There are fifteen paintings in the collection associated with the name Lucas Cranach (I and II); one was acquired in the 17th Century, one in the 18th Century and the remainder in the 19th Century. Prince Albert particularly admired Cranach, acquiring ten works, partly as an example of early German art and partly as the court painter to his ancestors, the Electors of Saxony, one of whom appears in this portrait.

Johann ‘The Magnanimous’ was the grandson of Frederick the Wise (RCIN 401388) and devoted supporter of Luther (RCIN 402656). This is a reduced and bare-headed version of a portrait of 1535 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.