kb



St Dorothea
c. 1530
Tempera on wood, 77 x 59 cm
Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

1030*1400
True Color
185 Kb



St Catherine of Alexandria and St Barbara
-
Oil on wood, 61 x 20 cm (each)
Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

897*1158
True Color
137 Kb



Altar wing (left, inner side)
c. 1537
Wood
Cathedral, Naumburg

649*1600
True Color
160 Kb



Altar wing (right, inner side)
c. 1537
Wood
Cathedral, Naumburg

652*1600
True Color
129 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