Gunnar Heydenreich: The Cranach Digital Archive. Gaining knowledge through international and interdisciplinary research cooperation

Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Holy Kinship (detail), 1510–1512 © Paintings Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Despite extensive efforts by many generations of scholars to generate a deeper understanding of the art of Lucas Cranach the Elder, his sons and the workshop and to catalogue the wide-ranging oeuvre, the body of work still offers a large number of questions for art historians. Today, the Cranach Digital Archive (CDA) offers extensive and freely accessible information on the Cranachs' oeuvre. The lecture will highlight selected research results as well as challenges and perspectives of the joint project.

Lecture in German

Gunnar Heydenreich teaches as Professor of Art Technology and Conservation Science at the TH Cologne. He has worked on numerous international research projects, including in London and at the Getty Research Institute. One focus of his research is the art technological examination of Lucas Cranach's paintings. Since 2009, he has headed the Cranach Digital Archive (lucascranach.org) at the Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf.