FREE UNIVERSITY OF BERLIN

FACULTY OF HISTORY

DEPARTEMENT OF EARLY MODERN AGE

Student of Bachelor Program

Ilze Krisane

PAPER

THE DEPICTION OF CHRIST IN PROTESTANT ART

Prof. Dr. Claudia Ulbrich

BERLIN

2011

1
Contents

Contents......................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................... 3
THE BEGINNING OF THE ICONOCLASM ..........................................................................4
THE REASONS OF THE ICONOCLASM...........................................................................4
THE RIOTS IN WITTENBERG ........................................................................................5
THE INFLUENCE OF THE ICONOCLASM ON THE ART....................................................6
THE THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND THE SYMBOLISM OF PROTESTANT ART.............8
KARLSTADT................................................................................................................. 8
LUTHER........................................................................................................................ 8
CALVIN......................................................................................................................... 9
THE DEPICTION OF CHRIST AS THE MAIN SUBJECT IN PROTESTANT ART......................11
DURER AS TRANSITIONAL REFORMATION ARTIST ....................................................11
CRANACH’S WORKS AS LUTHERAN PAINTINGS..........................................................12
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................ 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 15

2
INTRODUCTION

Even long time before Luther’s reformation ideas appeared, the breezes of the change was
swirling about in Europe. Scholars and philosophers as Wyclif (from England), Jan Hus (from
Bohemia) and Saronavola, and other early reformers put an accent on the difference between the
external and the internal piety, which was especially noticeable in sacred art and architecture.

That was one of the main points of Luther’s accusation of Catholic Church as evidence of
distancing from the form of early Christian thought and conformity with the secular life. That also
served as the main reason for the iconoclasm as destruction of the art which served to false idolatry
and put emphasis on outer richness, instead of inner piety, and made room for new type of sacred
art in which main role was devoted to Christ, Son of God.

The Aim of the paper is to research the depiction of Christ as the main topic in the art of
protestant character.

Objectives:

1) To find out what was the reason of the iconoclasm and how it influenced attitude
towards art and later formed new statutes of religious art;

2) To look at the beginning of iconoclasm in Wittenberg from its importance on further

iconoclastic movement in Europe;

3) To compare theological grounding of Protestant Church and its influence on Protestant

art;

4) To find link between theological attitude towards Christ and practical manifestation of
the theology in works of two painters.

In the paper the author mainly looks at Lutheran art – paintings in altarpieces and carvings
which later were printed as illustrations in books of religious subject.

3
THE BEGINNING OF THE ICONOCLASM
THE REASONS OF THE ICONOCLASM

As we know there were a lot of political and social reasons for Luther’s movement and
reformation, which were closely connected with extreme religious feelings and new ideas coming
from educated upper-class.

One of the main focuses in reformation thought was put on inner religiosity. This statement
was made in opposition to the luxurious externals of the Catholic piety, which was brightly seen in
richly decorated churches from inside and outside. Catholic administration defended their love of
highly ornamented religious environment with “the Eucharistic presence of Christ meaning that the
cathedral or chapel literally became the house of God. As such it was thought deserving of being
beautified and dignified by the best creative efforts of the Christian art”1.

But that was not the only reason for the dissatisfaction in the means of the religious situation
in Early Modern Age. Reformists felt that too much attention is lead from God and His Son, Christ
and given to Mary, the mother of Christ, and other saints. For example, “by 1500 most German
churches had at least one altar dedicated to Mary and some, such as the parish church of St. Laurenz
in Cologne, had two or three. Many of these Marian altars were adorned with splendid carved or
painted retables showing scenes from the life of the Virgin, and some also bore richly decorated
sculptures of the Virgin and Child”2

But not only had the raising power of the Cult of Mary disturbed reformists, but the
corruption of it by the priests and the ruling dynasties, like “the Wittelsbachs’ and Habsburgs’
militant use of Mary, especially during the era of the Thirty Years War, made a significant break
between the Marian piety of the late Middle Age and that of the early modern period” 3. Mary
underwent the transformation from the Virgin as Queen of Heaven to patron of Catholic dynasties
and as military helper.

