Protestant Reformation On Northern European Art

We are also shown how these different forms of art change over time and how different cultures have adopted them and used them as their own form of art to express emotion, love, creativity, and passion. This book teaches us how art is viewed in different ways by the church and was very informative for me to obtain a better and deeper understanding of art and how the churches valued it.

Art and the Bible, written by Francis A. Schaefer, is a short, simple to the point book regarding how a Christian should approach art. The book is divided into two sections. Section one is title Art in the Bible and section two is titled Some Perspectives on Art.

The reformation was a drastic event in the early modern period that launched Europe into a massive conflict of widespread violence, through both political and religious factors. The political scene had remained very much the same before the beginning of the reformation in 1517, with many philosophers sharing similar ideas on how to handle the issues of sovereignty and private property. Religion was a long debated factor before the reformation however was brought inadvertently to the forefront of most political works in the early years of the Protestant Reformation. This event completely changed the way in which philosophers constructed their political discourse as seen with More and Martin Luther, who although despite being placed on

Many social changes emerged following the Protestant Reformation. The printing press and mass production of books were a major source of growth and success to the Reformation (Document 3). Because of the printing press, Martin Luther’s message was simply spread throughout Europe. Now that people could access the Bible on their own, the Europeans were able to study Scripture without a

The inscriptions of Bible verses in Low German in Christ Blessing, Surrounded by a Donor Family are also indicative of the influence on Protestant beliefs on the painting. Prior to the Reformation, the Bible (like all Catholic liturgy) was always read in Latin. However, Latin was a language that was only comprehensible to the clergy and to a small class of very well educated and wealthy individuals. The vast majority of Europeans did not comprehend Latin and, therefore, they had to rely on the clergy to interpret the Bible’s teachings. Moreover, prior to the invention of the printing press Bibles, like all other books, had to be copied by hand. Since this was a time consuming and expensive process, Bibles were not widely dispersed. At the start of the Reformation, Gutenberg designed the printing press. The revolutionary invention of the printing press enabled the mass production of books and a reduction in their cost, which allowed a much larger audience to own Bibles.5 Furthermore, the translation of the Bible into the vernacular allowed a much wider audience to read and interpret it for themselves.6 The wide dissemination of relatively inexpensive Bibles in the vernacular served as a powerful catalyst for the spread of Protestantism. The inscriptions on the painting are indicative of the Protestant desire to disseminate the Bible broadly. Moreover, they derive from a copy of Johannes Bugenhagen’s translation of the bible

The Reformation was a religious movement that divided the church between the Catholics and Protestants. The Counter-Reformation was a reaction movement that followed this originally crusade, and was lead by the Catholics as a response to the wide spread of Protestantism. The purpose of the Counter-Reformation was to spawn internal reforms. This movement was focused on the renewal of the church in the form of the use of images, focus on the church as the house of God, and the veneration of the Virgin Mary and Saints. The Counter-Reformation was responsible for the start of major change in the Catholic Church and with regard to the role of art; the importance of art was heightened and the movement sought out to restore Catholicism and make is more attractive, thus emerged the Baroque style.

The Effects of the Reformation on European Life European society was divided from the word go, people all around Europe were dominantly Catholic before the reformation. This time was bringing change throughout Europe with a heavy influence on art and culture because the Renaissance was occurring; a religious revolution was also beginning, which was known as the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was the voicing of disagreements by a German Catholic priest about the Catholic Church; this priest was Martin Luther and was excommunicated from the church for his actions. The Protestant Reformation helped to influence and strengthen the Renaissance that was just arising in England.

The paintings of Michelangelo had figures that were nude and caused an uproar. The Bible states that Adam and Eve were naked until they knew sin, then they were ashamed. The nakedness of the bodies could have been a scene of a time before sin. It helped to open the minds of some of the church members. To show them that the Bible should be the authority to which they live by and not the church. Michelangelo's painting went against what the church wanted, however it still stayed within the realm of the Bible. By doing this, it showed how the church would try to overstep its boundaries, while trying to place itself above the Bible.

Before the purity of Neoclassicism, even before the carefree artists of the Rococo era, there was the dramatic and emotive Baroque. The term "baroque" is said to have been derived from the Portuguese word for an irregular pearl, and is certainly an adequate description. In the wake of what has become known as the Protest Reformation, the Catholic Church held the infamous Council of Trent. This eighteen year deliberation addressed several aspects of Catholicism under scrutiny and led to the requirements that new art depicting religious notions should reach the illiterate masses. Up until this point most religious forms of art were designated for the highly educated and sophisticated. This led to the

Art during The Renaissance brought about a style of realism that led into the portrayal of perfection and movement associated with the Baroque art of the 17th century while continuing the undertones of religion affiliated with the Middle Ages. While people who share beliefs with Burckhardt would say that the perfection of the Renaissance style art was a drastic shift from the crude gothic art of Medieval Times, it still contained much of the religious overtones prevalent in its predecessors, depicting saints and Jesus Christ himself in much of it. There were several statues depicting David, from the biblical story of David and Goliath, and entire chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo, and one

Instead, Protestantism seemed to emphasize genres and themes in art, including everyday objects, which made these subjects and paintings more accessible to women, and in turn created more female artists.

Throughout the Bible, God helps us understand beauty by using pieces of art. Francis Schaeffer helps his readers understand God’s appreciation of art with his book revised in 2006 entitled, Art and the Bible. Schaeffer helps the reader find new insights into the background of the arts in the Bible, intrigues the reader with at least three perspectives on art and helps the reader relate art to his or her life.

Just as it’s human nature to believe in something larger or more powerful than oneself, it is also human nature to express that divinity through art, this is proven time and time again in human history. Picturing the divine is a type of testimony to show a cultures greatness. The painting Arhats Giving Alms to Beggars comes from the Chinese culture of the Southern Song period. Whereas, the mosaic Christ as Pantocrator comes from the Byzantine culture of the Greek Orthodox tradition. Although these paintings come from very different backgrounds both cultures show the divine and their pressure on mankind to follow the rules, such as giving away worldly desires. By doing so and letting go of material possessions, mankind can be hopeful of

around and make it their own. The Christian was always skeptical of doing art work with the devil in it

Stained-glass windows were created for the Roman Catholic Church, and often told Bible stories in pictures. This was at a time when most people couldn’t read, so these luminous paintings were one of the few representations of the glory and transcendent nature of their spiritual beliefs (History of Stained Glass, 2013).