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CRANACH, Lucas the Elder: Donor Portraits of Frederick the Wise and John the Steadfast

🖼 Donor Portraits of Frederick the Wise and John the Steadfast, c. 1515
Oil and tempera on pinewood (each)
64 × 49 cm
Coburg, Germany

Two richly dressed figures dominate the panel, rendered in precise detail with gold leaf accents and jeweled garments against a dark background. Cranach's dual portrait established the donor portrait as political propaganda, immortalizing Frederick and John as pious Protestant patrons during Reformation upheaval.

The story of art
The story of art
E. H. Gombrich
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