Lucas Cranach the Elder
The theme of the unequal couple, which had its heyday in the 16th century above all in prints, can be considered a combination of a secular genre picture and the Medieval Christian representations of the vices. The old man with the caricature-like distorted face, who in this image lecherously embraces a noticeably young and pretty woman, is presenting her with a piece of jewelry as a sign of his wealth, hoping to persuade her to stroke his beard and do him good. The image of the couple is usually interpreted as a harlot and her client but it could also be a marriage of convenience, especially as the theme’s otherwise clearly erotic undertone is downplayed here. Especially against the backdrop of the Lutheran assertion that “marriage is best among equals” we can discern a moralizing thrust.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. He was a close friend of Martin Luther. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion.
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