Cranach the Untamed: The Early Years of Viena

A collaboration with the Oskar Reinhart Collection in Switzerland, this exhibition at the Kunsthistorische Museum in Vienna (21 June–16 October) presents key works by the German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder. It is the first to focus on the artist’s formative years in Vienna, uncovering the unruly nature of the many of the paintings produced prior to his role as court painter to the Electors of Saxony in 1505. Highlights include early sketches such as St John Devours the Book (1498) and Christ on the Mount of Olives (c. 1500). The exhibition also marks the return of the celebrated portraits of the humanist Johannes Cuspinian and his wife Anna to the city in which they were painted. Find out more from the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

The Crucifixion of Christ ('Schotten Crucifixion') (c. 1500), Lucas Cranach the Elder. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna;

The Crucifixion of Christ (c. 1500), Lucas Cranach the Elder. Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. Photo:
© KHM-Museumsverband

Marriage-Diptych of Johannes Cuspinian and Anna Cuspinian-Putsch (1502–3), Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553). © Sammlung Oskar Reinhart 'Am Römerholz', Winterthur

From the Marriage-Diptych of Johannes Cuspinian and Anna Cuspinian-Putsch (c. 1502–3), Lucas Cranach the Elder. Photo: © Sammlung Oskar Reinhart ‘Am Römerholz’, Winterthur