Chapter 14
Reformations and
Religious Wars,
1500–1600
Giorgio Vasari:
Giorgio Vasari: Massacre of Coligny
and the Huguenots (1573). This
fresco shows the Saint Bartholomew's
Day massacre in Paris, one of many
bloody events in the religious wars that
accompanied the Reformation.
Vatican Palace/Scala/Art Resource, NY
The Folly of Indulgences
In this woodcut from the early
Reformation, the church’s sale of
indulgences is viciously satirized. With
one claw in holy water, another resting
on the coins paid for indulgences, and
a third stretched out for offerings, the
church, in the form of a rapacious bird,
writes out an indulgence with
excrement. The creature’s head and
gaping mouth represent Hell, with
foolish Christians inside, others being
cooked in a pot above, and a demon
delivering the poplin a three-tiered
crown and holding the keys to
Heaven, symbol of papal authority.
Illustrations such as this, often printed
as single-sheet broadsides and sold
very heaply,clearly conveyed criticism
of he church to people who couldn't
read.
Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg
Lucas Cranach the Elder: The Ten Commandments, 1516
Cranach, who was the court painter forth elector of Saxony from 1505 to 1553,
painted this giant illustration of the Ten Commandments more than 5 feet by 11 feet)
for the city hall in Wittenberg just at the point that Luther was beginning to question
Catholic doctrine. Cranach became an early supporter of Luther, and many of his later
works depict the reformer and his ideas. This close association, and the fact that the
painting captures the Protestant emphasis on biblical texts very well, led it to be
moved to the Luther House in Wittenberg, the largest museum of the Protestant
Reformation in the world. Paintings were used by both Protestants and Catholics to
teach religious ideas.
Prato, San Francesco/Scala/ArtResource, NY
Church of Saint Bavo, Haarlem
Church of Saint Bavo, Haarlem
Pieter Jansz, Saenredam, S. Bavoin Haarlem. John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art [J 599]
Jesuit Priest Distributing Holy
Pictures
Jesuit Priest Distributing Holy Pictures
From Pierre Chenu, The Reformation[New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986]
Ceiling of the Gesù
Ceiling of the Gesù
Scala/Art Resource, NY
Domestic Scene
The Protestant notion that the best form of Christian life was marriage and a family helps
explain its appeal to middle-class urban men and women, such as those shown in this
domestic scene. The engraving, titled “Concordia" harmony), includes the biblical
inscription of what Jesus called the greatest commandment—“You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and all your soul and your neighbor as yourself ”(Deuteronomy 6;
Matthew22)—on tablets at the back. The father presides as his son says grace; the mother
passes bread; the older daughters seem to have begun eating; and small children and
animals complete the scene. The large covered bed at the back was both standard piece of
furniture in urban homes and a symbol of proper marital sexual relations.
Mary Evans Picture Library
Giorgio Vasari: Fresco of Pope Clement VII and the Emperor Charles V
In this double portrait, Vasari uses matching hand gestures to indicate agreement
between the pope and the emperor, though the pope's red hat and cape make him
the dominant figure. Charles V remained loyal to Catholicism, though the political
situation and religious wars in Germany eventually required him to compromise with
Protestants.
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence/Scala/ArtResource, NY
Allegory of the Tudor Dynasty
The unknown creator of this work intended to glorify the virtues of the Protestant succession; the
painting has no historical reality. Enthroned Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547)hands the sword of justice to
his Protestant son Edward VI (r. 1547–1553). The Catholic Queen Mary (r. 1553–1558) and her
husband Philip of Spain are followed by Mars, god of war, signifying violence and civil disorder. At
right the figures of Peace and Plenty accompany the Protestant Elizabeth I (r.1558–1603),
symbolizing England’s happy fate under her rule.
Yale Center for British Art, Paul MellonCollection/The Bridgeman Art Library
Young John Calvin
Even in youth, Calvin’s face
showed the strength and
determination that were later to
characterize his religious zeal.
Bibliothèque de Genève, Département iconographique
Religious Divisions in Europe
The Reformations shattered the
religious unity of Western Christendom.
The situation was even more
complicated than a map of this scale
can show. Many cities within the Holy
Roman Empire, for example, accepted a
different faith than the surrounding
countryside; Augsburg, Basel, and
Strasbourg were all Protestant, though
surrounded by territory ruled by Catholic
nobles. Use the map and the information
in the book to answer the following
questions:•1 Why was the Holy Roman
Empire the first arena of religious
conflict in sixteenth-century Europe?•2
Are there similarities in regions where a
particular branch of the Christian faith
was maintained or took root?•3 To what
degree can nonreligious factors be used
as an explanation for the religious
divisions in sixteenth century Europe?
The Netherlands, 1559–1609
This map shows the division of the
seventeen provinces as a result of the
religious wars. Some provinces were
overwhelmingly agricultural; some were
involved in manufacturing; and others
were heavily commercial.
Iconoclasm in the Netherlands
Calvinist men and women break
stained-glass windows, remove
statues, and carry off devotional
altarpieces. Iconoclasm, or the
destruction of religious images, is
often described as a “riot,” but here
the participants seem very purposeful.
Calvinist Protestants regarded
pictures and statues as sacrilegious
and saw removing them as a
way to purify the church.
The Fotomas Index/The BridgemanArt Library
Hans Baldung Grien: Witches’
Sabbat (1510)
beliefs about witches: they traveled at
night, met at sabots (or assemblies),
feasted on infants (in dish held high),
concocted strange potions, and had
animal “familiars” that were really
demons (here a cat). Grien also
highlights the sexual nature of witchcraft
by portraying the women naked and
showing them with goats, which were
common symbols of sexuality.
GermanischesNationalmuseum Nürnberg
On effective preaching, especially to the uneducated
On effective preaching, especially to the uneducated, Luther urged the minister “to
keep it simple for the simple.”
Church of St. Marien, Wittenberg/The BridgemanArt Library