Contextualizing Sixteenth-Century Lutheran Epitaphs by Lucas Cranach the Younger: The Influence of Luther’s Two Realms on the Composition and Content of a Set of Reformation Funerary Monuments

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Anastasia Christine Nurre

Graduate Program in History of Art

The Ohio State University

2015

Dissertation Committee:

Professor Barbara Haeger, Advisor

Professor Christian Kleinbub

Professor Andrew Shelton

Copyright by

Anastasia Christine Nurre

2015

Abstract

Painted epitaphs dominated the visual landscape of newly claimed or constructed sixteenth-century Lutheran churches. In consideration of Lutheran attitudes toward art, icons, and the worship of saints, the appearance and proliferation of memorials dedicated to prominent Lutheran leaders is noteworthy. Careful study of set of extant epitaphs by

Wittenberg-based artist Lucas Cranach the Younger uncovers continuities between compositional format, subject matter, and types of donors, pointing to a connection between cultural factors and the role of epitaphs in the space of the Lutheran church.

Within the historical context of Reformation Saxony, the continuities in the appearance of Lucas Cranach the Younger’s Lutheran epitaphs indicate that the artist harnessed the concept of Luther’s two realms, an earthly realm and a spiritual realm, as inspiration for a new epitaph format. Adapting the visual language of pre-Reformation devotional artworks, Cranach depicted donors demonstrating their adherence to and confession of the ‘true’ faith in the terrestrial realm, pictorializing the donor’s desire for their constituents’ continued adherence to a Lutheran confession in the face of sixteenth- century religious upheaval. Concurrently, the donor appears in a representation of the real but invisible spiritual realm that, according to Luther, appeared in the hearts of the faithful upon hearing the Word of God, thereby setting an example of devoutness for parishioners to follow. The donors’ example of leadership and expectation of obedience

ii to their directives reinforces the perceived importance of local leadership in the solidification of territorial religious confession in Saxony during the second half of the sixteenth century.

iii

Dedication

Dedicated to my husband, David, and children, Daphne and Elliot.

iv

Acknowledgments

Funerary monuments surround my workspace, prompting me to recall my days playing in the rooms of our family-run funeral home during my childhood. These experiences and the family that facilitated them were integral in shaping my goals and research focus. In addition to the family business piquing my interest in funerary culture,

I have been inspired by my grandmothers’ modeling of strong women, my father’s love of history, and my sister’s lively discussion of social identity. Generous babysitting offers from parents, particularly Katrien Hayes, have allowed me to immerse myself in this research safe in the knowledge that my children were cared for. Of course, my greatest advocates are my husband, who supported me while pursuing his own studies, and my two children.

Conventional wisdom dictates that it takes a village to raise a child. Bringing a dissertation to fruition is no different. In addition to my family, I must thank my excellent adviser, Dr. Barbara Haeger, who pushed me beyond what I thought were my limits, as well as my committee members, Dr. Christian Kleinbub, and Dr. Andrew Shelton, who took time to read and comment on my finished paper. Colleagues Dr. Ariana Maki and

Dr. Lizzy Ellis-Marino listened as I vetted ideas. Editor Cosimo Giovine guided me through initial revisions. Friend, colleague, and editor Deirdre McMurtry was an invaluable asset, talking for hours about history and theology, and polishing rough

v chapters into clearly articulated ideas. My support network, including friends, family, and a community of mamas, formed a dispersed and diverse cheering squad. I am indebted to and grateful for the people in my village. Each of you has contributed to my achievement.

I wouldn’t be here without you.

vi

Vita

2004...... M.A. Art History, University of Cincinnati

2001...... B.S. Anthropology, University of Cincinnati

1997...... Colerain High School, Cincinnati, Ohio

2005-2009 Graduate Assistant- Ohio State University Libraries, User Education

2002-2004 Teaching Assistant- University of Cincinnati, Art History Department

2005-2009 Contract Registrar- A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and

the Jewish People

2005 Regional Project Director- A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul

II and the Jewish People , Cincinnati, Ohio venue

2004-2005 Webpage Coordinator- Pangea Productions & Voyageur Media,

Cincinnati, Ohio: Ohio Archaeology Project,

2002-2004 Production Assistant- Pangea Productions & Voyageur Media,

Cincinnati, Ohio

2003-2005 Program Assistant- Behringer-Crawford Museum, Covington,

Kentucky

2003 Museum Intern- Behringer-Crawford Museum, Covington, Kentucky

2004 Gallery Manager- University of Cincinnati, DAAP Galleries

2003 Gallery Monitor- University of Cincinnati, DAAP Galleries vii

2001-2004 Volunteer- Cincinnati Museum Center: Geier Collections & Research

Center, Archaeology & Ethnology Collections

1998 Researcher- University of Cincinnati: CERHAS Earthworks Project

Publications

2015 “Memorializing Christian Authority: Secular Leadership and

Lutheran Ideology in Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen ” in Lucas

Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder , forthcoming.

