Wittenberg Altarpiece

The Wittenberg Altarpiece is installed in the Stadtkirche St. Marien (City Church of St. Mary) in Wittenberg, Germany, the same church where Martin Luther preached. It remains in its original location and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site recognizing Luther's Wittenberg.

Lucas Cranach the Elder and his workshop painted the altarpiece in 1547 with panels depicting Philip Melanchthon performing baptisms, Johannes Bugenhagen hearing confession, and Martin Luther preaching. This was a deliberate Lutheran statement, placing contemporary reformers in roles that traditional Catholic art would have assigned to saints or apostles.

Lucas Cranach the Elder was a close personal friend of Martin Luther and served as court painter to the Electors of Saxony. Cranach also painted numerous portraits of Luther and produced woodcuts that helped spread Reformation ideas visually throughout Germany.

Instead of showing saints, the Virgin Mary, or biblical narratives in the central panels, the Wittenberg Altarpiece portrays contemporary Reformation leaders conducting Lutheran worship practices. This reflects the theological shift toward seeing communion, baptism, and confession as communal acts rather than priestly sacraments mediated through traditional iconography.