Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was a friend of Luther and an influential figure in Lutheran art. He is known for woodcuts, portraits, and paintings, many of which were produced to complement Lutheran theology. One particular work of Cranach’s, an altarpiece in St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg, teaches Lutheran doctrine through eight panels, with four of the panels on each side of the altarpiece. The students in my class have been working on an imitation of Cranach’s “Luther Preaching,” which is a part of this larger work. Studying the entire group of paintings shows the skill and delight that Cranach had in creating scenes that would teach people about salvation.
The panels on the front visualize the sacraments and preaching. In the central top panel, the Lord’s Supper is depicted with Christ presiding at the table, John reclining on his chest, Judas receiving a piece of bread, and the other disciples raising their hands in concern. In Cranach’s depiction of the twelve disciples at the table, he used Luther and Hans Lufft, a Wittenberg printer and publisher, as two of the figures. Though Luther certainly was not in the room the night of the Last Supper, Cranach is right that Christians like Luther and Lufft are indeed with Christ at His table when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. Another portion of the sacramental side of the altarpiece on the left side depicts a baptism with Philip Melanchthon baptizing a baby, another man holding a white garment for the child, and a third man displaying a Bible opened to Mark 16:16: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” The right side of the panel shows Johannes Bugenhagen holding two keys, forgiving the sins of one man who kneels at his side, and withholding forgiveness from an unrepentant man who has his back turned to the pastor. The lower central panel in the grouping is perhaps the most well-known, showing Christ with flowing robes in the middle of the scene hanging on the cross. Luther is on the right side pointing to Christ while holding a Bible, as if declaring that all of Scripture points to Christ. On the left side the congregation looks at Jesus while listening to Luther preach. Lucas Cranach appropriately included himself as one of the congregants.
The other four panels on the back of the altarpiece show Biblical scenes, a depiction of the Trinity, and the saved and damned on the Last Day. Here the central image is Christ as the conqueror of death, standing resurrected over the fallen bodies of death and the devil. The left panel shows a ram given to take Isaac’s place just as Abraham is about to kill him, and the right panel shows the bronze serpent that God told Moses to rise in the wilderness. These Old Testament narratives are a fitting pair, as both point forward to the crucifixion where the Lamb of God is raised up and takes away the sins of the world. In the lower central panel, believers are resurrected from the dust and look up to Christ for their salvation, while opposite them flames lick at the souls of unbelievers, including even a tonsured monk.
This painting was first displayed a year after Luther’s death, and those who viewed it saw their own pastors and themselves depicted as receiving God’s Word and Sacraments. Cranach’s work would have contrasted with the typical Roman Catholic art of far-removed saints in heavenly settings by focusing chiefly on Christ and showing that He is One who comes to be with His Church and makes heaven on earth through the Sacraments and preaching of His Word.
In Christ,
Miss Engwall
