The Reformation of the ImageReaktion Books, 2004 M02 27 - 494 pages With his 95 Theses, Martin Luther advanced the radical notion that all Christians could enjoy a direct, personal relationship with God—shattering years of Catholic tradition and obviating the need for intermediaries like priests and saints between the individual believer and God. The text of the Bible, the Word of God itself, Luther argued, revealed the only true path to salvation—not priestly ritual and saintly iconography. But if words—not iconic images—showed the way to salvation, why didn't religious imagery during the Reformation disappear along with indulgences? The answer, according to Joseph Leo Koerner, lies in the paradoxical nature of Protestant religious imagery itself, which is at once both iconic and iconoclastic. Koerner masterfully demonstrates this point not only with a multitude of Lutheran images, many never before published, but also with a close reading of a single pivotal work—Lucas Cranach the Elder's altarpiece for the City Church in Wittenberg (Luther's parish). As Koerner shows, Cranach, breaking all the conventions of traditional Catholic iconography, created an entirely new aesthetic for the new Protestant ethos. In the Crucifixion scene of the altarpiece, for instance, Christ is alone and stripped of all his usual attendants—no Virgin Mary, no John the Baptist, no Mary Magdalene—with nothing separating him from Luther (preaching the Word) and his parishioners. And while the Holy Spirit is nowhere to be seen—representation of the divine being impossible—it is nonetheless dramatically present as the force animating Christ's drapery. According to Koerner, it is this "iconoclash" that animates the best Reformation art. Insightful and breathtakingly original, The Reformation of the Image compellingly shows how visual art became indispensable to a religious movement built on words. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 65
Page 6
... Holy Roman Emperor 1496–7 Albrecht Dürer publishes his Apocalypse woodcuts 1497 1498 1502 Birth of Philipp Melanchthon in Bretten (Palatinate); Vasco da Gama reaches India, having rounded Africa Burning of Girolamo Savonarola in ...
... Holy Roman Emperor 1496–7 Albrecht Dürer publishes his Apocalypse woodcuts 1497 1498 1502 Birth of Philipp Melanchthon in Bretten (Palatinate); Vasco da Gama reaches India, having rounded Africa Burning of Girolamo Savonarola in ...
Page 21
... holy sacrament is administered ?? Church is also the practices of catechism for teaching , and of ' church visitations ' for discipline , in which state - appointed officials test local clerics , townspeople and villagers on their ...
... holy sacrament is administered ?? Church is also the practices of catechism for teaching , and of ' church visitations ' for discipline , in which state - appointed officials test local clerics , townspeople and villagers on their ...
Page 25
... Holy Supper' are the relevant quotations complete with publication dates. Thanks to this antipendium of footnotes, the lesson stands complete. I could simply cut the inscriptions from their iconic support (cloth, page, floor, cartouche ...
... Holy Supper' are the relevant quotations complete with publication dates. Thanks to this antipendium of footnotes, the lesson stands complete. I could simply cut the inscriptions from their iconic support (cloth, page, floor, cartouche ...
Page 38
... Holy Word , has brought about – now , in our times , in the whole German nation an obvious diminution and arrest of all subtle and liberal arts , many thus have been forced to abandon such arts and take up other occupations ; wherefore ...
... Holy Word , has brought about – now , in our times , in the whole German nation an obvious diminution and arrest of all subtle and liberal arts , many thus have been forced to abandon such arts and take up other occupations ; wherefore ...
Page 46
... holy sacraments are properly administered'.36 The engraving hides church in the whitewash of the everyday. Three features of this self-concealment stand out. First, to signal that its image is a true one, the engraving restricts itself ...
... holy sacraments are properly administered'.36 The engraving hides church in the whitewash of the everyday. Three features of this self-concealment stand out. First, to signal that its image is a true one, the engraving restricts itself ...
Contents
6 | |
9 | |
17 | |
I Cleansing | 81 |
II The Word | 169 |
III Sacrament | 319 |
Epilogue | 441 |
References | 445 |
Photo Acknowledgements | 483 |
Index | 484 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action adiaphora Albrecht Dürer altar altarpiece Anonymous apostolic artist Augsburg Confession baptism behold believe Bible biblical blood body bread broadsheet carved catechism Catholic celebrated centre centurion century choir Christ Christian church pictures cleansing communication Communion confessional congregation Cranach the Elder Cranach the Younger cross crucifix crucifixion cult death depicted Dessau Dinkelsbühl display doctrine Dürer effigies engraving Eucharist evangelical faith Flacius Friedrich German gesture Gnesio-Lutherans God’s Göding Gospel heart holy icon iconoclasts idolatry idols illus image-breakers inscription invisible Johann Karlstadt kernel laity Last Supper Lucas Cranach Lutheran Mass means Melanchthon oil on panel painted painter Passion person portrait preacher preaching predella priest princes Protestant pulpit Reformation religion religious represent representation retable rite ritual Roman sacrament sacred saints Saxony scene Schweinfurt Scripture secular sermon sola fides space spirit stands Testament things Torgau triptych true understanding viewer visible visual Weimar Wittenberg Wittenberg Altarpiece woodcut