The Crucifixion with the Transfigured Centurion by Lucas Cranach

The painting “The Crucifixion with the Transfigured Centurion” was written in the artist’s studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder in the middle of the 30s of the 16th century. Adopting Luther’s teachings in the early 1520s, Lucas becomes a “painter of the Reformation”: creates paintings and engravings that express the ideas of the Reformation, illustrates Luther’s writings, and paints his portraits.

However, despite the friendship of the cranachus with Martin Luther, the regular customers of the artist were Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, an ardent supporter of the Catholic Church. The painting “The Crucifixion with the Transfigured Centurion” was created by the artist based on the famous biblical legend of the New Testament.