ABSTRACT
THERE is no good portrait of Luther after his forty-third year, but from the numerous inferior pictures painted by Lucas Cranach's sons and apprentices and from a number of descriptions it is possible to get a fairly good idea of his personal appearance. The accounts are somewhat contradictory in details, as, for example, his eyes are variously reported to have been black, brown, and dark with yellow rings around the pupils. Almost all, however, were impressed by the restless fire that flashed from them, and by the lion-like mien of the man. In later life his form became portly, but in spite of illness he retained a look of uncommon youth and vigor. His hair turned gray but did not become sparse. In his last years traces of suffering and irritability appeared, though when he was forty-two even an enemy found his expression pleasant and serene.1
