The Annunciation to Joachim Lucas Cranach the Elder

Although Cranach was a firm believer in the Reformation, he also accepted and fulfilled Catholic commissions. This panel was probably part of an altarpiece dedicated either to the Virgin Mary or to her mother, Saint Anne. Anne and Joachim are not mentioned in the Bible but feature in the second-century apocryphal gospel, the Protoevangelium of James, as well as in the Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea), compiled in the thirteenth century. According to their story, the high priest rejected Joachim’s sacrifice because the elderly couple had no children; in shame, the old man withdrew to the desert to fast and pray. Here, the Lord’s angel appeared to him, proclaiming that they would have a child, named Mary, who would miraculously give birth to the Son of God. The face of Joachim, kneeling in a verdant landscape, reflects the drama of this crucial moment. The old man’s hands clasped in prayer in the center of the picture convey an important message: his prayers are answered, nothing is impossible for God, the Work of Redemption has begun.