Paintings by Lucas Cranach and His Circle from the Collections of the National Gallery in Prague
The exhibition “Cranach from All Sides” will present the German Renaissance painter and his circle not only via unique works from the collections of the National Gallery in Prague but also via the most interesting results of research realized by a team of experts from the Cranach Digital Archive Düsseldorf, headed by Gunnar Heydenreich. The group of the Prague works linked with the artist’s name is extraordinarily heterogeneous and includes very attractive and popular scenes such as The Old Fool, Christ and the Adulteress and The Original Sin (Adam and Eve). The research has revealed many yet unknown facts about these as well as other works, among them also information about the technological process of the origination of the works and especially their copies. The exhibition in the Sternberg Palace will thus introduce visitors to the most recent discoveries linked with the most precious works held by the National Gallery in Prague and will, at the same time, present the Cranach workshop as a ingeniously organized unit based on precise working methods.
The exhibition will also be exceptional due to a significant aspect based on the active participation of visitors. Strong emphasis will be laid on the interactive part of the exhibition, composed of an array of programs including painting workshops, headed by the National Gallery’s Department of Education. Visitors will have the opportunity to draw or paint their own copy after Cranach, employing the reproduction methods once used by the artist’s workshop. They will also have a modern copy of an unfinished painting at their disposal, which will help them to copy the outlines of the painting on tracing paper, transfer them to regular paper and then paint (almost) like Cranach.
Curator: Olga Kotková
