The reformation was a religious, cultural, and political change across Europe; Growing out from the corruption of the Catholic Church, disdain for the monastic system, and vehement disagreement of indulgences. Martin Luther, a German monk, in 1517 proposed a manifesto (known as the 95 theses) in an attempt to open up a discussion of reformation in the practices and teachings of the church. What followed was a rupture across Western Europe, a lasting impact on European politics, and a divide in the religious motivations of the continent to Protestantism in the north, and Catholicism in the south. The role of art within the church came into question during the reformation. The protestant church viewed catholic art as idolatrous and its role significantly declined. Musical manuscripts were torn apart, statues destroyed, stained glass broken, and funding withdrawn. This, along with other factors, lead art in northern Europe to become more secular, focused shifted to realism, and strayed from fantasy. Whereas in Catholic countries, such as Spain and Portugal, art was still was a major conveyor of church teachings and counter-reformation art emerged, with stricter guidelines in how it conveyed its message. Ultimately, the reformation was not as entirely significant in stylistic changes but in its semiotics.
Before the reformation, the church was seen to be the most significant patron of the arts. Religious buildings were commissioned with detailed mason-work of religious symbolism, stained glass windows depicting saints and religious figures, and altars delicately painted – illustrating scenes from the bible. This medieval Christian art had a didactic function. As Diane Apostolos-Cappadona writes, ‘Christian art serve[s] as a didactic or pedagogical, thus theological purpose’ and it ‘may be termed visual theology’1. This ‘visual theology’ was painted as symbolism littered throughout these works, which lectured lay people – who had no access to education nor understanding of many of the liturgical scriptures in Latin – the stories and moral teachings of the Catholic Church. As education was only available to monks, art had to be the language of the bible, cementing the divide between clergymen and peasants. Thus, the messages relayed within these images could be propagandised by the artist. Medieval art in the 14th to 15th centuries adopted a view of Devito Moderana, a movement that called for religious reform in the importance of the humility, and subservience of man to God. It strictly opposed the corruption of mankind in gluttony, human debauchery, seeking to call them out.
Artwork of this era depicted the human form as grotesque and often gruesome in an attempt to highlight the sin of mankind. Hieronymus Bosch, echoed by Gombrich, “succeed[s] in giving concrete and tangible shapes to the fears that had haunted the minds of man in the Middle Ages”2. Bosch was a Dutch religious painter and his work the Haywain Triptych, depicts the outcomes of man’s malice through the disobedience of god. The first panel shows the garden of Eden – the emergence of sin, the second its perpetuation through humans falling victim to greed, and in the final panel a depiction of hell due to man’s shortcomings. The graphic illustrations of torture, humans being eaten alive stripped of their clothes and all dignity. Are large and at the forefront of the piece, the remnants of good depicted in the painting are overshadowed by that of corruption and this indicates that “the path to salvation is small”3. This plays on the fears ‘of man’. Overall signifying “the artist’s desire to morally instruct his viewers”3, his own ‘visual theology’.
Art in the reformation still contained visual theology, but it sought to remove the pedagogic message and put the onerous upon the viewer to take what they saw from the work. It brought about the rejection of the practices of the catholic church as Durant writes in his book The Age of Reason “The people became the Church”4, and disagreed with the separation of the common man and the clergy. Many branches of new Christianity: Protestantism, Calvinism, and Lutheranism sprung up across Europe and their view of the function of the arts was significantly different. Luther, held a view that art was a gift from God, but it was how humans used art that determined if it was of any merit, he states in his thesis “Here we must admit that we may have images and make images, but we must not worship them, and if they are worshipped, they should be put away and destroyed.”5 This lead many churches to adopt a policy of iconoclasm, the destruction of statues and works that were perceived to be idolatrous; Works depicting the lavish representations of miracles and the majesty of god over man significantly decreased, and so did the need for arts and therefore its funding within the church. However, art was not outwardly rejected and Luther did have an appreciation and use for art within a religious setting. It was just the indulgent representations of Gods, idealisation of the world or hidden agenda that was disagreed with. At the same time “not glossing over sin, but not exhaling it either”5 counter to the works of Bosch and his peers. It also was counter to the movement of the renaissance that was also occurring in Italy at the time, the renaissance “the rebirth” was a return to the appreciation of classical form, and pushing the limits of roman and Greek art to further heights. Reformation art rejected this idealism of the human form and sought to portray humanity in more normal, more accessible and more life-like settings.
