Five hundred years ago today was the date we now commemorate as the start of the Protestant Reformation, and the Art Institute of Chicago put out this row of unassuming little prints of Martin Luther to mark the season. None larger than about seven inches tall, they show the man in different stages of life. Choose your favorite!
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Luther as an Augustinian Friar, with Cap, 1521, engraving
Daniel Hopfer, After Lucas Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther, 1523, etching
Heinrich Aldegrever, Martin Luther, 1540, engraving
Johann Michael Püchler, Martin Luther, engraving
Master I.B., Portrait of Martin Luther, 1530, engraving
Johann Gottfried Schadow, Luther's Statue in Wittenberg, 1822, lithograph
These are wonderful. I find it hard to resist Luther’s expression in the engraving by Master I.B. He comes to life in it. Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteThe Uffizi Gallery in Florence just opened a small exhibition on Martin Luther and the Reform. Come and see!
ReplyDeleteAgreed, master I.B. Is the most expressive... I was surprised to learn of the Protestant Revolution in college... growing up in Catholic School, it was called the “Protestant Revolt”
ReplyDelete