Who painted Portrait of a Man?

Portrait of a Man was painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1534.

Where can I see Portrait of a Man?

Portrait of a Man is held by Statens Museum for Kunst.

What movement is Portrait of a Man?

Portrait of a Man is associated with Northern Renaissance.

Can I buy a print of Portrait of a Man?

Museum-quality prints of Portrait of a Man are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

Portrait of a Man

Lucas Cranach the Elder , 1534

Portrait of a Man is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder. It dates from 1534 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.

About this work

History & Provenance

The work is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it is recorded under the accession number for the collection of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

Lucas Cranach the Elder created this oil-on-panel portrait in 1534. The work depicts an unidentified male subject and measures 51.5 cm in height by 36 cm in width. Since its inception, the painting has entered the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains held today.

The work is held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it is recorded under the accession number for the collection of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder. It has been displayed in the museum’s permanent exhibition of Northern Renaissance portraiture and was featured in the 2018 exhibition "Cranach: Portraits of the Reformation."

Overview

Lucas Cranach the Elder’s oil painting titled Portrait of a Man dates from 1534 and is part of the collection at Denmark’s Statens Museum for Kunst. The work presents a single male sitter in a solemn pose, rendered in the characteristic Northern Renaissance manner of the early sixteenth century.

Subject & Meaning

The figure is shown in a dark robe with a crisp white collar, his hands placed on his chest; one hand grasps a small, round object that may be a coin or a signet ring. The direct gaze and composed demeanor suggest a portrait intended to convey status, personal virtue, or a specific civic role.

Technique & Style

Cranach employs a restrained palette of deep blacks, muted greens and browns, allowing the white collar and the flesh tones to stand out. The artist’s handling of light creates a subtle chiaroscuro effect, modeling the face and especially the hands with pronounced texture and three‑dimensionality, while the background remains flat and unadorned.

Context

The portrait belongs to a period when Northern artists produced individualized likenesses for patrons of the emerging bourgeois class. Cranach’s workshop was known for combining courtly elegance with a keen observation of texture, evident in the detailed rendering of the sitter’s hands and facial features.