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

Portraits of Hans Luther and Margaretha Luther

1527
Oil and tempera on red beechwood, 38 x 25 cm (each)
Wartburg-Stiftung, Eisenach

Hans Luther (1459-1530), the father of Martin Luther, was the eldest son of a farming family from Möhra near Eisenach. After the birth of his eldest son he moved from Eisleben to nearby Mansfeld, where he ran a copper works which he made modestly prosperous. His wife Margaretha (1460-1531) came from Eisenach, and after the birth of the future reformer brought at least eight more children into the world.

In 1527 the couple visited their son, now famous, in Wittenberg. On this occasion they may have sat to Lucas Cranach. Unlike the numerous versions of portraits of the reformer, the portraits of the parents are unique items intended for personal mementos. The paintings express an unmistakable sympathy with the parents of the painter's friend.




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