The Fountain of Youth

Lucas Cranach the Elder

1546 · Oil on limewood · Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Size3:2 ratio

Frame

$79Unframed print · made to order

📦 Free shipping on every order, arriving in 4–9 business days with production included. Express ($14.90) at checkout arrives in 4–6 business days.

Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

The Fountain of Youth (Full)

The Voyage of Life: Youth (Full)

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus (Full)

3 × $79 at 36 × 24 in, unframed = $237 → $213.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

Choose different prints →

Giclée-printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper

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Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free

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About this work

Artist: Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
Year: 1546
Medium: Oil on limewood
Original size: 120.6 × 186.1 cm
Collection: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Movement: Northern Renaissance

Old women are brought from a barren rocky landscape at the left, on carts, in wheelbarrows and on men's backs, to a large rectangular pool; they bathe and emerge at the right as young women, who are led to a tent to be dressed and then join a party of dancing, music and feasting in a green landscape. The fountain at the centre carries figures of Venus and Cupid. The contrast between the bleak rocks and the fertile meadow and trees on the right follows the transformation from age to youth. Lucas Cranach the Elder signed the limewood panel with his winged serpent and dated it 1546, late in his career. The subject belongs to a long tradition of images of a magical spring, and many details reflect the real bathing culture of the time and the belief in the healing power of certain baths. The picture belonged to the Prussian royal palaces and hangs in the Gemäldegalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

This full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. The original is in the public domain.

Where it works

A wide rocky landscape with a square pool of bathers, tents and feasting figures, pale stone, green and red, for a bathroom, living room or dining room at 36×24 in natural wood. A sage, stone or warm white wall; it pairs with The Garden of Love.

Style, size & framing detail

Style: Northern Renaissance painting
Era: 16th century (1546)
Orientation: Landscape
Mood: grand
Rooms: living room, dining room, bathroom
Good gift for: housewarming, art lovers

Size. We'd hang this one at 36×24. Prints at 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in — 18×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×16 above a console or sideboard; 36×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.

Framing. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or natural wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing.

Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).

Details & materials

• Restored in-house from the original plate — cleaned and colour-trued at museum resolution • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 18×12, 24×16, 36×24 in; every size also available framed • Framed option: wood frame in black or natural wood, 12 mm wide and 22 mm deep, with a plexiglass front and no mat; the print is mounted inside and the frame's outside measures the listed size • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Printed after you order at the facility nearest you, then shipped. Standard delivery is free and takes 4–9 business days from order to door in the US, UK and EU (up to 10 elsewhere); Express takes 4–6 business days. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

Very slightly cropped. This full-bleed edition prints the painting edge to edge, so a thin sliver, a few percent at most, is trimmed from two opposite edges to fit the print size. We only offer it on paintings whose proportions already come that close to the sheet. For the whole painting, uncropped, choose the gallery edition.

Is The Fountain of Youth in the public domain?

Yes. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by Gemäldegalerie.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 18×12, 24×16 and 36×24 inches; every size is also offered framed in black or natural wood, with plexiglass and no mat. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was The Fountain of Youth painted, and in what medium?

The Fountain of Youth dates from 1546 and was made in oil on limewood; the original measures 120.6 × 186.1 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

Across a three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 36×24 is the size that reads as one statement piece; 24×16 suits a narrower wall or a pair. For The Fountain of Youth we'd choose 36×24. It is a landscape print, wider than it is tall, at the painting's own proportions.

About this design

The Fountain of Youth (Lucas Cranach the Elder) — the painting printed edge to edge, very slightly cropped to fit the sheet. The Fountain of Youth · Lucas Cranach the Elder · 1546. This is a fine-art reproduction of a public-domain masterwork, shown whole and uncropped on a gallery ground, printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Every size is offered unframed or framed in black or natural wood. Part of the Madten Fine Art Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

Buy with confidence

The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in 4–9 business days.

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