Portrait of Magdalena of Saxony, Wife of Elector Joachim II of Brandenburg

As court painter to the electors of Saxony, Lucas Cranach the Elder developed a simplified portrait style that catered to his patrons' concern with dynastic continuity and princely status. His portraits of princes present a legible, if not always flattering, rendering of his sitter's features and richly patterned costumes. The Saxon princess depicted her married in to the Brandenburg branch of the Hohenzollern family, and her descendants became kings of Prussia and then emperors of Germany. A companion portrait of her husband is now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Credit: Gift of Kate S. Buckingham