Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
Painted in minute detail, Cranach’s majestic scene includes elements characteristic of landscapes in 16th-century German art: verdant forest, hilltop city, and distant mountains. A close associate of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, Cranach adapted Christian imagery to reflect Luther’s belief that religious art must narrate scripture. The Gospels describe Christ’s baptism with the heavens opening, a dove descending, and a voice saying, “Here is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased,” which Cranach painted in Latin directly onto the clouds.
Inscriptions
Inscribed at top center: HIC EST FILIVS MEVS DILECTVS IN QVO/MICHI BEN COMPLACITVM EST.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Lucas Cranach (German, 1472–1553)
- Date
- 1530s
- Medium
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- Framed: 24.4 x 29.2 x 5.1 cm (9 5/8 x 11 1/2 x 2 in.); Unframed: 15 x 20.5 cm (5 7/8 x 8 1/16 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Charles E. Roseman in memory of Charles E. Roseman Jr.
- Accession no.
- 1953.143
Provenance
Charles E. Roseman, Jr., Cleveland, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1953.
More by Lucas Cranach in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00009894
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