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 Info
Triptych with the Martyrdom of St Catherine
1506
Lime-tree
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Altarpiece (first opening)
1539
Wood
Wolfgangskirche, Schneeberg


Altarpiece (second opening)
1539
Wood
Wolfgangskirche, Schneeberg


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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



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



© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.