The artist Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) is well remembered in Weimar, but in fact only moved to the city from Wittenberg in the last year of his life, in 1552, at the age of 80. He lived in what is now the brightly-painted Cranachhaus in the Markt – I don't know if it was painted in the same colours then – which was built in 1549 for his son-in-law. He is said to have started work in the attic of the house on his final painting, destined for the altar of the town church, the Stadtkirche St Peter und Paul, now generally known as the Herderkirche. The painting includes a depiction of Cranach himself, and was probably completed by his son Lucas Cranach the Younger.
Cranach was born Lucas Sunder (or a similar name) in the town of Kronach, about 60km south of Weimar, and for some reason adapted the town name as his own. After he died, on 16 October 1553, he was buried in the churchyard of the Jakobskirche here in Weimar; the substantial tombstone there is a copy and the original is in the Herderkirche. |
