Three Apostles (a fragment of a larger work) c.1515-20

Three men gaze heavenwards in awe. A fragment of a larger panel possibly depicting the Ascension or Assumption, the painting captures the moment Jesus is revealed to his apostles in radiant white light. Cranach’s intense spiritual conviction and humanism is evident in the sympathetic expressions he gives the apostles, uplifted by their experience yet firmly rooted to the mortal world. He was a close friend of theologian Martin Luther, who inspired the Protestant Reformation with its emphasis on humility — in contrast to the wealth and ornamental excess of the Catholic Church.

Born in the Bavarian town of Kronach (from which he took his surname) and initially trained by his painter–father, Lucas Cranach the Elder established himself as an artist in Vienna around 1502. His second son, Lucas Cranach the Younger, began his painting career as an apprentice in his father’s workshop and would grow up to become the official lead of the family enterprise. Experts have suggested that Cranach the Elder painted the faces of the apostles while a member of his workshop painted the background.