Contribution of Lucas Cranach the Elder to the spread of Martin Luther’s reformation ideas (the first half of the 16th century)

Abstract

By the example of the “Christ and the woman the work of taken in adultery” (“Christus und die Ehebrecherin”) painting, the article considers the role of German painter Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop in spreading the Reformation ideas. The choice of that specific artwork stems from the painter’s frequent usage of that biblical plot and from many variations which have survived to the present day. The authors intend not only to compare the different periods of Cranach’s creative activity but also to reveal, with the help of the iconological method, the context and the main motives which influenced the transformation of his works. To characterize one of the most important factors – the religious context of the early Modern times – the authors refers to the quotations from the Lutheran interpretation of the biblical story about an adulteress, based on Martin Luther’s sermon of 1531. They also do not overlook the third-party sources of inspiration, that belong to the pre-Reformation period or have no connection with the Reformation at all. Therefore, the article tries to define the peculiarities of Cranach’s works of art and to find the intersection point between the well-established canons of art tradition and the visualization of the new protestant principle of the “sola gratia” (“only grace”).