Renaissance and Reformation

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther published his ninety-five theses on the door of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in Wittenberg. This “heretical” act became the trigger for the Reformation and a schism of the church and led to far-reaching social upheaval. Luther’s criticism was directed at the luxury and abuses of the Catholic Church and in particular at the selling of indulgences by which the faithful could pay for their release from their sins. Calling into question the powerful institution of the Catholic Church also opened up new perspectives on the world in other areas. The ideas of humanism and the Renaissance influenced human thought. Around 1500, the horizon expanded on the levels: not only in terms of knowledge but also geographically with the discovery and conquest of new continents and cultures.

On the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the publication of Luther’s theses, the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München are presenting key works of German art around 1500 at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The masterpieces of Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder and Lucas Cranach the Younger, Hans Holbein the Elder and Hans Holbein the Younger, Tilman Riemenschneider, and other contemporaries reflect the social tensions of this epoch, which is one of the most important chapters in the history of German and European art and culture.

The exhibition was made possible by support from the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Devotional
images with motifs from the Bible characterized Western art prior to 1500�.� For centuries, the Catholic Church developed traditions for
illustrating liturgy and ritual. At their center stood the history of
salvation through Christ and depictions of the Virgin and of saints
as mediators between the faithful and God. Around 1500, a
transformation in the visual language becomes evident: the figures appear more human, their physicality and individuality are
emphasized, they seem to come from this world.

Not
only in church services but also in daily life, the faithful
maintained a close connection to biblical figures and the legends of
the saints. In private devotion especially, small-format wooden
sculptures of Christ, the Virgin, as well as saints were prayed to and
beseeched for their direct support in difficult situations. Not
infrequently, the figures were treated as if the people depicted were
actually present. They were touched, kissed, in many places even
dressed for festivals and presented with gifts. The iconoclasts later
took aim at this custom. They considered it as worshipping of idols, which
was prohibited in the Bible, and thus destroyed many Christian works of art and objects of devotion.

With
the spread of humanist ideas from Italy, new pictorial motifs reached the lands north of the Alps. Landscapes, historical scenes,
and figures from ancient mythology bore witness to a new, altered
perception of the world between a longing for antiquity and intense
observation of nature and the human form. In filigreed drawings, we
find the original, individual styles of artists such as Albrecht
Dürer and Erhard and Albrecht Altdorfer. More and more, the motifs
are depicted for their own sake. The drawings are thus also an
expression of a European Renaissance art in which artists act as
individuals and their works of art become increasingly autonomous.

The
political dimension of humanism is revealed in the increasing power
of principalities that propagated and protected the new ideas of the time. Court
culture achieved exceptional cultural significance and objects from the art collections of electoral princes bare
testimony to the refined art of artisans: jewelry boxes and goblets
but also weapons and armor convey an impression of the life at a
princely court. The art of the court at Dresden, which
enjoyed great respect and had great influence on the imperial level,
was exemplary of a Protestant principality with ambitions to convey
its status.

In
splendid armor, princes presented themselves according to their rank
as representatives and defenders of their Christian faith. Religious scenes
and motifs from the Bible were artfully depicted on iron armor.

... and the Christian faith.

The Reformation was not limited to the court but affected all spheres
of society. The conflict between the Catholic Church and the
Reformers was fought throughout the country and even beyond its
borders. In broadsheets and mocking images, the pope and the corrupt
monkhood were severely denounced. The Catholic side responded with
accusations and insults of Luther and his followers.

The Reformers’ ideas were disseminated using modern visual media such as broadsheet, woodcut, and book printing. Numerous printers and skilled artisans and artists in the cities of the empire made it possible to underscore and polarize the conflict with deliberately employed visual propaganda. This made it possible to reach even the illiterate and recruit them visually for the goals of the Reformers and the Protestants.