# Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/portrait-of-philipp-melanchthon-rcbbf3797b50139>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [CRANACH, Lucas the Younger](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4>)
- Date: 1501-1550
- Technique: Oil on pine panel, 63 x 49 cm

## Commentary

Portrait of Philipp Melanchthon c. 1550 Oil on pine panel, 63 x 49 cm Private collection Philipp Melanchthon \(1497-1560\) was a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and an influential designer of educational systems. He stands next to Luther and Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. Melanchthon had his portrait painted on numerous occasions, but he only sat to four artists: Albrecht &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/d/durer/2/13/5/104.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/d/durer/2/13/5/104.html&#34;&gt;Dürer&lt;/a&gt; \(in an engraving of 1526\); Hans &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/3miniatu/2melanch.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/h/holbein/hans\_y/3miniatu/2melanch.html&#34;&gt;Holbein the Younger&lt;/a&gt; \(whose portrait of circa 1535 is in the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseums, Hannover\); and both Lucas &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/c/cranach/lucas\_e/13/12luthe2.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/c/cranach/lucas\_e/13/12luthe2.html&#34;&gt; Cranach the Elder&lt;/a&gt; and his son Lucas &lt;a onclick=&#34;return OpenOther\(&#39;/html/c/cranach/lucas\_y/18melanc.html&#39;\)&#34; href=&#34;/html/c/cranach/lucas\_y/18melanc.html&#34;&gt;Cranach the Younger.&lt;/a&gt; Cranach the Younger painted several portraits of Melanchthon, probably from the mid 1540s onwards. The earliest would seem to be that dated 1544, in Östra Ryd, Sweden, and the last painted from life is that signed and dated 1559 in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, finished just one year before Melanchthon&#39;s death at the age of 63. Such was the demand for portraits of Luther and Melanchthon that several posthumous works were produced by Cranach the Younger and his studio.

## Related artworks

- [Adam and Eve](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/adam-and-eve-r55985dcd7dbc5c>)
- [Adam](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/adam-rf36297d22ad1b3>)
- [Caritas](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/caritas-rc1b1197d531709>)
- [Caritas](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/caritas-rfe9fc67c8bfb15>)
- [Christ and the Adulteress](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-and-the-adulteress-r32c05a03c4e6a3>)
- [Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-and-the-woman-taken-in-adultery-r5921032de8572e>)
- [Christ as the Man of Sorrows](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-as-the-man-of-sorrows-r831c7b5e9bce5a>)
- [Christ Blessing the Children \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-blessing-the-children-detail-ra23ed596bdc969>)
- [Christ Blessing the Children](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-blessing-the-children-r32c10f2c42936d>)
- [Christ Blessing the Children](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/christ-blessing-the-children-r52c0a846598bf5>)
- [Crucifixion \(detail\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/crucifixion-detail-r01f780e95ad488>)
- [Diana and Actaeon](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/cranach-lucas-the-younger-r5ad9b9c0b513e4/diana-and-actaeon-rf7bf0695e6a8b9>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)