Madonna of the Grapes, c.1525 Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Lucas Cranach the Elder also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Madonna of the Grapes is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

In this intimate devotional panel, Cranach the Elder demonstrates his consummate skill at religious portraiture, while subtly incorporating the theological complexities of his era. The work presents a tender moment between the Virgin and Christ child, rendered with the artist's characteristic attention to symbolic detail.

The Madonna, depicted in her traditional garments - a luminous crimson dress complemented by a deep blue mantle - dominates the composition with serene presence. Her face exhibits the distinctive features associated with Cranach's female subjects: elongated features, downcast eyes, and a contemplative expression that suggests both earthly maternal devotion and divine understanding. The artist's technique in rendering flesh tones achieves a remarkable translucency, particularly evident in the Madonna's gracefully articulated hands.

The Christ child appears with convincing naturalism, his plump form suggesting healthy vitality while maintaining divine dignity. Cranach demonstrates particular skill in capturing the child's reaching gesture toward the grapes - the central eucharistic symbol - held by his mother. The grapes themselves receive exquisite attention, each one precisely rendered to capture both their physical presence and sacramental significance.

Above the central figures, cherubim manipulate a rich burgundy cloth of honor, creating a celestial canopy that both frames and elevates the holy pair. The background opens to a characteristic Northern Renaissance landscape, where a castle perches on a distant hill, rendered in subtle atmospheric perspective. This worldly element, visible through breaks in the hanging cloth, provides both spatial depth and symbolic distance between the earthly and divine realms.

The painting emerges from a pivotal moment in religious art, created when Cranach worked in close proximity to the Lutheran Reformation. His solution to the period's theological debates about religious imagery reveals itself in the painting's direct emotional appeal combined with clear symbolic language. The artist achieves a remarkable balance between devotional purpose and artistic sophistication, creating a work that spoke eloquently to the spiritual needs of its time while maintaining its power to move viewers today.