He is considered – next to Albrecht Dürer – the most important German Renaissance artist. His work had a strong influence on the art of other artists of the time. He was a court painter of the Prince Elector of Saxony Frederick III the Wise, from whom he received the title of nobility and a coat of arms – a crowned snake with bat’s wings and a ring. A great businessman and manager – Lucas Cranach called the Elder. His two paintings can now be seen at a temporary exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw.
Lucas Cranach was a friend of Martin Luther, a witness at his wedding to Katharina von Bora, and godfather to their first son. He maintained equally close contact with the circle of humanists at the University of Wittenberg, especially with Philip Melanchthon. As his sons grew older, he drew them into the profession. Hans lived a short life, but Lucas became a good and taken artist, and to distinguish himself from his famous father, he was given the nickname – the Younger. We owe him a whole series of portraits of the family of Sigismund I the Old.
Cranach the Elder died at the age of eighty-one. He left behind over 400 works.