The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara
ca. 1510
Lucas Cranach the Elder brings a gruesome biblical tale to life with striking, theatrical flair in this Northern Renaissance masterpiece. Saint Barbara kneels gracefully in a sumptuous red gown, awaiting the sword of her own father, who is dressed in flamboyant striped armor. Behind them, soldiers in gleaming plate armor and worried onlookers watch the grim execution unfold against a backdrop of a rocky landscape and a distant castle. Cranach was a master of courtly fashion, and he couldn't resist dressing these ancient figures in the latest 16th-century German styles, complete with a noble family's coat of arms tucked neatly into the bottom corner.
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