Mythological nudes
by Lucas CRANACH the Elder

Together with the secular commissions for decorating Electoral palaces and castles and providing the churches of Saxony with altarpieces, Cranach pursued other areas. There was an increase in his mythological and allegorical scenes drawn from pagan Antiquity which were distributed in print form, and panel paintings which initially were all individual pieces. These include such grandiose works as the life-sized Venus and Cupid of 1509.

One of Cranach's most beguiling compositions is the so-called Nymph of the Fountain. This reclining figure derives from classical marbles. After the earliest dated version of 1518, he painted several variants.

Later he depicted several variants of the Judgment of Paris, Apollo and Diana, Venus and Cupid. Most of these mythological works paraphrase earlier prints by other artists (e.g. Dürer and Barbari).

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
The Judgment of Paris
c. 1513
Oil and tempera on limewood, 43 x 32 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

1039*1400
True Color
189 Kb



The Judgment of Paris (detail)
c. 1513
Oil and tempera on limewood
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

1000*1339
True Color
204 Kb



The Judgment of Paris (detail)
c. 1513
Oil and tempera on limewood
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

1000*1313
True Color
173 Kb



The Judgment of Paris
1512-14
Limewood, 43 x 32,2 cm
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne

730*990
True Color
167 Kb



The Judgment of Paris
1527
Oil on panel, 63 x 50 cm
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

1127*1500
True Color
231 Kb



The Judgment of Paris
c. 1528
Oil on beech panel, 102 x 71 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

989*1400
True Color
240 Kb



The Judgment of Paris (detail)
c. 1528
Oil on beech panel
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

856*1100
True Color
252 Kb



The Judgment of Paris (detail)
c. 1528
Oil on beech panel
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

1200*756
True Color
234 Kb



Reclining River Nymph at the Fountain
1518
Oil on wood, 59 x 92 cm
Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig

1180*770
True Color
172 Kb



Reclining Water Nymph
1515-20
Oil and tempera on limewood, 58 x 87 cm
Jagdschloss Grunewald, Berlin

1524*1000
True Color
203 Kb



Reclining Nymph
1530-34
Oil on panel, 75 x 120 cm
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

1200*763
True Color
178 Kb



Reclining Water Nymph
1533
Oil and tempera on red beechwood, 37 x 24 cm
Hessisches Landesmuseum, Darmstadt

1000*1500
True Color
213 Kb



The Nymph of the Fountain
1534
Panel
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1148*718
True Color
174 Kb



Apollo and Diana
c. 1526
Oil and tempera on beechwood, 85 x 57 cm
Royal Collection, London

1000*1465
True Color
216 Kb



Apollo and Diana (detail)
c. 1526
Oil and tempera on beechwood
Royal Collection, London

1000*1290
True Color
212 Kb



Apollo and Diana (detail)
c. 1526
Oil and tempera on beechwood
Royal Collection, London

970*1023
True Color
173 Kb



Apollo and Diana
c. 1530
Oil and tempera on wood, 45 x 31 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

1000*1431
True Color
172 Kb



A Faun and his Family with a Slain Lion
c. 1526
Oil and tempera on wood, 83 x 56 cm
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

1014*1500
True Color
174 Kb



A Faun and his Family with a Slain Lion (detail)
c. 1526
Oil and tempera on wood
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

1001*1317
True Color
170 Kb



The Faun Family
1531
Oil on panel, 44 x 34 cm
Private collection

677*894
True Color
171 Kb



The Three Graces
1535
Oil on wood, 49 x 34 cm
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City

1155*1600
True Color
139 Kb



Hercules and Antaeus
c. 1530
Oil and tempera on wood, 27 x 18 cm
Private collection

678*1000
True Color
83 Kb




Summary of works by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Paintings
altar retables | representations of the Virgin | St Jerome
religious themes until 1515 | from 1516
biblical scenes | biblical nudes
mythological nudes | Venus and Lucretia | allegorical scenes
portraits until 1515 | 1516-1526 | from 1527
miscellaneous paintings
Graphics
drawings | woodcuts