This kind of false expression of religiosity with the time found their way also inside the
church itself: “a great deal of religious art arose from the somewhat self-centered fear of individuals
with respect to the eternal destiny of their own souls. A salient feature of the piety of the period was
its tendency to blend or confuse the two realms of sacred and secular in a fashion sometimes
baffling to the modern mentality”4. In the sacred art appeared elements from the secular art from
which Protestants seeked to liberate their newly proclaimed church.

The role of saints also was dangerously rising by popularization of myths and fictional stories
connected with them. It was made by “the large numbers of inexpensive biographies of individual
saints published at the time. And it provided the nucleus of the subject matter or iconography of
1
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 16
2
Heal, B. The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic Piety, 1500 – 1648. New
York: Cambridge University Press. 2007. p. 1
3
Heal, B. The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2007. p. 4
4
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 16 - 17
4
religious art. Almost 450 German religious paintings from the year 1495 – 1520 – of these, 137
portray the Virgin as a major figure. Another 125 depict lesser saints of the church. If the two
categories are combined, the total accounts for nearly 60 percent of the entire sample” 5. At the same
time “late medieval prayer books instructed their readers that for their petitions to be efficacious
they should utter specific supplications before the images of various individual saints”6

Catholic Church not only approved and propagated that kind of false religiosity, but also tried
to gain benefit: “in pre-Reformation Wittenberg, the Castle Church had 64 clergy to attend to the
divine offices and perform some 9 000 commemorative Masses annually. In Zwickau, where there
were 8 churches in all, St. Mary’s Church alone employed 27 priests serving daily at 23 altars”7.

Catholic Church was corrupted and people started to lose their faith not only in Holly
institution and Pope, but also in Christianity as such. The early reformists already noticed the main
problems and criticized church, trying to improve the situation and preparing ground for the
reformation.

THE RIOTS IN WITTENBERG

For those reformers who led the campaign to remove the images from the churches it was not
the matter for abstract doctrinal reasons. They were motivated by their disgust over that they
believed to be the abuse of religious subjects that more and more often had become associated with
the use of the representational art for cultic purposes.

The first great outburst of the 16th century iconoclasm erupted as part of what is known as the
Wittenberg Movement of 1521-22, a rapid sequence of reform-inspired events taking place in the
old electoral town while Luther himself was absent at Wartburg Castle where he was hiding after
his unsuccessful appearance at the Diet of Worms.

The place of Luther was taken by the most radical of the Wittenberg evangelicals named
Gabriel Zwingli. He overtook Luther’s preaching position at the Augustinian convent and quickly
gained popularity as powerful and fiery preacher. Although Luther introduced reformist ideas to
people, Zwingli made them popular during Luther’s absence.

At the same time Andreas Karlstadt, who was one of the first theorists of Reformation,
provided the theological basis for the criticism of religious imagery.

This all lead to the iconoclastic episodes of the winter of 1521-22, which were the climax of a
raising agitation and outright violence. “Excitement had already begun to mount in Wittenberg in
early autumn of 1521. During the first week of October revealed the anticlerical mood – when the
hermits of St. Antony came to the city on one of their accustomed rounds of alms begging, the
students threw dung and stones at them and interfered with their preaching and ceremonies” 8. This
kind of demonstration of stark aggression and verbal attacks on the Mass resulted in its suspension
5
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 19
6
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 22
7
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 14
8
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 37
5
at the Augustinian cloister in mid-October. Promoted by the impassioned preaching of Zwingli, the
monks began to abandon their cloister. But that was only the beginning.

“In Wittenberg, in early hours of the morning of December 3, when priests were celebrating
Mass in honor of the Virgin, in the city parish church were pelted with stones. Later in the day a
mob burst into the same church, seized the missals.”9 This kind of actions repeated some days after
the mentioned one. With every time they became more and more violent and savior, but “the next
important eruption of destruction activity in the Wittenberg churches occurred on Christmas Eve. A
mob burst into the parish church, smashed the lamps, threatened the priests, and bellowed out ribald
songs”10. People did not feel any respect or piety to the church, its priests and holy relics.

