Cranach the Younger – Discovery of a Master

Background

At the heritage-listed building Augusteum Wittenberg, gewerkdesign developed a special exhibition on Lucas Cranach the Younger for the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt in 2015, on occasion of the 500^th birthday of the renaissance artist who was born in Wittenberg and lived there all of his life.

In addition to presenting his artistic work, the exhibition dealt with the intertwinings and significance of the Cranach family within the politics and society of Wittenberg, as well as showing how the artistic workshops of the time functioned. Lucas Cranach the Younger ran a workshop together with his father Lucas Cranach the Elder and his brother Hans, which he eventually ended up doing alone. He was politically active and lived in the day and age of Martin Luther, who triggered the reformation in Wittenberg. All of these factors were defining for the exhibition and for the overall scenographic design.

We staged the thematic areas on two floors across more than 900 sqm: The Cranach Family, Father and Sons, Brück and Melanchton, The Workshop, By Order of the Ernestines, Image Campaign, A Successful Topic (Adam and Eve), Functions and Business, The Drawing, Networks in and around Wittenberg, Religious Images vs. Worldly Portraits, Portraits from Reims.

By a system of movable walls in front of the existing ones, as much as by climate vitrines that are integrated in the walls or freestanding, gewerkdesign created the structures for the long-term use beyond this exhibition. Tables, chairs, pedestals and vitrines are massive but plain. The colour system relates to the epoch and to the often sacral and royal topics of Cranach’s work. Black walls make the gold-framed, spot-lit paintings appear even more three-dimensional, whereas shades of purple and red allude to the church and to royalty. Monochrome drawings and print graphics are complemented perfectly by dark green walls. Pillars in the space and arches above the passages support the scenography.

In contrast to the historic topic, we also staged the content in interactive stations, the design of which we developed as well: The complex network of the Cranach family and their personal stories are presented on media tables. Additionally, we made accessible all of the artworks by the Cranachs through a database.

Tasks / Range of Services
All service phases according to 1–9 HOAI, project management with budget responsibility, planning concept, production supervision, exhibition draft, exhibition design, scenography, object presentation, light planning, media development, exhibition graphics, visitor routing