Minneapolis Institute of Art
Madonna and Child with Grapes
Lucas Cranach the ElderLinkedCulture matchlcp-4f79f18539df
- Date
- c. 1537
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Department
- European Art
- Institution
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Object ID
- 1676
From the Minneapolis Institute of Art record
Lucas Cranach the Elder worked in a time of religious upheaval. Martin Luther (a close associate of Cranach) led the Protestant Reformation challenging the Catholic Church, arguing that man could have a direct relationship with God without the need for a priest to intermediate. Cranach adapted familiar Catholic imagery to the Protestant Reformation. The image of Mary as a half-figure with her son Jesus Christ as a little man standing on her lap is derived from Italian prototypes of the later 1400s. Jesus holds a single grape, which he has picked from a bunch held by his mother, a symbolic allusion to the Eucharist and his future sacrifice on the cross. Germany, Europe
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Bequest of Miss Tessie Jones in memory of Herschel V. Jones
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