Church historians have documented 1517, the year Martin Luther published his ninety-five theses, as a starting point of the Reformation and chronicled in depth his public persona and private life. But in depicting Reformation-era personalities and politics, they seemed to have overlooked the important role played by the Cranach family. The earlier creation of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1436 spearheaded the dawning of a new media era that enabled the Cranach workshop to mass produce flysheets advancing Reformation ideas that were written in German and illustrated with woodcuts and pictures.
As part of the Luther Decade (2008’2017) celebrating the birth of the Reformation, 2015 was designated as the year of ‘Image and Bible,’ replete with exhibits and activities designed to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515’1586). Throughout his life, he stood in the shadow of his father, Lucas Cranach the Elder, a court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career and a close friend of Luther. As a boy, Lucas developed his skills in the art of painting and printmaking by working in his father’s workshop. He learned how to utilize these mediums to advance the political and theological views of the newly formed Protestant faith. Later, he expanded his father’s trade into an enterprise staffed by students who reproduced the Cranachs’ iconic paintings, thus enabling them to distribute the pictorial messages of the Reformation to a wider audience.
Wittenberg
Between June 26 and November 1, 2015, Lutherstadt Wittenberg became Cranach City when Augus-teum/Luther House, the largest Reformation museum in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage site, hosted the national exhibit ‘Lucas Cranach the Younger’Discovery of a Master.’ By walking through this exhibit, visitors could soak in the manifold aspects of the Cranach family as painters, patriarchs, politicians, and entrepreneurs. The accompanying ‘Pop-up Cranach’ exhibit allowed visitors to experience Cranach’s world via a series of interactive exhibits, walk-in exhibition modules, and an activity workshop.
The Town Church of St. Mary’s, the oldest building in Wittenberg, is home to several original Cranach paintings that have been recently restored, including the Reformation Altar. In this church, Cranach listened to Luther’s sermons. He was also most likely baptized and married here, and it’s where his grave and tomb can be found.
Other sites in Wittenberg that hosted Cranach’s work include the birth house of Cranach the Younger and the Melanchthon House, built on the site of the home of the humanist and reformer Philipp Melanchthon.
Weimar
This town was home to Lucas Cranach the Elder during the last three years of his life, as well as the site where he is buried. Here one can see signs of the Cranachs’ ecclesial influence, particularly in the Cranach altar (also known as the Weimar Altarpiece) at the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. This altar, which Lucas Cranach the Elder probably started and his son completed in 1555, depicts the crucifixion of Christ in the center. A stream of blood pours from the wound on Christ’s body onto Cranach, who is depicted in a side panel with Luther off to his right.
The Schiller Museum, in its ‘Cranach in Weimar’ exhibit (April 15 to June 15), offered a further analysis of this famous altarpiece, highlighting the political nature of the Cranachs’ art. In placing the now-famous pictures of Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora side by side,the Cranachs sent a clear message to the Vatican that the marriage of a former priest and nun was indeed valid.
Also, a seemingly innocent pastoral depiction of the famous biblical stories (such as Jesus welcoming children to him and the woman caught in adultery) were viewed as scandalous in the sixteenth century for depicting people touching the human form of Jesus. A collection of flysheets depict the anti-papal sentiment with a voracity similar to recent battles over religious drawings, such as the cartoons of Muhammad published by the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.
Erfurt
From June 27 to September 20, the Erfurt Angermuseum hosted ‘Controversy and Compro-mise. The Column Picture Cycle of Mariendom and the Culture of Dual-Confessionalism in Erfurt in the 1st Century.’ This exhibit placed the Catholic images depicted in the Cathedral of St. Mary’s within the context of the newly forming Protestant culture. Here one could also see depictions of artwork by other sixteenth-century Protestant and Catholic artists influenced by the Cranach workshop.
Gotha
The exhibit at the Herzoglichen Museum (Ducal Museum Gotha), ‘Cranach in the Service of Court and Reformation’ (March 29 to July 19), depicted the Cranach workshop’s work set against the background of the political and spiritual changes that were developing at the time in Reformation-era Germany. Artifacts such as Luther’s September Testament and his seminal translation of the Bible into the German language depict an early form of ‘picture propaganda.’ Among the woodcut drawings are depictions of the pope’s tiara carved onto the heads of figures such as the serpent in the Garden of Eden and the Whore of Babylon. These images were deemed so scandalous that the December Testament printed several months later contained prints with these drawings removed. Additional paintings on display included the woman caught in adultery and the then-controversial Law & Gospel painting that illustrates the concept of receiving salvation solely through grace without the need for papal indulgences. In 2016, an exhibit of these works will be coming to New York City and Minneapolis.
Eisenbach
The Wartburg Castle where Luther wrote the September Testament hosted the exhibit ‘The Luther Portraits of the Cranach Workshop’ (April 2 to July 19). Visitors were able to see different portraits of Martin Luther painted between 1520 and 1546, all of which were developed in the Cranach workshop. These portraits show Luther’s progression from a young Catholic monk to the Reformer at peace at the moment of his death.
Torgau
In Torgau in 1530 (the former seat of the Elector of Saxony), Luther, Philipp Melanchthon, Justus Jonas, and Johannes Bugenhagen drafted the Torgau Articles. Later that year, these articles were incorporated into the Augsburg Confession, the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church. This town now has the distinction of hosting the first of four national exhibitions marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In this exhibit, the Cranachs’ paintings were viewed alongside clothing and other artifacts from this era, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the cultural milieu of this era. Among the items on display were the jeweled mitre of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, the signet ring of Martin Luther, and the ceremonial sword and armor of the electors of Saxony.
Other exhibits in the Thüringen region that paid homage to Lucas Cranach the Younger included ‘Cranach in Anhalt,’ ‘Cranach in Neustadt,’ and ‘Cranach in the Gothic House’ in Wörlitzer Park. Twelve German towns and cities came together to create a walking tour called ‘Routes to Cranach,’ which enabled visitors to walk through areas that Lucas Cranach the Younger and his father had visited, offering an interesting and interactive experience in what their daily lives might have looked like.
