Wittenberg
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- "However, there is another contradictory element also present in Lucretia, an erotic subtext that runs through Cranach's art, from around 1520 onwards. While on one hand she symbolizes wifely virtue, on the other she is a sixteenth century "Venus in furs." She has dressed for her suicide in a jeweled collar with a gold chain around her neck, and her fur-lined cloak is pulled open so it frames her naked bosom and stomach. Cranach uses the same type, with subtle variations, for nearly all his female subjects, be they Eve, Judith, Salome, Lucretia or Venus. She is a young, slim Saxon girl, cool but knowing as she subtly engages the viewer's eye. The most overtly sexual paintings are those of Venus and the Honey Thief, but the erotic theme is apparent in the others as well. The court at Wittenberg was an educated and sophisticated one, engaged in the religious debates of the day, familiar with the classics but not immune to the sensual pleasures of a narrow and wealthy society. Lucas Cranach the Elder and Younger understood the tastes of their patrons and served them well."[1]
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