Saint Matthias, from The Martyrdom of the Apostles

Lucas Cranach designed his Martyrdom of the Twelve Apostles series in 1512. This clear and crisp impression of the impending decapitation of Saint Matthias derives from that early printing. The block was reprinted around 1548, with letterpress text on the back, to illustrate Martin Luther’s German translation of the Apostle’s Creed. Despite the series’ violent subject matter, the Protestant publisher of the c. 1548 edition dedicated the book to his daughters and referred to the images as “fine and pleasing.”