Till January 11 the city was peaceful, because of the absence of Zwingli. But after his
comeback the city raised again in violent demonstrations lead by the passionate priest.

Less than two weeks later, on January 24, the city council of Wittenberg was forced to issue a
reforming ordinance, which determined that all churches in the city have to liberate the holy space
from most of altars and works of art, and other types of decorations.

Nevertheless the situation was tense till “in the first week of February, an excited crowd of
towns people, apparently acting in impatient anticipation of the city council’s implementation of its
decision to abolish the images, burst into the parish church and engaged in a rampage of
destruction. Statues and paintings were torn down, smashed, and burned”11.

“Luther finally returned to the electoral town during the first week in March and almost
immediately preached a famous series of sermons vigorously denouncing destructive violence
against the images.”12 Luther perceived the danger of the power of uncontrollable mob. He
understood that there cannot be obedience in God’s will, if there is no respect to secular power.

To be able to fully analyze the course of the action and the activity of people, we have to take
into the account psychological mood and characteristic features of that time people, which is greatly
the subject of the psychological research. We have to mind not only dates and numbers, but also the
revolutionary mood, which was pilling up and overtaking people and making them into the weapons
in the hands of the new ideas and attitudes. Religious people became violent and ungovernable and
acted against the law and the order. The chaos set in, which lead to the new way of order.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE ICONOCLASM ON THE ART

The main idea of the iconoclasm was to destroy images, because of the tradition of the
Catholic Church to treat them as live and possessing holy qualities.

In reality people went from one extreme to anther - by destroying paintings and crucifixes,
they treated them as if they were live people of flash and blood: “ironically, the destroyers of

9
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 37
10
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 38
11
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 40
12
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 42
6
crucifixes, in attempting to demonstrate that the images were mere human fabrications, often treated
these objects as though they were persons. The image was flogged, or ordered to drink, or otherwise
mocked”13. This situation could also be analyzed from the psychological point of view as “the
rituals of violence against crucifixes sometimes unconsciously echoed the events of the passion
itself”.14

Mob by religious uprising destroyed everything in their way – not analyzing. Revolutionary
feelings overtook human ability to judge own action and riots were transferred from the clergy and
the institution of Roman Catholic Church to nearby parish churches and everything in them.

People were easily influenced and lead by educated spoke-persons who (in the case of
Wittenberg) were local priests. People very fast overtook the idea of reformation and inner
dissatisfaction of the institution of church gained outer expressions.

13
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross: The Passion of Christ in Theology and the Arts, from the Renaissance to the
Counter-Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 131
14
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 131
7
THE THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND THE SYMBOLISM OF
PROTESTANT ART
In this paper the author concentrates on the theological works of three reformists, because
they were the main and most famous figures in Protestant theology. In some cases their ideas and
attitudes were similar, but sometimes they had their own vision on God and His rule over the
people; and on the rule of the early institution which should take care of religious subjects.

KARLSTADT

Karlstadt is being famous as the first person, who wrote down the theological statutes of
Reformism; which was the starting point of further improvement and additions.

It is often reproved that in his works he usually uses the concepts of Luther and other
reformists. But even so, he adds his own perspective and attitude to those ideas and shows the in
new prism.

Karlstadt in his works often criticized external means of the piety. In such way, he hoped that
“in condemning religious externalism he would be helping to reassert the primacy of the Word”15.
This kind of glance back at early Christian focuses on the liturgy and the Bible itself found its own
way in the art of the early modern period. It was expressed as the written texts and the quotes of the
Holy Books in the paintings of Protestant art. Often text was used to explain the picture, in order no
misunderstandings to appear, which could later lead to the emergence of legends and myths, as it
happened with Catholic Church.

