Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560)

Artist Lucas Cranach the Younger German, 1515–1586

Date1558

MediumOil on pear wood

Dimensions24 1/8 x 34 7/8 in. (61.3 x 88.6 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation

Object numberGL.60.17.65

On View

On view

ProvenanceCollection J. Rosenbaum, Berlin; Heckenbroch, Frankfurt-am-Main; Ludwig Rosenthal (sold London, Sotheby’s, 4/29/37, cat. no. 108, as by Lucas Cranach the Younger, dated 1558); David M. Koetser, NY; Kress acquisition, 1957; given to NCMA, 1960.

Published ReferencesThe Samuel H. Kress Collection (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1960), 132, illus. (b-w) 133. "Picture of the Month," North Carolina Museum of Art Calendar of Art Events 5, no. 2 (November 1961), discussed 5-6, illus. (b-w) 6. "Acquisitions," North Carolina Museum of Art Bulletin 4, nos. 2 and 3 (Winter-Spring 1964), listed 58. Colin Eisler, Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools excluding Italian (Oxford, 1977), 41-42, illus. fig. 35. Edgar Peters Bowron, ed., Introduction to the Collections (Chapel Hill, published for the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, by The University of North Carolina Press, 1983), illus. (b-w) 168. Saints and Heroes (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1987), discussed 10, illus. (b-w) 10, fig. 7. Introduction to the Collections, rev. ed. (Raleigh: North Carolina Museum of Art, 1992), illus. (b-w) 152. Dennis P. Weller, "Portrait of the Artist: Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)," North Carolina Museum of Art Preview and Calendar of Events (Sept/Oct 2000), 14, illus. (b-w). Lyndal Roper, "Martin Luther's Body: The 'Stout Doctor' and His Biographers," in American Historical Review (April 2010), illus. (color) 353, fig. 2. Scott H. Hendrix, Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2015), illus. (b-w) fig. 23.

Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Duveen Brothers, “Cranach Loan Exhibition,” 1960, cat. no. 6 (as Lucas Cranach the Elder). Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, Mary Duke Biddle Education Gallery, "Saints and Heroes," November 14, 1987-July 24, 1988, discussed 10, illus. (b-w) 10, fig. 7. Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present.

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