October 15, 2012 |
10) Portrait of King Christian II of Denmark, XXXX, Lucas Cranach the Elder, shown by the De Jonckheere Gallery
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a big cheese of Reformation Germany. Born in 1472, this chum of Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer of Catholic decadence, was not only the most in-demand court painter, but an apothecary, bible printer, town councillor and burgomaster. His best-loved works are his creepy, stylised nudes, depicting Venuses or Adam and Eves, with hairless, sinuous bodies, apple-round breasts and slanting, serpent eyes. His main line, though, was portraiture, including depictions of Luther’s entire family and the many aristocratic patrons he rubbed shoulders with throughout his life.
This portrait, then, is a major bit of art history. The sitter’s dress sense is of a piece with Protestant minimalism. No gold brocade for this monarch. His plain black robe, white shirt and sensible furs say he’s a serious, plain-speaking ruler. Yet while it depicts a flesh-and-blood real man, King Christian II, in a simple, quality outfit, there’s still something subtly unnerving about Cranach’s painting. It’s got a lot to do with the eerily empty backdrop the king is positioned against, less a sky than a void. It suggests a virtual realm, a dream limbo, or even a computer-generated bubble. King Christian seems to hail not just from another time, but another world.
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Kronach 1472-Weimar 1553
Portrait of King Christian II of Denmark
Panel: 57 x 42cm
Courtesy De Jonckheere Gallery
by Skye Sherwin