Karlstadt as other reformists proclaimed that the model of real religiosity has to be searched
in the Bible and the life style of the early Christians. They looked closely not only to the New
Testament, but also rediscovered the wisdoms of the Old Testament. There they looked for the
approval of the new theology. Karlstadt “in his effort to show that the images are profitless makes
striking use of passages from the book of Isaiah”16; in such way, past and present is combined,
showing the renewal of the order.

As all Protestants at the beginning of the reformation thought, Karlstadt demonstrated strong
opposition to the use of paintings and other expressions of art in church as means of education,
showing an example or leading to prayer and meditation. As puritanically tended priest, he
considered that “the physical, the sensory, is an impediment to the life of the spirit and should be
discarded”17 and art as the means of pleasure can wake in humans only negative emotions.

LUTHER

15
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 26
16
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 30
17
Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979. p. 26
8
 Luther's position on images underwent several changes during the course of his life. These
changes reflected the development of his views on worship and the need for a sacred space for
communal worship. Although at the beginning of the formation of the Reformist thought he spoke
about abandonment of art for religious needs, than after the destruction of images in Wittenberg, he
distanced himself from the actions of the iconoclasts. He started to preach that images were
religiously indifferent and only people’s superstitions operations with them should be condemned.

“By 1525, after his struggle against the spiritualist “fanatics”, who wanted to do away with all
externals of worship and during the peasant uprisings he opposed”18, Luther's position had
significantly evolved. Luther taught that the Old Testament prohibition of images was directed only
at idolatry.

Luther agreed with the other reformers in condemning images where they became objects of
superstition or where they departed from the Scriptures. For Luther the basic dichotomy involved in
the question of images was not that between spirit and flesh, as it was for the Zwinglians, but that
between salvation by faith and salvation by works. The solution for Luther and his followers was a
reformation in art that corresponded to a new way of considering the cross.

The cross of Christ was at the center of Luther's theology: “All genuine theology is the
wisdom of the cross”19. The cross and Christ moved from the background of the Medieval Age
tradition of Catholic Church to the front of the Protestant theology and art of the new age. The
crucifix became the source of the piety and godly wisdom.

Luther proposed a theology that begins with the suffering of Christ; therefore it was just
logical that the crucifix became the main topic of the sacred art in Protestant Church. He supported
his point of view with the idea that “corrupt is our condition that we would not even being aware of
our plight unless God revealed it. It is Christ's death for us that reveals our sinfulness and God's
wrath at it”.20 As the anthropology of the humanity becomes the history of the sins, Christ starts to
play main role as the Savior of humans.

By Luther’s concept, art had three main functions which were relatively important in
instructing the parish for their everyday and religious life. It was pedagogical, spiritual, and
exemplary functions, which were interlinking one with another.

“Luther's theology also strongly emphasizes the cross as God's victory over the devil, sin, and
death.”21 In art Christ is shown victorious even if the painting or carving is representing the
crucifixion, because He is the symbol of the Gods almighty and love. And by this kind of art people
are encouraged to have faith and be obedient.

CALVIN

18
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 132
19
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 108
20
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 111
21
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 113
9
 Calvin was influenced by early Protestant works, where Luther set in the idea of the corrupted
nature of art. But in comparison with Luther, Calvin stayed to this idea that images are useless in
religious piety. And although he was against using images in churches, his ideas and theology
influenced the development of sacred art.

Calvin strictly noted, that according to any kind of art, people can impersonate only things or
beings observed by the eye. Therefore the depiction of God was strongly forbidden, as pure
fabrication of our sinful imagination, but as “our Lord came forth very man, adopted the person of
Adam, and assumed his name, that he might in his stead obey the Father; that he might present our
flesh as the price of satisfaction to the just judgment of God, and in the same flesh pay the penalty
which we had incurred” 22 the crucifixes were not prohibited, although Calvin did not support any
kind of sacred art.

But comparing with Luther’s theology, Calvin concentrated more not on the crucifix, but
other realms as blood: “When we say, that grace was obtained for us by the merit of Christ, our
meaning is that we were cleansed by his blood, that his death was expiation for sin”.23 That is
brightly visible in Protestant art, as Christ’s body is often harshly molded and bleeding, that in
different situations brings different symbolic meaning to the whole piece of art. Blood is considered
to be the main symbol as the price for our sins.

