The Artist Lucas Cranach
To mark the opening on the Europe of the portion of its programming dedicated to the Renaissance, the Luxembourg in Paris Museum reopens its doors with an exhibition dedicated to the German artist Lucas Cranach (circa 1472-1553). A painter prolific and versatile, yet unsung French public which can discover thanks to this exhibition the scope of his work.
The exhibition, the first in France dedicated to the painter, major German Renaissance artist to understand its place in art history and its involvement in the society of his time, then affected by deep political and religious upheaval. Painter at the Court of Saxony at the time of Martin Luther, and frequent traveler, artist success, it faces many commands.
At Wittenberg, Cranach stands including the theologian Martin Luther whom he performs numerous portraits. Soon himself in favour of the Protestant Reformation, Cranach helped develop a new iconography of Protestant, without abandoning the orders of the Catholic Church.
The exhibition first the European dimension of Lucas Cranach, art is not only marked by Du¨rer works whose prints are circulating, but also look on the side of Flanders and the Italy. To reveal these influences the exhibition features paintings, drawings and engravings of Lucas Cranach with production look other artists.
Nude occupies a central place to the work of Lucas Cranach. In his female figures of great sensuality, sometimes borrowed from the ancient directory (Venus, Diane, Lucrèce…), sometimes culture Christian (Eve, Judith), he represents bodies sometimes disturbing beauty, whose canon distinguishes very clearly valued the Renaissance ideal proportions. These ambiguous images, mixing sex and morality, with often complex meaning met a huge success which prompted the artist declined in varied forms in due time.
Recall that the Louvre had acquired the three Graces, a major work of the artist. The table will be presented from March 2 to April 4, 2011, in a particular room of the Museum.
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