Lutheran art consists of all religious art produced for Lutherans and the Lutheran churches. This includes sculpture, painting, and architecture. Artwork in the Lutheran churches arose as a distinct marker of the faith during the Reformation era and attempted to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the teachings of Lutheran theology.
Martin Luther encouraged the display of some religious imagery in churches, seeing the Evangelical Lutheran Church as a continuation of the "ancient, apostolic church". [1] He defended the use of "importance of images as tools for instruction and aids to devotion", [2] stating that "If it is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?" [3]
His attitude towards images became more positive after his dispute with Andreas Karlstadt began in 1521. Luther had left Karlstadt in effective charge of his church in Wittenberg when he went into retreat in the Wartburg, but Karlstadt introduced a considerably more Radical Reformation than Luther approved, which included the removal of all religious images from churches. As with the later Calvinist programmes of complete destruction of images, this aroused more popular opposition than other aspects of the radical innovations, and Luther's support for images was in part an attempt to distinguish his positions from more radical ones, as well as an attempt to avoid stirring up opposition over an issue he did not see as central.
Luther also understood the value of crude polemical woodcuts in the propaganda battle, and commissioned some himself. He also appears to have worked personally with artists to develop didactic compositions that were used as book frontispieces, including for the Luther Bible which had an elaborate frontispiece in all early editions, prints, and relatively small versions in oils. Law and Gospel (1529) by the Lutheran painter Lucas Cranach the Elder is the earliest painting of this type, [4] painted in different versions, and turned into a woodcut. Several share a similar composition, divided vertically into two by a tree, also found in many polemical prints; typically there is a good side and a bad side. Lutheran catechisms, an important means of disseminating Lutheran teachings among the congregations, were often illustrated with woodcuts, as were prayerbooks and other religious literature. [5]
In the beginning of Lutheranism's spread to German territories in the 1520s and 1530s, local ordinances set out a variety of treatments of existing imagery in churches. Where, as was sometimes the case, nothing was said, it is presumed that it was intended that many images could be retained. In the Lutheran churches of Nuremberg, for example, "side altars, sacrament houses and saints' shrines provided (and continue to provide) the visual backdrop for evangelical worship". [6] Elsewhere, depending on the views of the ruler or council, all images were to be removed, as in Hesse in 1526, although Martin Luther objected to this decision, apparently ineffectively. [7] Some ordinances specified that only "images near and before which particular worship and idolatry and special honour with candles and lights have been practiced" should be removed but also emphasized that "we may not be iconoclasts", in the words of a Hamburg ordinance of 1529. [8] In Brandenburg, an injunction was pronounced to retain 'altars...images and paintings' and in Württemberg, images that were neglected or damaged were restored or replaced. [9] The Augsburg Interim and Leipzig Interim settled the issue, both pronouncing that sacred art would be preserved in the Lutheran Churches, though they would not be the focal point of worship, thus making the Lutheran position a via media between what Lutheran theologians perceived as 'Roman Catholic idolatry' and 'Calvinist iconoclasm'. [10]
A few Lutheran altarpieces, including those of the Last Supper, were commissioned under the purview of Martin Luther. The Schneeberg Altarpiece was placed at the high altar of St. Wolfgang's Church, Schneeberg and as Lutheran sacred imagery, reflected "the devotional forms of fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century northern art". [3] The Schneeberg Altarpiece (1539), along with the Wittenberg Altarpiece (1547) and the Weimar Altarpiece (1555), were Christocentric in their iconography and "these altarpieces reinforced the key teachings of the new church and helped consolidate a sense of confessional identity." [11] In eastern Germany, Lutheran patrons erected some thirty new altarpieces. [12] Most pre-Reformation altarpieces were preserved within Lutheran churches as the "altar was still believed to be a particularly holy place, and should be adorned accordingly." [13]
Lutheran sacred art gained a new function in addition to exciting one's mind to thoughts of the Divine by also serving a didactic purpose. [3] Cranach's Law and Gospel , for example, "enshrines the specific authority of the word of the Bible by including biblical passages as prominent parts of the composition." [11] Lutheranism was responsible for "an explosion of creativity in the graphic arts" with works such as Passional Christi und Antichristi by Philipp Melanchthon, being described as "richly illustrated". [11] [14]
