Lucas Cranach's last stage of life was in Weimar, where he lived at the marketplace and died in 1553. The Cranach grave is in Jakobsfriedhof.
Cranach had followed his lord Duke Johann Friedrich I., called the Magnanimous, to the new royal seat after the duke’s loss of electoral dignity. Today the Cranach gallery with numerous works of the painter can be visited in the Schlossmuseum of Weimarer Stadtschloss. With many of the paintings displayed there their origin from old ducal ownership still bear testimony to Cranach’s position as court painter. The Cranach altar in the town church St. Peter and Paul represents an important visual testimony of Thuringian Reformation history. Beside Martin Luther even Cranach is immortalized on the three-winged altar.
TIPS:
Town church St. Peter and Paul with Cranach Altar
The altar of Lucas Cranach the Younger was begun 1554 and one year later completed. In 1557 it was set up in St. Peter and Paul as the main altar. The crucifixion of Christ is located in the center of the altar.
Schlossmuseum with Cranach Gallery
The collection shows works of Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son. The portraits of Johann Friedrich and his wife Sibylle von Cleve still emerged during Cranach time in Wittenberg and show the couple as engaged. The married couple portraits of Martin Luther and his wife Katharina von Bora demonstrate Luther's view of the legality of his rejection of celibacy.
Cranach’s Home: “am Markt 11/12”
In 1552 Lucas Cranach the Elder’s son-in-law, Chancellor Christian Brück took in Cranach in the house located on “am Markt”. To this very day the coats of arms sit enthroned over the house entrance of Brück and Cranach.
Jakobsfriedhof with Cranach Grave
The Jakobsfriedhof has served as a burial place since the 12th century. Here Lucas Cranach the Elder was buried. The gravestone is a reproduction from mid 19th century. The original – designed by Nicol Gromann, who also created the Cranach-Haus – is in St. Peter and Paul.