Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous, Elector of Saxony and Emperor Charles V hunting deer near Hartenfels...

Johann Friedrich (1503-54) is depicted top left in a white and black striped coat and the Emperor Charles V (1500-58) is shown in a black jacket and hat with a white feather; Cranach and his workshop made several paintings with similar hunting scenes and probably they were commissioned by Johann Friedrich (1503-54) to give to other German princes in the 1540s; there is also an allegorical meaning since hunting was a symbol of good government and is therefore an allusion to harmony and collaboration between rulers; Johann Friedrich was a strong supporter of Luther and the Protestant Reformation and would later be imprisoned by Charles V in 1547 after the defeat at the battle of Mühlberg of the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League of Protestant princes by the Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire; however in 1544 there appeared to be a good relationship between the Emperor and the Elector;