With respect to the Divine Service, "Lutheran worship became a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior." [15] Ornate church interiors in Lutheran churches reflected Lutheran Eucharistic theology, which taught the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist as a sacramental union. [1] Lutheran churches, as well as homes, displayed a prominent crucifix as it highlighted their high view of the Theology of the Cross. [1] [16] [17] It became a popular devotional image for Lutherans, who "prayed, meditated, and even wept before them." [17] Thus, for Lutherans, "the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image." [18]
During the Beeldenstorm or Iconoclastic Fury, bands often categorized as Calvinists violently removed sacred art from churches. [19] [20] [21] Lutherans generally opposed the iconoclasm, one saying: "You black Calvinist, you give permission to smash our pictures and hack our crosses; we are going to smash you and your Calvinist priests in return". [1] As such, Calvinist iconoclasm, "provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs" in Germany. [22] Lutheran theologian and priest Johann Arndt was forced to flee Anhalt when it became Calvinist in the 1580s, due to his defense of Christian sacred art. [12] He wrote a treatise Ikonographia, in which he criticized the Reformed faith for consecrating the Eucharistic elements on wooden tables rather than on stone altars. [12] As Calvinism, along with its associated aniconism spread, "Lutherans responded by reaffirming their commitment to the proper use of religious images." [23]
Artists who designed Lutheran Baroque art not only took their inspiration from Martin Luther, but from popular Lutheran piety in the latter part of the 16th and 17th centuries. [23] The Dresden Frauenkirche serves as a prominent example of Lutheran Baroque art, which was completed in 1743 after being commissioned by the Lutheran city council of Dresden: [24]
From the pulpit beside the entrance to the choir area the pure Word of God was preached against a truly magnificent visual backdrop. With its imposing high altar, showing in sculpted relief the emotive scene of Christ in prayer on the Mount of Olives, its splendid organ and its cupola with paintings of the evangelists and virtues by Giovanni Battista Grone, the interior of the Frauenkirche embraces illusion, even illusion dependent on the techniques of the Italian Baroque. The Frauenkirche rivalled contemporary Catholic churches in its beauty and splendour and was, in fact, compared by eighteenth-century observers to St. Peter’s in Rome. [24]
In the second half of the 17th century, High Baroque art continued to spread through Saxony, under the rule of Johann Georg II. [24] Pieces like the altar of Johanneskirche resembled the Descent from the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens. [24]
More typically, Daniel Hisgen (1733-1812) was a German painter of the rococo period who worked as a painter of Lutheran churches in Upper Hesse, specializing on cycles of paintings decorating the front of the gallery parapet in churches with an upper gallery. His discreet cycles demonstrate the modest prominence expected of Lutheran art in German churches of his day, taking a middle route between the large and prominent images in Catholic churches, and the complete absence of images in Calvinist ones.
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, several Lutheran altarpieces were designed and housed within parish churches. [25] Many of these were designed by artists such as Carl Bloch and Joakim Skovgaard. [25]
With respect to artwork adorning Lutheran churches in the modern era:
Lutheran places of worship contain images and sculptures not only of Christ but also of biblical and occasionally of other saints as well as prominent decorated pulpits due to the importance of preaching, stained glass, ornate furniture, magnificent examples of traditional and modern architecture, carved or otherwise embellished altar pieces, and liberal use of candles on the altar and elsewhere. [1]
In Finland, Hilkka Toivola produced many stained glass works in the 20th century. Within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, religious artists including Arne Haugen Sørensen, Peter Brandes, Hein Heinsen and Maja Lisa Engelhardt continue to design Lutheran art today. [25] It has been claimed that more pre-Reformation Marian altarpieces survive in German Lutheran churches than Catholic ones, [1] where many were replaced in the Baroque period.
 | This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry.(May 2018) |
Although some reformers, such as John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, rejected all images, Martin Luther defended the importance of images as tools for instruction and aids to devotion.
