Masterpieces by Lucas Cranach the Elder, the Younger, and Their Workshop
Nearly 30 works by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Lucas Cranach the Younger and their workshop conveys an impressive picture of the sovereigns and artistic creation at the Berlin court of the 16th century.
Image gallery
Lucas Cranach der Ältere, Lukretia, um 1535
Lucas Cranach der Jüngere: Kurfürst Joachim II. von Brandenburg, um 1570
Lucas Cranach der Ältere: Kurprinz Joachim (II.) von Brandenburg, um 1520
After five years of absence, the paintings returned to their original place. The foundation's restorers and scientists used the time when Berlin's oldest palace complex was carefully renovated to carry out extensive investigations and careful restoration of the precious works. Joachim II was a formative figure for the development of the Renaissance in Berlin. (1505–1571).
The owner of the hunting lodge in Grunewald depicts portraits of the two Cranachs in different periods of their lives - as Elector (around 1570). His extensive assignments to Lucas Cranach the Elder and its workshop include the "Passionstafeln" for the Berlin Stiftskirche as well as the series of rulers' virtues (exemplary plaques) destined for the furnishings of the Berlin palace.
The preserved panels reflect the increased representation of the Hohenzollern dynasty, but they also show the time of confessional change: while the father of Joachim II. belonged to the so-called old faith rulers, his son pursued a moderate religious policy with a focus on the reformed faith according to the teachings of Martin Luther. The works of the Cranach family also reveal new interpretations of supposedly old-fashioned pictorial themes.
The top-class Cranach paintings are complemented by the SPSG's collection of Old German and Old Dutch paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Grunewald hunting lodge, built in 1542 as the "Zum Gruenen Wald" (Green Forest) moated castle, provides the historically appropriate setting for the collection.
The Courtly Hunting in Art
The second thematic focus of the permanent exhibition is on the original use of the castle as a hunting station. A wide variety of artistic testimonies of Hohenzollern's passion for hunting are gathered here - from the Renaissance to the early 20th century. The exhibition includes portrayals of court hunting and hunting festivals as well as furnishings of electoral and royal castles with hunting motifs and various types of trophy presentation.
