Moses and the Pillar of Cloud by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Studio

Lucas Cranach the Elder and Studio
1472-1553 | German

Moses and the Pillar of Cloud

Oil on panel

Moses and the Pillar of Cloud is a bold and evocative composition that showcases the signature intense color and intricate detail of Lucas Cranach the Elder’s celebrated oeuvre. The remarkable 16th-century oil on panel by Lucas Cranach and his studio captures the narrative moment when Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and encounters God manifested through a large pillar of cloud. Moses stands at the precipice of a bridge and turns back to soldiers helping to lead the group of Israelites who huddle closely together. Cranach depicts Moses with his traditional iconography, rendering the rays of light on his head which came to be interpreted as "horns" in the translation of the Bible. Using his traditional walking staff, Moses gestures toward the pillar, seemingly acknowledging that God will protect the group as they cross the bridge to the other side, leaving exile and entering a promised land.

In a nod to Cranach’s Germanic locale, he renders the figures and setting in a manner that feels decisively more akin to European aesthetics than those of the Red Sea. Soldiers wear elaborate, gothic suits of armor that recall the livery of Northern European guardsmen. The terrain appears more like a European forest giving way to a sweeping valley than the arid landscape the Israelites trekked through on their journey across the Red Sea. Though still clearly recounting a story from the Old Testament, Cranach renders the cast of characters and setting in an earthly, familiar manner. This aesthetic shift speaks to Cranach’s own changing beliefs as he found himself at the center of the Protestant Reformation.

After first gaining recognition in 1505 as the official painter of Frederick the Wise, Cranach established a thriving painting and print studio in Wittenberg, Germany. Cranach was renowned for his court portraits and genre paintings and was also well known for his association with the famous protestant reformer Martin Luther, then under the protection of Frederick the Wise. As Wittenberg became a bastion of new religious thought, Cranach soon befriended Luther and played an active role in creating the printed materials that proliferated throughout the Reformation.

Cranach worked with his sons and many assistants in order to spread the ideas of the Reformation through his prints and artwork. The Protestant faith famously renounced what they deemed the over-the-top iconographies of the Catholic Church, and Cranach’s artwork toed the line of representing the narratives of the Bible without soliciting the worship of icons. Rather, Cranach’s works served as a narrative accompaniment to the scripture that visualized the word that the Protestants so ardently sought to privilege. Still, Cranach’s bright, luminous colors and exacting details created captivating compositions that enchanted 16th-century patrons and continue to make a lasting impression today., Cranach’s bright, luminous colors and exacting details created captivating compositions that enchanted 16th-century patrons and continue to make a lasting impression today. Lucas Cranach the Elder’s works can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Kimbell Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Kunst Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museo Nacional in Madrid, the National Gallery in London and the Getty Museum in Southern California.

This work is accompanied by a handwritten letter from a Cranach expert, Dr. Dieter Koepplin certifying the merit and quality of the work. Koepplin writes, “I consider this painting with Moses and the Cloud Column to be a very lively, high-quality work from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, created around 1525-1530. The state of preservation is excellent.”

Circa 1530

Canvas: 8 1/2” high x 18 1/8” wide
Frame: 12 7/8” high by 22 1/5” wide

Provenance:
Count Hessenstein, Sweden
Art dealer H. Bukowskis, Stockholm, 7-8 May 1941
Private collection, Sweden
M.S. Rau, New Orleans