In most Lutheran territories, however, altars and altarpieces were not only preserved, but they also continued to be used and were even commissioned anew. Lutheran commitment to the doctrine of Christ's real presence undoubtedly provides the key to understanding this visual conservatism. The altar was still believed to be a particularly holy place, and should be adorned accordingly.
As it developed in north-eastern Germany, Lutheran worship became a complex ritual choreography set in a richly furnished church interior. This much is evident from the background of an epitaph painted in 1615 by Martin Schulz, destined for the Nikolaikirche in Berlin (see Figure 5.5.).
In fact, Lutherans often justified their continued use of medieval crucifixes with the same arguments employed since the Middle Ages, as is evident from the example of the altar of the Holy Cross in the Cistercian church of Doberan.
Images also came to play a key part in the new forms of Lutheran piety promulgated during the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by figures such as Johann Arndt. The crucifix in particular became an important devotional image. Crucifixes—which had been objects of particular hatred for Calvinist iconoclasts—adorned Lutheran churches and homes, and Lutherans prayed, meditated, and even wept before them.
According to Koerner, who dwells on Lutheran art, the Reformation renewed rather than removed the religious image.
The Beeldenstorm, or Iconoclastic Fury, involved roving bands of radical Calvinists who were utterly opposed to all religious images and decorations in churches and who acted on their beliefs by storming into Catholic churches and destroying all artwork and finery.
Devoutly Catholic but opposed to Inquisition tactics, they backed William of Orange in subduing the Calvinist uprising of the Dutch beeldenstorm on behalf of regent Margaret of Parma, and had come willingly to the council at her invitation.
Iconoclastic incidents during the Calvinist 'Second Reformation' in Germany provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs, while Protestant image-breaking in the Baltic region deeply antagonized the neighbouring Eastern Orthodox, a group with whom reformers might have hoped to make common cause.
A crucifix is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus.
Iconoclasm is the social belief in the importance of the destruction of icons and other images or monuments, most frequently for religious or political reasons. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be figuratively applied to any individual who challenges "cherished beliefs or venerated institutions on the grounds that they are erroneous or pernicious."
Beeldenstorm in Dutch and Bildersturm in German are terms used for outbreaks of destruction of religious images that occurred in Europe in the 16th century, known in English as the Great Iconoclasm or Iconoclastic Fury and in French as the Furie iconoclaste. During these spates of iconoclasm, Catholic art and many forms of church fittings and decoration were destroyed in unofficial or mob actions by Calvinist Protestant crowds as part of the Protestant Reformation. Most of the destruction was of art in churches and public places.
Lucas Cranach the Elder was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm. He was a close friend of Martin Luther. Cranach also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art. He continued throughout his career to paint nude subjects drawn from mythology and religion.
Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media.
Crypto-Calvinism is a pejorative term describing a segment of those members of the Lutheran Church in Germany who were accused of secretly subscribing to Calvinist doctrine of the Eucharist in the decades immediately after the death of Martin Luther in 1546. It denotes what was seen as a hidden Calvinist belief, i.e., the doctrines of John Calvin, by members of the Lutheran Church. The term crypto-Calvinist in Lutheranism was preceded by terms Zwinglian and Sacramentarian. Also, Jansenism has been accused of crypto-Calvinism by Roman Catholics.
Religious images in Christian theology have a role within the liturgical and devotional life of adherents of certain Christian denominations. The use of religious images has often been a contentious issue in Christian history. Concern over idolatry is the driving force behind the various traditions of aniconism in Christianity.
Andreas Rudolph Bodenstein von Karlstadt, better known as Andreas Karlstadt, Andreas Carlstadt or Karolostadt, in Latin, Carolstadius, or simply as Andreas Bodenstein, was a German Protestant theologian, University of Wittenberg chancellor, a contemporary of Martin Luther and a reformer of the early Reformation.
