1534
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Baptism of Christ is a 1534 unspecified by Lucas Cranach the Elder, a Northern Renaissance work, depicting John the Baptist, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This painting shows Christ standing waist-deep in a river. John the Baptist pours water over his head. The dove of the Holy Spirit glows above them. Trees and a town sit in the background. Cranach painted it in the 1530s. He worked closely with Martin Luther. They wanted religious art to tell Bible stories clearly, not just look pretty. Check out another work by Lucas Cranach at The Cleveland Museum of Art.
Painted in minute detail, Cranach’s majestic scene includes elements characteristic of landscapes in 16th-century German art: verdant forest, hilltop city, and distant mountains. A close associate of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, Cranach adapted Christian imagery to reflect Luther’s belief that religious art must narrate scripture. The Gospels describe Christ’s baptism with the heavens opening, a dove descending, and a voice saying, “Here is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased,” which Cranach painted in Latin directly onto the clouds.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
