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Portraits of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora

Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1529

Paired 1529 portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder's workshop showing Luther and his wife, the former nun Katharina von Bora, as a married couple.

Shows Luther alongside his wife Katharina von Bora, publicising his break with clerical celibacy through marriage.

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Two side-by-side painted portraits on a blue-grey background. Left: a man in a black beret and black robe, with a stern expression. Right: a woman with hair under a dark cap, wearing a brown fur collar, white collar with black ribbon tie, and black dress.
Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, Portraits of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora, 1529. Uffizi Gallery.

About this source

What it is

A pair of oil portraits from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated 1529, held in the Uffizi Gallery. They show Martin Luther in a black beret and robe alongside his wife Katharina von Bora, wearing a dark cap and fur collar. Cranach, a close friend of Luther based in Wittenberg, and his studio produced many such paired portraits.

Why it matters

These portraits publicised Luther's marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, presenting clerical marriage as respectable at a time when it broke sharply with Catholic tradition of clerical celibacy. The plain, serious, unflattering style of the images reflects the Reformation's ethical stance, emphasising sober character over idealised beauty.

Look closer

  • Why might showing Luther and his wife as a pair have been an important statement for the Reformation?
  • What do their stern, unsmiling expressions suggest about how they wanted to be seen?
  • Why would a former monk marrying a former nun have been so controversial at the time?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Martin Luther on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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