This paper documents the breadth and diversity of the unique contribution of Lucas Cranach the Elder to sixteenth-century German canvas painting. Preserved invoices show how inadequately the few surviving examples from the Wittenberg workshop represent their early popularity and range of subject matter. In the 1530s Cranach painted nearly as frequently on canvas as on panels, and in the following decades textile supports even predominate, as evidenced by his invoices. The different origin and the varying quality of the cloth may be determined by preserved account books and weavers’ regulations. Materials and techniques of a few surviving paintings were examined using various analytical methods. Proteinaceous and oil-based paint media are documented. Technical particularities, e.g. starch-containing preparatory layers, are investigated in the context of contemporary painting, and their implications for the conservation of these works are addressed. -- SCMRE