There are several instances where church art was reformed to suit new protestant ideals. Cranach the Elder – friend of martin Luther, and one of the very early reformation artists looked to the church in order to reform art. One of the major pieces of art within a church was the polyptch, a multi-panelled altar piece. Cranach saw the value of these within medieval art, and sought to repurpose them. As Noble writes by “Appropriating and transforming this essential type of religious picture [he] redefined the nature of public devotional art”5. In Cranach’s Scheenberg Altar Piece he extends the idea of Law and Gospel commonly seen in catholic art, but pursues the idea of Gospel over Law. He does this by centring the crucifixion with common symbols such as the lamb to represent his followers, however this is painted in a brighter tone to medieval art. Jesus is painted the same as the figures watching him, and therefore removes the idea that the artwork itself is holy and removing veneration or the idea that it could inspire a vision, adding a sense of humanity, showing the negatives and positives in the truest form: and not a wrongful depiction. “It designated holy space, but it did so for a ritual where clergy and laity together, rather than clergy alone”5. This is done by reaffirming the coming together of congregation and clergy with the feast underneath this, and the joining of the common people. The ideas of law are still present with common themes that if the path is strayed, hell is the direction, however this is less imposing than the work of Bosch. The didacticism is replaced with literality, and whilst symbolism is still present the message is much clearer. Cranach further reinforces his coming together of congregation and clergy by the spreading of his work. He used woodprints, and the protestant church capitalised on a form of a printing press to spread its religious message in an affordable and accessible way, reinforcing the ideals of education for the masses and not just the few. This echo’s the overall sentiments of the religious movement, in breaking down the barriers of clergymen and common folk, bringing education to the masses and thus art.
Even though Cranach was commissioned by the church, a lot of his work was also sought by private investors. The lack of patronage from the church meant many artist’s in the north of Europe had to seek work elsewhere and it caused the push of art to become more secular. After the reformation, the production of religious imagery in reformed countries declined. The practice of the arts strayed from depiction of classical mythology and a rejection of the renaissance to illustrating the present day. Peter Bruegel, a reformed Dutch artist, is a perfect example of this. His works are void of classical, and often religious references. Creating an overall push towards a secular work, and appreciation of the arts without a liturgical propaganda. In his work Peasant Wedding, we see the emergence of depictions of everyday life. Food is shown to be present, but not like the materialisms of previous medieval work. Modest amounts of a “feast” are portrayed and the nature of human gluttony is represented not as a statement of sin – but through “innocent greed”6. As Gombrich writes “rustic human life was less disguised and covered up with a veneer of artificiality”6. The humans are nor beautiful nor ugly, and though the depictions of them may not be stylistically realistic he captures a comical humanism that the masses could relate to; and it is within this that the essence of secular painting is captured.
However, reformed painting was only part of the story in Europe. Emerging from the council of Trent, the catholic church disagreed with the iconoclasm of the protestant church, and sought to rebuild and recommission “direct replacements for paintings that had been lost”7. The Catholics believed that religious art had strayed from the true meaning, and became more focused on material possession rather than the divine. The counter reformation proposed a new basis of rules for catholic art. Imposing strictly religious content, and was considered a major force in the emergence of baroque art. The commission of art from the Catholic churches re-emerged in a new religious recovery, artist such as Reubens painted altarpieces and he was in demand “from every quarter”7.
The reformation initially divided the view of the function of the arts. The immediate reaction was to adopt iconoclasm and outright destruction of idolatrous works. But through this and a wider understanding of the reformation as a whole a platform was created allowing artists and teachers alike to question the function of the arts in society. It allowed reformed painters to branch out from didactic works and inject humanism into the visual arts, allowing for a more secular conversation in the role and function of the arts. Art still played a role in the reformed church, but this was outweighed by the emergence of private investors, the popularity of portraits among nobility, and greater access and demand due to the printing press. In Catholic countries, religious art was still present and the counter-reformation sought to cement catholic ideals, whilst moving away from the materialistic topics that overshadowed late medieval work. Furthermore, the reformation – in part – lead to a culmination of the high-renaissance and eventually the enlightenment.