In s2ep14, Ann Shafer and Tru Ludwig look at Martin Luther and the effects of his 95 theses against the Catholic Church. Once the only patron of the arts, the Church faced a reckoning when Martin Luther brought about the Protestant Reformation in 1517. In addition to getting rid of the intercessor (the church and its priests), Protestantism calls for no images to distract. What's an artist to do in these newly Protestant countries (Germany and Flanders for this episode's purposes)? One could turn to landscape, portraiture, still lifes, myths, and fantastical subjects. Or one could turn to biting criticism of the politics of the church and the schism with the Protestants.

Episode image: Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Milkmaid, 1510. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 114 x 155 mm. (4 ½ x 6 1/8 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Master ES (German, active 1450-1467). Lovers on a Grassy Bench, c. 1450-67. Engraving. Sheet: 134 x 162 mm. British Museum, London.

Master ES (German, active 1450-1467). Letter G from The Fantastic Alphabet, c. 1466–67. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 151 x 143 mm. Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

Unknown artist. Allegory of Pope Paul II and Emperor Frederick III, c. 1470. Engraving. 215 x 147 mm. British Museum, London.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Milkmaid, 1510. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 114 x 155 mm. (4 ½ x 6 1/8 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Poet Virgil in a Basket, 1512. Woodcut. Sheet: 416 x 290 mm. (16 1/8 x 11 3/8 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). Lucretia, c. 1515. Engraving. Sheet: 4 5/8 × 3 1/8 in. (11.7 × 7.9 cm.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Beggars, 1520. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 175 x 141 mm. (6 7/8 x 5 9/16 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Surgeon, 1524. Engraving, 117 x 76 mm. (4 5/8 x 3 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Musicians, 15624. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 117 x 76 mm. (4 5/8 x 3 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lucas van Leyden (German, c. 1494–1533). The Poet Virgil in a Basket, 1525. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 245 x 189 mm. (9 5/8 x 7 7/16 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550). Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, 1544. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed to platemark): 83 x 57 mm. (3 3/8 x 2 1/4 in.). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550). Ornament with a Mask Held by Two Genii, 1544. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed within platemark): 46 × 67 mm. (1 13/16 × 2 5/8 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550). The Little Buffon, 1542. Engraving. Sheet: 47 × 83 mm. (1 7/8 × 3 1/4 in.); plate: 46 × 81 mm. (1 13/16 × 3 3/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550). Two Couples Dancing (November and December), Plate 6 from the series The Peasants’ Festival and Twelve Months, 1546–47. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed within platemark): 49 x 72 mm. (1 15/16 x 2 13/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550) after Barthel Beham (German, 1502–1540). Genius with the Alphabet on a Banderole, 1545. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed within platemark): 42 x 78 mm. (1 5/8 x 3 1/16 in.). Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

After Hans Sebald Beham (German, 1500–1550). Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, 1526. Engraving. Sheet (diameter): 52 mm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

 

Unknown German artist. Martin Luther as a Wolf in a Monk’s Habit, c. 1500–25. Engraving. Sheet (trimmed within platemark): 5 7/8 x 3 ¾ in. (15 x 9.5 cm.). New York Public Library, New York.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1484 or 1485–1545). Witches’ Sabbath, 1510. Chiaroscuro woodcut. Image: 37.5 × 29.9 cm. (14 3/4 × 11 3/4 in.); sheet: 39.4 × 27.2 cm. (15 1/2 × 10 11/16 in.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1484 or 1485–1545). Witches’ Sabbath, 1510. Chiaroscuro woodcut. Image: 37.5 × 25.7 cm. British Museum, London.

Albrecht Altdorfer (German, c. 1480–1538). The Ascension from the series The Fall and Redemption of Man, c. 1515. Woodcut. Image: 72 x 48 mm. Clevland Museum of Art, Cleveland.

Albrecht Altdorfer (German, c. 1480–1538). Landscape with a Double Spruce, 1520/22. Etching. Sheet: 111 x 161 mm.; plate: 110 x 160 mm. Art Institute of Chicago.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1584/85–1545). Group of Seven Horses (Stallion Approaching a Mare with Ape and Man Looking On), 1534. Woodcut. Sheet: 222 x 322 mm. (8 ¾ x 12 11/16 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1584/85–1545). Group of Seven Horses (Wild Horses Fighting), 1534. Woodcut. Sheet: 218 x 326 mm. (8 5/8 x 12 7/8 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1584/85–1545). Group of Seven Horses (Stallion Attempting to Mate), 1534. Woodcut. Sheet: 227 x 336 mm. (8 15/16 x 13 1/4 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Hans Baldung Grien (German, 1584/85–1545). The Bewitched Groom, c. 1544. Woodcut. Sheet: 339 x 200 mm. (13 3/8 x 7 7/8 in.). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.