A Silver-Gilt Cross with Christ Crucified, from the Wittenberg Reliquaries
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/8 × 3 13/16 in. (13 × 9.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1927
Accession Number
27.54.69
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder a silver-gilt cross bearing the crucified Christ, originating from the Wittenberg Relaries. Created in the Renaissance style, Cranach was a master printmaker and close associate of Martin Luther, working in Wittenberg—the epicenter of the Protestant Reformation Though the exact date is unknown, such prints from the early 16th century served as affordable devotional aids, disseminating religious imagery to the faithful amid turbulent theological shifts. The woodcut medium, carved into a wooden block and inked for reproduction, exemplifies Cranac...
About the Artist
Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1472–1553
Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472-1553) was one of the most prominent German Renaissance painters and a key artistic figure of the Protestant Reformation. Born in Kronach, Franconia, to the painter Hans Maler, Cranach began his career in Vienna around 1502, where he became one of the founders of the Danube School, a movement characterized by expressive landscape painting and emotional force. His ea...