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Lucas Cranach the Elder, Wittenberg Altarpiece, predella: Luther Preaching, 1547
A bare stone room, and in it only three things: on the left the congregation, on the right Luther in the pulpit, and between them the crucified Christ. Luther has one hand on the open Bible; with the other he points to the cross.
The altarpiece was set up in the town church of Wittenberg in 1547, the year after Luther's death; he had preached in this church for decades. It comes from the Cranach workshop, father and son. The predella is the base on which the rest of the altarpiece stands, and that is its message: the church rests on the preaching of Christ crucified.
Luther preaches without a gesture of his own: one hand rests on the Scripture, the other points away from himself.
The congregation: men standing, women and children seated. Tradition sees Luther's wife Katharina and his son Hans among them, and the old Cranach with his long beard.
