Lucas Cranach's Portraits of Martin Luther and His Parents

The other day, I was researching something about Martin Luther for some reason and came upon three portraits by Lucas Cranach the Elder (one of Luther's good friends and an artist). I've never been one for Cranach's nudes, but his portraits, such as these, are very telling and insightful into the characters of the sitters.

Portrait of Luther's Father, 1527

Margarethe Luther, year unknown


Martin Luther, 1529

After reading the information on the following links, what do you think of Cranach's portraits?

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on Luther
The Catholic Encyclopedia's entry on Luther
10 Things You Didn't Know About Martin Luther from a PBS program

Chilly Portraits

Matt Hoyle exhibits his photographic portraits at the Point of View Art Gallery in an exhibition called Icebergs.

Annie Leibovitz and The Queen

Recently, the Queen of England was presented as blowing a gasket when photographer Annie Leibovitz asked her to dress down for her photo shoot. Of course, the BBC has apologized for misrepresenting the non-event. Here's one reporter's take on the incident prior to the BBC apology:

A traditional portrait of the Queen by Annie Leibovitz.


The BBC Apology

A collection of her portraits at Temple University.

Older Artist Wins BP Portrait Award

Paul Emsley, 59, won the prestigious award and a commission in the annual competition that was hitherto fore closed to elder artists. It is unclear to me as to why the competition had been closed to artists over 40--seems to eliminate a lot of artists in their prime.

The Winning Portrait: Michael Simpson, oil on canvas, 1370 x 1120 mm

My personal favorite:

Zuzana in Paris Studio, by Hynek Martinec, acrylic on wooden board, 1300 x 1100 mm

Highlights from the competition.