Christ As Conqueror: The Risen Christ Triumphs Over A Three-Headed Devil: “Thus Speaks God: This Is My Dear Son Who Pleases Me, To Him You Should Listen …,”

The risen Christ triumphs over the devil, whose three heads symbolize different forms of religious conflict, namely, the Turkish danger, the corrupt papacy, and the angel-like form of charming seduction. This devil’s head was aimed at tempting but supposedly blinding rapprochements of the enemy factions after the Catholic victory in the Schmalkaldic War. Only of a few of the polemical woodcuts of the period of struggle between Catholics and Protestants were as elaborately colored as this sheet. As part of the Protestant collections of prints and drawings, they were exceptionally preserved. Most of the other sheets on this subject were cheap broadsheets that wore out after fulfilling their propaganda purpose and were thrown out at some point.