Born in 1515 in Wittenberg, Cranach trained at his father’s studio, which served the court of the Saxon electors and maintained close ties with leading Reformers. From an early age, Cranach assisted in the production of portraits, altarpieces and prints, learning his father's artistic style. Amongst Cranach’s earliest works include two large panels about Hercules, painted for the Elector Maurice of Saxony in 1551.
Following his father’s retirement in 1552, Cranach assumed full control of the workshop. Under his direction, the Cranach studio remained one of the most productive artistic enterprises in Germany, and Cranach adopted his father’s artistic emblem of a winged serpent. The artist continued to supply portraits of Protestant leaders, including works of Martin Luther and other theologians. These images played a crucial role in defining the public face of the Reformation.
Cranach also upheld the workshop’s tradition of court portraiture and produced several paintings of members of the ruling Saxon house. Among his most notable oil paintings are those produced for the exiled John Frederick, former Elector of Saxony, in 1555.
The artist further sustained the production of religious and mythological subjects established by his father. Though it is often difficult to separate the works of Cranach the Younger from his father, in paintings such as The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels, he distinguishes himself through the landscape. Cranach rendered it with a more painterly freedom than his father did in similar works, with the artist painting the architectural details with a light, slightly opaque colouring. This painting was sold by Christie’s in 2019 for £791,250.
Alongside his artistic work, Cranach was an engaged civic figure in Wittenberg, serving as a council member and later as mayor. The artist died in 1586, though his stewardship of the Cranach workshop ensured the longevity of a visual tradition that defined German Renaissance art. He also influenced contemporary artists, with Picasso creating his Portrait of a Young Girl (1958) based on a postcard of a painting by Lucas Cranach the Younger.
Lucas Cranach II (Wittenberg 1515-1586 Weimar)
The Virgin and Child with infant Saint John the Baptist sleeping
Lucas Cranach, the Younger (Wittenberg 1515-1586 Weimar)
The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Angels
LUCAS CRANACH, THE YOUNGER (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
Ill-Matched Lovers
Lucas Cranach II (Wittenberg 1515-1586)
Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Lucas Cranach II (Wittenberg 1515-1586)
Saint Paul
Studio of Lucas Cranach I (Kronach 1472-1553 Weimar)
Portrait of Barbara Duchess of Saxony (1471-1539)
Attributed to Lucas Cranach the Younger (Wittenberg 1515-1586 Weimar)
Portrait of a lady
ÉCOLE ALLEMANDE, 1532, ATELIER DE LUCAS CRANACH L'ANCIEN
Portrait de Frédé ric le Sage, Électeur de Saxe (1463-1525)
Studio of Lucas Cranach II (Wittenberg 1515-1586 Weimar)
Christ as the Man of Sorrows
Workshop of Lucas Cranach I (Kronach 1515-1586 Weimar)
Portrait of John the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony (1468-1532)
Follower of Lucas Cranach II
Judith with the head of Holofernes
Follower of Lucas Cranach II
Portrait of Martin Luther, bust-length, in a black cloak
Follower of Lucas Cranach II
The Ill-matched Lovers
LUCAS CRANACH II (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
The Raising of Lazarus
WORKSHOP OF LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER (KRONACH 1472-1553 WEIMAR)
The penitent Saint Jerome in a landscape
LUCAS CRANACH THE YOUNGER (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
Portrait of Caspar Cruciger (1504-1548), bust-length, holding a book
CIRCLE OF LUCAS CRANACH, THE YOUNGER (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
Salome with the head of Saint John the Baptist
LUCAS CRANACH THE YOUNGER (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
An epitaph: The Resurrected Christ with a donor family
LUCAS CRANACH THE YOUNGER (WITTENBERG 1515-1586 WEIMAR)
Portrait of Caspar Cruciger (1504-1548), bust-length, holding a book