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

Sophrosyne

1523
Woodcut
Private collection

This woodcut is in Philipp Melanchthon's Enchiridion elementorum puerilium, published in Wittenberg, 1523. The Sophrosyne or Temperantia was conceived of by Melanchthon and executed by Cranach. The accompanying Greek verses name the author of the picture of Moderation, Lucas Cranach. They explain that the woodcut reflects one of Cranach's small paintings which hung in Melanchthon's private school.