Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)

• The first evidence of Cranach's skill as an artist comes in a picture dated 1504.
• In 1509 Cranach went to the Netherlands, and painted the Emperor Maximilian and the boy who afterwards became Emperor Charles V.
• Until 1508 Cranach signed his works with his initials.
• In that year the elector gave him the winged snake as an emblem, or Kleinod, which superseded the initials on his pictures after that date.
• Signature of Cranach the Elder from 1508 on: winged snake with ruby ring.
• It is difficult to fix the time of his first meeting with Martin Luther.
• The oldest reference to Cranach in Luther's correspondence dates from 1520.
• Cranach was present as a witness at the betrothal festival of Luther and Katharina von Bora.
• He was also godfather to their first child, Johannes "Hans" Luther, born 1526. 
• The displayed painting is a crop from: Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, 1530.
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