Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) was one of the foremost German Renaissance artists. This talented painter and draughtsman, skilled designer, and publisher of woodcut illustrations developed his career as a court painter to the electors of Saxony in Wittenberg. He was also the leading artist of the Reformation. It was his workshop that provided the new confession with fundamentally important works, both owing to their iconography and persuasive power.

The exhibition presents “Virgin and Child under the Fir Trees” from the Archdiocese Museum in Wrocław and “Adam and Eve” from the National Museum in Warsaw – the two most important paintings by Cranach kept in Polish collections. Both were created at the same time, around 1510, when the artist worked at the Wittenberg castle, mostly on commission from the court of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony.

The exhibition also presents prints by leading German artists of the time: Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Albrecht Altdorfer, Augustin Hirschvogel, as well as drawings from the Danube school. These will serve to demonstrate the formats of depiction employed at the time, which often explored the boundaries between the sacred and the profane, as well as issues related to workshop practice or the expectations of commissioners, who often hailed from the court elites.

Exhibition in Warsaw is available from 17 December 2021 to 27 February 2022.
Read more: https://www.mnw.art.pl/en/temporary-exhibitions/cranach-nature-and-the-sacred,49.html