Bloody and crucified body of Christ is not the only peculiarity of the Protestant art. The face
expression of the Son of God shows that “paying the price for our sins includes experiencing the
psychological pains of damnation”.24 Calvin argues that it would have been shameful and
undignified for Christ to have suffered such agony merely in anticipation of death, which so many
others (even evil people) have endured with bravery. Rather, he agonized in anticipation of the
pains of hell. The calm and elevated look of Jesus in Catholic traditions of passion is changed by
Christ’s face marked by sufferings on the cross.

Although the look of Christ in some cases can be even disturbing because of the blood and
wounds, and pain; in reality in pieces of art Jesus looks clean and untouched by all sorts of mockery
He had endured before the crucifixion. Calvin explains “the evil of the cross by the fact that God
uses the works of the ungodly to carry out the divine purposes, while remaining untouched by their
evil acts.”25

In the scenes of Golgotha Mountain viewers can observe several events of different moments
of the narrative depicted in one painting or carving. It could be explained by Calvin’s attitude
towards salvation: it is the completion of the work of salvation that is the sign of the new life and is
given us.”26 Not one moment brings God’s grace, but the sequence of actions, which could also be
linked with Calvin’s main topic of the theology – God’s predestination.

22
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 117
23
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 120
24
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 121
25
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 121
26
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 122
10
THE DEPICTION OF CHRIST AS THE MAIN SUBJECT IN PROTESTANT
ART

By analyzing some part of historical reality, there has to be the understanding of the
continuation of the epoch before that.

Protestant artists were born or even had been raised and taught by Renaissance thought. It is
just natural that early Protestant paintings had a lot in common with Renaissance art and its
elements. Art was gradually changing and symbols of new religion slowly were introduced in art.

The primary topic is the place of the cross in salvation, as seen in theology and art.
Theologically, it involves the doctrines of sin, justification, redemption, and other religious topics.
Similarly, the subject raises attention to the aesthetics as well, including the place of art in society
and the way it communicates, and its relation to conceptual thought.

Protestants refused the free flight of the imagination as the source for the religious art. God’s
Word could only righteously lead an artist in the process of creation of the art which later inspired
parish and priests. After the Reformation, “there can be only one resource for the Christian artist; to
stand face to face with the Gospel and interpret it as he feels it”.27 Topics of the sacred art were
chosen from the most important science of Holy Scripts looking from the theological point of view.

Although sacred art may be used instrumentally, to convey a specific religious message, arts
in general have their separate lives, in which patrons, consumers, locations, talent (or lack of it),
tradition, materials, techniques, etc., play an important role, quite apart from the message that
religious art least ostensibly serves. And money played one of the most important parts of the
creation of art: “Among early Protestants were a lot of good painters: Holbein, Durer, Jean Gonjon,
and Bernard Palissy, who worked indiscriminately for Protestant and Catholic patrons.”28 Art
(especially paintings) was a very expensive piece of prosperity. Not all could afford it, even if they
wanted. Therefore artists were forced to paint not what they really would liked to or would
preferred to, but instead what was the order of the patron or other noble and at the same time rich
men.

Reformation art as the Reformation itself had a lot of different phases and types. Some of the
artists found themselves in the middle between churches of different religions and concepts of art.

DURER AS TRANSITIONAL REFORMATION ARTIST

Durer’s art as transitional reformation art must be placed first of all within the context of
Renaissance humanism. His education showed his priorities in art. “Durer made two trips to Italy,
including a special journey to Bologna (in 1507) to learn the “secrets” of the art of perspective. But
27
Coulton, G.G. Art and the Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1953. p. 400
28
Coulton, G.G. Art and the Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1953. p. 408
11
Durer never had direct access to the art of antiquity; he received his knowledge of the ancients
through Italian prints, drawings, and art theory.”29 That is brightly seen in his carvings in “Engraved
Passion”, where a lot of painter’s attention is paid to precise depiction of human body, putting
emphasis on each and every smallest detail as muscles and wounds.

