Biographies

Cranach, Lucas the Elder (1472 – 1553)

He takes his name from the small town of Kronach in South Germany, where he was born, and very little is known of his life before about 1500-01, when he settled in Vienna and worked briefly in the humanist circles associated with the newly founded university. In 1504 he moved to Wittenberg to become court painter to Frederick III (the Wise), Elector of Saxony, and he remained there for most of his life.