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

Portraits of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon

1543
Oil on wood, 21 x 16 cm (each)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Lucas Cranach the Elder was a political follower and good friend of Martin Luther (1483-1545); the artist often portrayed him, in pendant with other persons as his collaborator Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560) here, or his wife in the diptych at the Uffizi. The two panels are a workshop replica after the original portraits Cranach had painted towards 1543.