Starting around 1500, “Durer embarked on his life-long pursuit of the naturalistic portrayal of
human form, taking inspiration from Vitruvius's “Canon” and attempting to reduce the human body
to its rational component shapes.” 30 He was inspirited by Northern Humanist thought and it is
possible that he also knew the works of the neo-Platonist Ficino, which were available in
Nuremberg. Various concepts form different parts of Europe came into Germany and slowly went
into the direction of the Reformation, before the idea of the Reformation itself was formulated.

Although there were a lot of medieval traditions and Catholic Church symbolic elements in
his works, the influence of the Northern Humanistic thought through the interpretation of the Holy
Scripts was introduced. In his carvings “the Small Passion” (1511) Christ’s expression of face is
changed from traditionally esthetically exalted as in Renaissance paintings to flinched in pain. In his
carvings “the Large Passion” (1498) Durer in scenes of passion slowly turns from Mary as a central
object and puts Jesus and his sufferings in the middle of painters own art.

Durer’s success as an artist gave him entry into a high level of society in Nuremberg. He was
named a member of the city's Great Council, and associated with educated and cultured members of
the gentry. He studied languages, and was able to read Latin. His best friend was Willibald
Pirckheimer, a well-educated humanist; it was he who introduced Durer to the classics, and
informed him about philosophy and archeology. Durer was probably employed by the humanist
Emperor Maximilian I because of humanistic qualities as well as for his technical skill.

And although most of his paintings and carvings were made before Reformation, Durer is
considered to be semi-reformist painter, because a lot of his works gained recognition from Luther
and later were printed as illustrations in reformist books of God’s Word and the Gospels.

CRANACH’S WORKS AS LUTHERAN PAINTINGS

Lukas Cranach as one of the most important painters in postulation of Protestantism art, by
the time of the Reformation, he was a famous and rich man, one of the leading citizens of the city of
Wittenberg, where he was a court painter to the Duke-Elector of Saxony, who later became Luther's
protector. He had as well close relationships with Luther himself.

“Cranach supervised the printing of Luther's propaganda booklets, designed woodcuts for the
German version of the New Testament, and painted Protestant princes and reformers. Most
importantly he worked with Luther and under his influence to create a new style and subject matter
to fit the new reformed approach to faith.”31 Ideology and art went hand in hand. Art was not
abolished, but served as means of help in Protestant sermons by visualizing theological concepts.

29
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 140
30
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 141
31
Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008. p. 154
12
 It is especially vivid in Lukas Cranach’s group of several versions of a painting of the
crucified Christ with the converted centurion what was made in the course of the years 1536–39. It
is considered that these paintings introduce new symbolism of Reformist church and Protestant art.
In the composition of the passion the place of Mary is taken by centurion who represented secular
power and usually was patron of Protestant Church or the painter. In Cranach’s case the face of the
centurion bears a similarity to portraits of the Elector of Saxony, Cranach's patron.

Depiction of a human body did not have esthetic function, but served symbolic representation
of person’s inner world. In paintings like “by portrayal of criminals who were crucified together
with Christ, the “good” one is figured as thin, pleasantly looking man with calm face expression,
but the “bad” one is represented as heavy, angry looking man with face expressing suffering. It was
representing the power of penance of the sins and redemption.

By his works, Cranach tried to reduce the importance of Virgin Mary as the individual saint.
In paintings of passion as “Crucifixion” (1503) Mary is shown not alone under the cross or with
other woman like Mary Magdalena or Anna, but with Josef, symbolizing sacred instance of
marriage and woman main role as wife and mother.

Altarpieces stepped back from Renaissance tradition of capturing the beauty of a moment and
tried to combine the whole story in one picture. Bright example is different variations of Cranach’s
perception of “The Law and the Gospel” or also called as “The Justification of the Sinner”; one of
them made in 1539. It covers subject starting with the Fall of Adam and Eve and finishing with the
Resurrection of Christ. It covers the whole history of the sin and salvation from it. It is the main
topic in Reformist theology as well.