The term Evangelical Catholic is used in Lutheranism, alongside the terms Augsburg Catholic or Augustana Catholic, with those calling themselves Evangelical Catholic Lutherans or Lutherans of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship stressing the catholicity of historic Lutheranism in liturgy, beliefs, practices, and doctrines. Evangelical Catholics teach that Lutheranism at its core "is deeply and fundamentally catholic". The majority of Evangelical Catholic Lutheran clergy and parishes are members of mainstream Lutheran denominations.
High church Lutheranism is a movement that began in 20th-century Europe and emphasizes worship practices and doctrines that are similar to those found within both Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and the High church wing of Anglicanism. In the more general usage of the term, it describes the general high church characteristics of Lutheranism in the Nordic and Baltic countries such as Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia. The mentioned countries, once a part of the Swedish Empire, have more markedly preserved Catholic traditions.
Aniconism is the absence of material representations of the natural and supernatural world in various cultures, particularly in the monotheistic Abrahamic religions.
The Protestant Reformation during the 16th century in Europe almost entirely rejected the existing tradition of Catholic art, and very often destroyed as much of it as it could reach. A new artistic tradition developed, producing far smaller quantities of art that followed Protestant agendas and diverged drastically from the southern European tradition and the humanist art produced during the High Renaissance. The Lutheran churches, as they developed, accepted a limited role for larger works of art in churches, and also encouraged prints and book illustrations. Calvinists remained steadfastly opposed to art in churches, and suspicious of small printed images of religious subjects, though generally fully accepting secular images in their homes.
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began in the 16th century with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church from perceived errors, abuses, and discrepancies.
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the crucifixion of Jesus on a large wooden cross, is a symbol of Christianity. It is related to the crucifix and to the more general family of cross symbols, the term cross itself being detached from the original specifically Christian meaning in modern English.
The religion of Protestantism, a form of Christianity, was founded within Germany in the 16th-century Reformation. It was formed as a new direction from some Roman Catholic principles. It was led initially by Martin Luther and later by John Calvin.
St. Wolfgang's Church in Schneeberg is one of the largest hall churches of the Late Gothic in Saxon region of Germany. It was built in the early 16th century on parts of a small, earlier building and is an early example of a Reformation church building. Due to its dominant position on the summit of the Schneeberg hill, which in previous centuries had been riddled (durchörtet) with mining pits and galleries, it became known as the "Miners' Cathedral" (Bergmannsdom). The parish of St. Wolfgang in Schneeberg owns this summer church as well as the hospital church, the Church of the Trinity, Schneeberg on the Fürstenplatz as their winter church. In addition the parish of St. George & St. Martin, Griesbach, also belongs to the Lutheran-Evangelical parish of Schneeberg.
Law and Gospel is one of a number of thematically linked, allegorical panel paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder from about 1529. The paintings, intended to illustrate Lutheran ideas of salvation, are exemplars of Lutheran Merkbilder, which were simple, didactic illustrations of Christian doctrine.
The Schneeberg Altarpiece is a Lutheran winged altarpiece created in 1539 by Lucas Cranach the Elder for the Church of St. Wolfgang in Schneeberg in Saxony, Germany. The altarpiece was commissioned in 1531–1532 by the Elector of Saxony John I of Saxony and installed in the church in 1539, making it the first Protestant altarpiece of Reformation which is considered a Saxon masterpiece of art.
Weimar Cranach Altarpiece is a Lutheran winged altarpiece created by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son Lucas Cranach the Younger between 1552 and 1555 for the Church of St. Peter und Paul in Weimar, Germany.
Wittenberg Cranach Altarpiece is one of the major Lutheran winged altarpieces created by Lucas Cranach the Elder and his son Lucas Cranach the Younger for the Evangelical Lutheran City and Parish Church of St.Mary's in Wittenberg, Germany. The altarpiece depicts the key figures of the Lutheranism associated with the parish church of Wittenberg.
