The Reformation and Art in Germany – five online talks by Dr Ulrike Ziegler
posted on 02/08/2024
When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses decrying the Catholic sale of indulgences onto the door of Wittenberg Castle Church on 31st October 1517, he brought about the most seminal schism in the history of Western Christianity. What should have been nothing more than a theological-academic dispute ended with excommunication, imperial ban and – not least of all – a fundamental change of attitude to Christian art and architecture.
In this series, we will examine the person of Martin Luther and the time in which he lived through his depiction in portraits. His conversion into a ‘Saint of the Reformation’ by contemporaries is just one of many feats of the religious propaganda of this era. In the field of art and architecture, the Reformation developed into nothing less than a revolution. The lasting change in all artistic creation on the Catholic side will be explored as well as the new, slowly emerging Protestant art and architecture in which Luther’s close friend, Lucas Cranach the Elder, played a pivotal role.
They take place every Thursday from 24 October–21st November at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will probably last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (16th January 2024).
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The talks
1. Martin Luther – a life in portraits (24th October 2024)
Some of the most ground-breaking events in Luther’s life – and of the Reformation – are mirrored in the portraits made of him emanating from the workshop of Lucas Cranach. The close ties between the two men and their families predestined Cranach to become Martin Luther’s chief portraitist and painter-biographer. From Luther’s days as an Augustinian monk or Knight George, from Doctor Luther to the husband and family man, every important step is reflected in painting and more importantly, in print, by Cranach thus putting the reformer on par with the celebrities of the Holy Roman Empire.
2. Propaganda in Print and Painting (31th October 2024)
The denominational disputes of the Reformation found their expression in propagandistic broadsheets published by Protestants and Catholics alike. Thousands of images were designed to glorify the position of each side and to demonise their opponents. Lutheran propaganda mainly focused on anti-papal messages, while Catholics used the description of Luther as the antichrist as much as the Lutherans did of the Pope. Fuelled by the invention of the printing press and inexpensive paper, printers and preachers could produce pamphlets that even day labourers could afford and also understand, as texts were printed in High German rather than in Latin.
3. Altarpieces and Church Architecture (7th November 2024)
Luther did not condemn the use of images, only the production of devotional artworks. As long as art had a didactic purpose and helped disseminate the Christian doctrine, it was acceptable. He collaborated with Lucas Cranach the Elder to create a specifically Lutheran art. Furthermore, Catholic churches appropriated for the Lutheran service soon proved to be viewed as an interim solution; as early as 1544, Luther consecrated the new chapel of the Electoral palace in Torgau as one of the first purpose-built Protestant churches.
4. Military Conflict – the Great Peasants’ War and the Schmalkaldic League (14th November 2024)
The religious turmoil of the Reformation era coincided with a period of social unrest. As a means of expressing their grievances, peasants invoked Luther’s writings, especially his seminal paper “On the Freedom of a Christian” to justify and add weight to their cause. Luther himself did not support the peasants’ revolt, which culminated in the brutally suppressed Peasants’ War of 1524-25. The Schmalkaldic League evolved as a defensive alliance of Protestant territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Portrait cycles of the Protestant princes, as well as prints showcasing important incidents of the Peasant War and the Schmalkadic League, impressively illustrate the first military conflicts provoked by the Reformation.
5. Art and Armour – the Schmalkaldic War and the Peace of Augsburg (21st November 2024)
The military conflicts reached their zenith in the Schmalkaldic War in which Emperor Charles V and the Holy Roman Empire triumphed. For the Imperial Diet that ensued, he summoned his court artist Titian to Augsburg. Also present was the Saxon Elector, John Frederick I, Charles’s prisoner of war, together with his court artist, Lucas Cranach. This unique meeting of princes and painters in Augsburg led to a series of famous paintings portraying not only the protagonists but also their splendid suits of armour, which are works of art in themselves.
Image: 'Christ Blessing the Children', Lucas Cranach the Younger and Workshop, ca. 1545–50. The Met ©
The speaker
Dr Ulrike Ziegler
Specialist in medieval art and architecture. She studied art history and archaeology at the University of Regensburg and King’s College Aberdeen. Her PhD focused on art exhibitions and the cultural politics of post-war Germany. She has taught at university and now lectures for various cultural institutions as well as organising and leading many study days and trips in Germany and Austria.
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