The most famous work of Cranach was Wittenberg’s Altarpiece “The Last Supper and Scenes
from the Life of Martin Luther” in Marienkirche. It represents Luther’s idea of the ideal sacred
institution, which works in the same way as Christ with his apostils. In the lowest panel he shows
the service of Luther, where between the priest and his parish is only Christ, no other mediator.
Church in the background is depicted bleak and plain and the parish is attentively looking at Jesus
in front of them. Luther in this painting stands in a pulpit with the Bible in front of him and with
one hand points to bleeding Son of God. Nothing draws attention away from the most important in
the ceremony and liturgy – Christ.

Cranach considered that his power of painter was a gift from God; therefore he was helping
Luther to bring people closer to the understanding of God’s will and commandments by using his
talent of painting. This idea was depicted in Cranach’s sons - Lukas Cranach the Younger - painting
“Weimar Altarpiece”, where he portrays his father standing next to the cross of Christ between John
the Baptist and Luther and the blood of Jesus stream on Cranach’s the Elder forehead as a symbol
of the Gods blessing.

13
CONCLUSION

Much of the medieval traditions as devotion to Mary were rejected by Luther and his
followers. The most obvious element to be removed was the idea that Mary and other saints could
serve as intercessors or mediators with God. The intercessory structure found in medieval
Catholicism was seen as detrimental to Christ and his role as the sole mediator and savior.

“Mary was used to promote married life against celibacy and the religious life, in that she
herself, despite her virginal status, accepted her calling as a wife and mother.” 32 Mary was
represented as ideal mother and wife – obedient and faithful. She lost all other of her functions.

In the center of Reformist theology emerged Christ on the cross. The priests of new
confession preached against the traditions of corrupted Catholic Church. Art as means of decoration
fell into disgrace.

Art, as the field of being the most probably subordinated by power of imagination, was
recognized as inadequate in use of church for theological purposes. The iconoclasm took this under
its own control and got rid of all imageries that could perform in acts of false idolatry and
superstition. The riots ended up in more useless actions of mockery over sacred art then even ritual
activities of superstitious believers in the late medieval period. It can be detected that by destroying
altarpieces and other pieces of art in churches as “the same injustice done at the Reformation than
by the orthodox emperors of early Christianity, who forcibly suppressed the schools of Athens”.33

But at the later phase of the formation of Protestantism, it become clear that art can serve
higher aim by supporting theological texts and depicting stories of the Bible. But at this moment art
lost its freedom. Tradition and imagination was the enemy for inspiration of painter. Instead of hose
were used studies of the Scripts and the Acts. Also the new symbolic was introduced by theology.

The Passion of Christ became one of the most popular topics for painters. Jesus sufferings on
the cross symbolized redemption of our sins and his blood was the price for it. Human body was not
a subject of esthetics, but the means to show our inner world. Christ’s maimed body represented the
ugliness of our own souls, deformed by our sins.

Christ was depicted victorious as He won the battle with death, sins and evil. His glorious
depictions on the cross served as bright example all Protestants. His life and self-sacrifice was
motivation for others to have faith in God and in that way received love from God.

32
Kreitzer, B. Reforming Mary: Changing Images of the Virgin Mary in Lutheran Sermons of the Sixteenth Century.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2004. p. 135
33
Coulton, G.G. Art and the Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1953. p. 404
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Christensen, C.C. Art and the Reformation in Germany. Athens: Ohio University Press. 1979

2. Coulton, G.G. Art and the Reformation. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1953.

3. Heal, B. The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany: Protestant and Catholic Piety,
1500 – 1648. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2007

4. Kreitzer, B. Reforming Mary: Changing Images of the Virgin Mary in Lutheran Sermons of the
Sixteenth Century. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004

5. Viladesau, R. The Triumph of the Cross: The Passion of Christ in Theology and the Arts, from
the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation. New York: Oxford University Press. 2008

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