ABSTRACT
The Protestant Reformation was the single most influential factor in the development of German art during the sixteenth century. Traditional images were newly interpreted in light of changing beliefs. And the Lutheran Reformation led to new types of images, primarily in the medium of painting. Martin Luther’s views on the value of religious images diverged greatly from those of the other reformers, especially Zwingli and Calvin. Luther was the only Protestant theologian who not only tolerated them but, in fact, accorded the visual arts an important role in religious education. In most of the Lutheran-inspired pictorial works created in the Cranach workshop, an existing theme was newly interpreted to convey a Protestant message, developed in close consultation with Luther himself. In Lucas Cranach the Elder he found the ideal collaborator to create Lutheran art. Cranach’s artistic eloquence perfectly matched Luther’s theological persuasiveness.
