1472-1553. German painter, etcher, and
woodcut artist, a leading light in the German
Renaissance. He painted many full-length
nudes and precise and polished portraits,
such as Martin Luther 1521 (Uffizi,
Florence). Born at Kronach in Bavaria, he
settled at Wittenberg in 1504 to work for the
elector of Saxony. He is
associated with the Christian reformer Martin
Durer and Altdorfer and was a close friend of
Luther, whose portrait he painted several
times. His religious paintings feature
splendid landscapes. His second son, Lucas
Cranach the Younger (1515-86), had a similar
style and succeeded his father as director of
the Cranach workshop.