Christ and the Adulteress

Lucas Cranach the Younger · ca. 1545–50
The Met, New York

This little panel, hardly bigger than a postcard, comes from the Wittenberg workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger, around 1545–50. The workshop painted the subject many times, and here the verse runs in gold letters across the top in Luther’s German.

Jesus stands among bearded elders and soldiers in armour, his hand open towards the young woman they have brought. She looks down; around her, men still hold stones.

From the text

“The scribes and Pharisees … brought to Him a woman caught in adultery” (John 8:3)

“In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman” (John 8:5)

“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her” (John 8:7)

The artist’s own

Soldiers in the plate armour of the 1540s — John mentions no soldiers

The woman in the red dress and gold necklace of a fashionable lady of Cranach’s time

The verse written across the picture in German, with “Joh. VIII”

The workshop’s mark, a winged serpent, at the end of the line

Details

The verse in gold

“Whoever among you is without sin, let him throw the first stone at her” — in Luther’s German.

The serpent

A tiny winged serpent, the mark of the Cranach workshop.

Jesus

In a red cloak, he raises one hand and holds the other open towards the woman.

The woman

In a red-orange dress and gold necklace, she lowers her eyes; an armoured hand holds her arm.

Stones in a hat

A soldier holds a fur-trimmed hat with stones in it.

A clenched fist

A man at the edge grips a stone in his hand.

Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop, German, Wittenberg 1515–1586 Wittenberg. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982; acc. 1982.60.35) · Oil on beech · Public Domain — The Met Open Access (CC0). The Met Collection API record: "isPublicDomain": true; The Met marks such works on its website "with the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) icon".

The verses

John 8:3–11The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?” They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” And again He bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”