Philipp Melanchthon 1532

Lucas Cranach the Elder painted this portrait of Philipp Melanchthon, likely in Wittenberg where they both lived, during the Reformation. The crossed-hands gesture is prominent here. It appears throughout history as a marker of humility and piety, recurring in many devotional images. Think of praying figures in medieval altarpieces, their hands clasped tightly together as a plea to the heavens, mirroring poses in ancient statues of orant figures in early Christian catacombs. But here, the open hands suggest quiet contemplation, perhaps a reflection of the sitter's intellectual and spiritual nature. It resonates, too, with Freud's theories of repressed desires finding symbolic outlets. The image, therefore, becomes a vessel, carrying forward a powerful expression that has resurfaced, evolved, and taken on new meanings in different historical contexts.