LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER
(4 October 1472 – 16 October 1553) was a German painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was born Lucas Sunder at Kronach in upper Franconia, and learned the art of drawing from his father.

It has not been possible to trace his descent or the name of his parents. His name of birth is differently known as Sünder, Sunder or Sonder. Some mention a Hans Maler and wife, Hübner, who died in 1491. Later, he took the name of his birth-place as his surname. We do not know how Cranach was trained, but it was probably with local south German masters, as with his contemporary Matthias Grünewald, who worked at Bamberg and Aschaffenburg. Bamberg is the capital of the diocese in which Kronach lies.

According to Gunderam (the tutor of Cranach's children) Cranach demonstrated his talents as a painter before the close of the 15th century. His work then drew the attention of the Elector of Saxony, who attached Cranach to his person in 1504. The records of Wittenberg confirm Gunderam's statement to this extent that Cranach's name appears for the first time in the public accounts on the 24 June 1504, when he drew 50 gulden for the salary of half a year, as pictor ducalis.

The only clue to Cranach's settlement previous to his Wittenberg appointment is afforded by the knowledge that he owned a house at Gotha, and that Barbara Brengbier, his wife, was the daughter of a burgher of that city and also born there, having died at Wittenberg on 26 December 1540.

Lucas Cranach, Lasset die Kindlein zu mir kommen

Lucas Cranach, Virgin and Child under an Apple Tree, Oil on canvas transferred from panel, 87 x 59 cm, 1525-30

Lucas Cranach, The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, Panel, 67.5 x 47.3 cm, ca. 1516

Lucas Cranach, The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, Panel, 67.5 x 47.3 cm, ca. 1516

Lucas Cranach, Portrait of a Young Girl, Oil on wood, 39 x 25 cm, ca. 1540

Lucas Cranach, An Allegory of Melancholy, Oil on wood, 113 x 72 cm, 1528

Lucas Cranach, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, 1504

Lucas Cranach, Young Mother with Child, Oil on wood, 60 x 37 cm

Lucas Cranach, Porträt einer sächsischen Prinzessin, Oil on wood, 43.6 × 34.5 cm, 1517