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Lucas CranachArtist
Country:
 Germany |
Content:
- Biography of Lucas Cranach
- Introduction of Erotic Portraits
- Early Success and Diplomatic Mission
- The Protestant Reformation and Luther's Portraits
Biography of Lucas Cranach
German painter and graphic artist of the Renaissance eraLucas Cranach, a German master of painting and graphics during the Renaissance, is not marked as a significant figure in the annals of his time. However, he is considered a milestone in the history of Northern Renaissance art. In 1509, at the age of 37, Cranach dared to depict the naked goddess of love, Venus, for the first time in German painting. Prior to this, he, like his fellow painters, focused on strict biblical subjects for church altars and commissioned portraits for the nobility.
Introduction of Erotic Portraits
In the notable year of 1509, Cranach expanded his predominantly masculine gallery of portraits of thinkers and fearless knights by adding an erotic portrait of "Beloved Anna." This scandalous female portrait, which caused a storm of playful comments in verse and prose among his enlightened friends, did not survive to the present day. However, the first German "Venus," whose dusky-pale nudity was noted as "chastity of an unopened flower" by one researcher, is now housed in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The Latin inscription on the painting warns against succumbing to lust, as Venus will blind one's soul. The transparent ribbons, intended to represent fig leaves, paradoxically draw attention to what was meant to be hidden.
Furthermore, Cranach once casually sketched "The Judgment of Paris" on the reverse side of his own drawing of the Crucifixion. The scene of seduction directly intersected with the tragedy of Golgotha. Thus, it was through Cranach's light touch that mythological themes and pagan inclinations actively entered German painting. Unlike his contemporary, the principled realist Albrecht Dürer, Cranach always gravitated towards fairy-tale motifs. It is no wonder that his rise to wealth and fame occurred almost like a fairy tale.
Early Success and Diplomatic Mission
In 1504, Cranach arrived in the enlightened university town of Wittenberg from an unknown place, and soon received a noble patent with his own coat of arms in the form of a winged dragon from the ruling Elector Frederick the Wise. The discerning ruler immediately recognized the extraordinary talent of the newly minted court painter, not only in art but also in other fields. In 1508, Cranach was sent on a diplomatic mission to the court of Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, whose court was located in the Netherlands at that time. After this, everyone in Antwerp admired the portrait of the emperor painted by Cranach on the wall of his favorite tavern.
As a true Renaissance man, Lucas excelled in various fields. In addition to painting and excellent engravings, he provided excellent designs for decorative fabrics, tapestries, and house paintings. He also personally painted, carved, and molded models in wood and clay for tombstones, church utensils, secular trinkets, court costumes, and jewelry.
Cranach's advantageous marriage to the daughter of the wealthiest brewer in Wittenberg and the construction of his own large house followed. Soon, the artist owned two houses in Wittenberg that he rented out to a bookshop, a wine shop, and a pharmacy. In 1515, Lucas Cranach the Younger was born. It is said that "nature rests" on children. However, the son inherited his father's artistic talent, business acumen, substantial capital, and prestigious positions. By this time, Lucas the Elder had already served as a member of the city council, thrice held the position of treasurer at different times, and once served as the mayor. In the 1520s, Cranach became the wealthiest citizen after the court chancellor, Brun.
The Protestant Reformation and Luther's Portraits
In the thousands of engraved prints, these portraits of Luther circulated among the people, proclaiming that the persecuted reformer was alive and active. Cranach was pleased; his expressive "propaganda" combined the most pressing topicality with commercial soundness. The artist financed and published Martin Luther's famous "September Testament" in his own printing house, complete with his illustrations, which resounded throughout Germany.
When Luther introduced Cranach to his family, the painter's attention shifted to the reformer's wife, Katharina von Bora. Although not a beauty, she captivated everyone with her powerful force, wild and pungent charm of femininity. However, Cranach soon "betrayed" Katharina with the beautiful Sibylla of Cleves, the fiancée of the young Elector John Frederick. Dressed in heavy royal brocade, the golden-haired fragile teenage girl was portrayed by Cranach as a true fairytale princess. Her feline grace and delicate youthful freshness overshadowed Luther's ordinary and somewhat predatory companion. With her high forehead, high cheekbones, capricious nose, and mysteriously slanted light blue eyes, this image would later become known as the "Cranach female type."
With the appearance of Lucas Cranach the Elder's young Sibylla of Cleves in his paintings, his fairytale Venus acquired a concrete face. Enchanted by the artist's delicate artistic play, her happy fiancé and later husband, Johann Frederick, a dreamy and melancholic figure, willingly played the negative role of the biblical villain Holofernes, captivated and executed by the beautiful Judith, in the vibrant spectacles of Cranach's paintings. Thus, Johann's head lies at the feet of his beloved Sibylla, as if to express the bliss of being beheaded by such a tender velvet hand. There are also other variations: sometimes Sibylla appears as Salome.
However, nothing lasts forever. In the autumn of 1546, the court painter Lucas Cranach the Elder received his last court salary and full freedom. But, there was no one left to serve: his "Holofernes" and master suffered a devastating defeat in the war of the German princes. Johann Frederick narrowly escaped death and was forever deprived of his electorate, along with the blessed city of Wittenberg. Sibylla, although withered, but still graceful, accompanied her aging and declining husband into exile. Soon, the grateful artist, a tired witness and artistic chronicler of the rise and fall of the royal couple, followed his captive ruler to end his life in the unfamiliar city of Weimar.
Before permanently leaving Wittenberg, which had given him so much happiness and creative energy, Cranach created a kind of poem to his beloved city. The elderly artist painted the work "Fountain of Youth," emanating bright and joyful radiance. Contrary to life's logic but in complete harmony with the wisdom of fairy tales, the composition of this painting unfolds from end to beginning, from old age to youth. Barren rocks are visible from afar, from which tired, decrepit old women come and are brought to the magnificent pool. Reluctantly, the victims of old age immerse themselves in the healing water. However, as they approach the center of this miraculous lake, exhausted bathers begin to magically transform. In the middle of the lake, their lightened hands triumphantly rise above their heads. Once again, rejuvenated, the women frolic and splash in the pool of youth.
Throughout his life, Lucas Cranach the Elder ridiculed the eternal female dream of endless youth. In the innocent weakness of this dream, he saw his own reflection, for at the moment of creating the painting, full of life, transparent water, and sunlight, the artist was already over seventy.
The women he generously granted a second youth to eagerly jump onto the flowering shore, shaded by fruitful trees. Ah, these mysterious groves and thickets of Cranach! While in the Netherlands, he became acquainted with the most mystical artist in Europe, Hieronymus Bosch, and joined his enigmatic sect, the "Garden Brotherhood." They professed complete freedom in love and dreamed of the return of the legendary Golden Age to earth.
"The Fountain of Youth" is truly a worthy finale for the great painter. In this painting, there is an inexhaustible vitality that always accompanied the artist on the path of the Impossible.
While we can only admire the flawless classical beauties of Leonardo, Raphael, and Giorgione from a distance, as unattainable divine images, in Cranach's capricious creations, in these slant-eyed and long-legged eternal teenagers, we seem to recognize our unpredictable sisters and contemporaries. This poignant kinship makes the soul of their creator close to our era.
