CRANACH, Lucas the Elder
(b. 1472, Kronach, d. 1553, Weimar)

Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg-Kulmbach

1522
Beech wood, 37 x 29 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Margrave Casimir of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (1481-1527) was the son of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and his wife Princess Sofia Jagiellon, a daughter of King Casimir IV Jagiellon of Poland. He was a vassal of Emperor Maximilian I and fought in 1499 alongside his father and Margrave Christopher I of Baden as the commander of the Swabian League against the Old Swiss Confederacy and led the negotiations that resulted in the Peace of Basel. In subsequent years, he continued to be active as a military leader and diplomat in Habsburg service.