The Work
Lucas Cranach the Elder's Law and Gospel (German: Gesetz und Gnade, "Law and Grace") paintings were the most widely distributed visual statement of Lutheran soteriology in the 16th century. The original panel painting (c. 1529, preserved in Gotha) generated dozens of woodcut reproductions that circulated throughout Germany and beyond, making this the most reproduced Reformation image after Luther's portrait. Cranach developed the composition in close collaboration with Luther himself, and the image represents the visual equivalent of Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Biblical Source
Romans 3:20 - "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin" - and Romans 5:1 - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" - provide the theological framework. The Law (Moses, the Commandments, the prophets) reveals sin and condemns; the Gospel (Christ, the cross, the resurrection) saves and justifies. These are not two stages in a progression but two fundamentally different modes of relating to God.
John 1:29 - "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" - is specifically depicted: John the Baptist points the fearful sinner toward the Lamb of God, directing attention from the condemning Law to the saving Gospel. The composition makes visible the theological distinction that Luther saw as the heart of the Reformation: the Law kills; the Gospel gives life.
Artist
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) was court painter to the Electors of Saxony and Luther's closest artistic collaborator. He was a personal friend of Luther (godfather to Luther's first child), and his workshop produced the portraits, woodcuts, and altarpieces that gave visual form to the Reformation's theological program. No other artist was more deeply embedded in the Reformation's leadership or more responsible for its visual culture.
Iconography
The panel is divided by a tree whose left side is dead (Law) and right side leafing (Gospel). On the left: Moses and the prophets point to the Ten Commandments; Death and the Devil chase sinful humanity toward hellfire; Adam's Fall explains the source of sin. On the right: John the Baptist points toward the Crucifixion; the risen Christ triumphs over Death and the Devil; the blood of Christ flows from the wound in his side onto the kneeling sinner below. The composition is didactic rather than devotional - it is a theological diagram made visual - and this pedagogical clarity accounts for its extraordinary popularity and reproduction.