Lucas Cranach must have the coolest signature emblem ever! On January 6th, 1508 he was granted the rights to sign all his works with this seal by Frederick the Wise, his employer and the elector Prince of Saxony. A winged serpent with both a crown on its head and a jeweled ring in it's mouth was soon used on all Cranach workshop products, sometimes with the initials L and C. In 1537 the emblem changed. With the murder of his eldest son Hans, who was traveling to Bologna, Italy, like all good artists were expected to do as part of their studies, the heart broken father folded the wings and turned the serpent in another direction.
This is part of my
Climbing up the Family Tree: Art and History Lessons for my Kids, "Searching for Cranach", a text booklet project. I plan to publish a 7-8 page book on Cranach, with a pocket sized original print in the back, by the end of this spring.
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