The Portrait of Henry IV of Saxony and Catherine of Mecklenburg is a double painting by German Renaissance master Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach the Elder

Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...

, dating from 1514, now housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister of Dresden

Dresden

Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Germany.

The work was Cranach's first official portrait, and depicts Henry IV, Duke of Saxony

Henry IV, Duke of Saxony

Henry IV the Pious, Duke of Saxony was a Duke of Saxony from the House of Wettin.-Biography:Heinrich was the second son of Albert, Duke of Saxony and his wife Sidonie Podiebrad, princess of Bohemia...

, aside to his wife, Catherine of Mecklenburg

Catherine of Mecklenburg

Catherine of Mecklenburg , Duchess of Saxony, was the daughter of the Duke Magnus II of Mecklenburg and Sophie of Pomerania-Stettin. She married on 6 July 1512 in Freiberg Duke Henry the Pious of Saxony...

 in real size. Both wear lavishly decorated clothes and decorations recalling their families' coat of arms.

Henry, painted with his hunting dog, is portrayed in the act of drawing his sword. Catherine's panel contains a cartouche

Cartouche

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an ellipse with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh...

with Cranach's initials, the year of execution and a winged snake, the symbol of the painter's workshop.