Law and Grace (Gotha)

Law and Grace (also The Original Sin; The Redemption of Mankind; Law and Gospel; Damnation and Salvation; The Fall and the Redemption of Mankind, The Old Testament as Lex and the New Testament as Gratia, in German: Sündenfall und Erlösung or Gesetz und Gnade, Gesetz und Evangelium) is considered one of the most important paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

[1] It differs from the Prague version above all in how both scenes are divided from each other, thus recalling the two sides of an open book.

Below on Earth, a naked and defenceless man (Adam), pursued by death and the devil, is fleeing into burning hell with its heads of sinners.

Moses, surrounded by prophets, strictly points a finger at the pages of the Ten Commandments and confirms the inevitability of his fate.

On the right-hand side, John the Baptist points to the naked man (Christ) on the cross as the Saviour (in the words of John's Gospel (1:29): ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’) Blood from Christ's side, bringing salvation and mingling with the dove of the Holy Spirit, spurts on to the head of the man (the concept of washing away the sins of man through the Holy Spirit, similar to the celebration of the Eucharist and baptism).