Portrait of Duke Johann der Bestandige of Saxony

German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder painted this portrait of Johann the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony, around 1509. Johann wears a sumptuous black hat and coat decorated with gold thread and seed pearls. The portrait forms half of a diptych; the matching panel shows his son Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous.

Cranach served as court painter to successive Saxon electors from 1505 until his death in 1553. This Northern Renaissance portrait asserts dynastic legitimacy, showing father and son as rightful heirs to Saxon rule. Johann would reign from 1525 to 1532 and became an important supporter of Martin Luther. The complementary color schemes link father and son: green in Johann's background echoes his son's clothing. The original frame survives, with paint detected on its inner edges. The work hangs at the National Gallery in London.