Fields of Study

Major Field: History of Art

viii

Table of Contents

Abstract ...... ii

Dedication ...... iv

Acknowledgments...... v

Vita ...... vii

Table of Contents ...... ix

List of Figures ...... xii

Introduction ...... 1

Epitaphs in the Context of the Reformation ...... 7

The Cranach Workshop and the Visualization of Lutheranism ...... 14

Cranach the Younger, Artist...... 17

Current state of Literature ...... 20

Methodology ...... 26

Chapter Outline ...... 28

Summary ...... 30

Chapter 1: Epitaphs and the Two Dimensions of Human Existence ...... 32 ix

A Common Type ...... 34

Carefully Rendered Positions ...... 39

Lutherans In Two Realms ...... 40

The Two Realms and the Wittenberg Predella...... 49

Variations in Placement ...... 52

Summary ...... 73

Chapter 2: In the Heavenly Kingdom ...... 75

Confessionalization ...... 77

Setting the Stage ...... 81

Core Themes in Lutheran Confession ...... 86

In the Heart ...... 94

Revelation...... 104

Following Christ ...... 114

External Signs ...... 117

The True Worshippers ...... 126

Summary ...... 139

Chapter 3: In the Temporal World ...... 141

In the Church Community ...... 143

Display of the Cranach Epitaphs in Wittenberg City Church ...... 145

x

Beyond the Walls of Wittenberg City Church ...... 166

Personalized Confession of Faith ...... 182

Summary ...... 193

Chapter 4: Public versus Private Confession: A Comparison between Pre-Reformation and Catholic Examples ...... 195

Ideological Underpinnings ...... 196

Individual vs. Communal Piety ...... 210

Active vs. Passive Reception of Grace...... 218

Visionary vs. Representative ...... 222

Defining the Sitters’ Identity ...... 236

Summary ...... 247

Conclusion ...... 249

Bibliography ...... 256

Appendix A: Images ...... 267

Appendix B: Reproduction Information ...... 311

Appendix C: Chronological List of Extant Cranach Reformation Epitaphs...... 319

Appendix D: Current Locations of Wittenberg Epitaphs ...... 321

Appendix E: Historic Locations of Wittenberg Epitaphs ...... 322

xi

List of Figures

Figure 1: Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Christ drives the money lenders from the temple; the

Pope collects indulgences,” from Passional Christ and Antichrist , 1521...... 267

Figure 2: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg Niemeck , 1571...... 268

Figure 3: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann , 1552...... 269

Figure 4: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Otto von Pogk , 1578...... 270

Figure 5: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , 1565...... 271

Figure 6: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Teuber , c. 1575...... 272

Figure 7: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Wittenberg Altarpiece , 1547...... 273

Figure 8: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Predella detail, Wittenberg Altarpiece , 1547...... 273

Figure 9: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Sara Cracov , 1565...... 274

Figure 10: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Augustusburg Altarpiece , 1571...... 275

Figure 11: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer , 1573. 276

Figure 12: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Colditz Altarpiece , 1584...... 277

Figure 13: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck , 1564...... 278

Figure 14: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher , c. 1525...... 279

Figure 15: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus

Wolkenstein , c. 1569...... 280

xii

Figure 16: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece , 1555...... 280

Figure 17: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece [Central Panel], 1555...... 281

Figure 18: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Badehorn , 1557 ...... 282

Figure 19: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn , 1554...... 283

Figure 20: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for the Family of Caspar Cruciger , c.

1560...... 284

Figure 21: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Christ Blessing the Children , 1537...... 284

Figure 22: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen , 1560...... 285

Figure 23: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , c. 1550-

1560...... 285

Figure 24: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg , 1558...... 286

Figure 25: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Law and Gospel [woodcut], c. 1529...... 287

Figure 26: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [closed], 1539...... 287

Figure 27: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [open], 1539...... 288

Figure 28: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [rear], 1539...... 288

Figure 29: Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the

False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist, c. 1550...... 289

Figure 30: Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the

False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist [Detail], c. 1550...... 289

Figure 31: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Sketch for a Memorial , c. 1527-1530...... 290

Figure 32: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Luther and the Elector before Christ , 1546. ... 290

Figure 33: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Agnes von Anhalt , 1569...... 291

xiii

Figure 34: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Entombment , 1509...... 292

Figure 35: Albrecht Dürer, Resurrection , 1510...... 292

Figure 36: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Meienburg , 1558...... 293

Figure 37: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Raising of Lazarus , c. 1535...... 293

Figure 38: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Nativity , 1515-1520...... 294

Figure 39: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha

Drachstedt , 1573...... 294

Figure 40: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Viet Örtel , 1586...... 295

Figure 41: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt , 1553...... 296

Figure 42: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Agony in the Garden , c. 1520...... 297

Figure 43: Lucas Cranach the Younger, The Baptism of Christ with John Frederick and

Luther, c. 1548 ...... 297

Figure 44: After Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther and Jan Hus , c. 1556...... 298

Figure 45: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Elijah and Baal’s Priests , 1545...... 298

Figure 46: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Paul Eber , 1569...... 299

Figure 47: Erhard Schön, God’s Lament for the Fate of his Vineyard , 1532...... 300

Figure 48: Inscription for Epitaph for Paul Eber ...... 300

Figure 49: Albrecht Altdorfer, Schöne Maria of Regensburg , c. 1519-20...... 301

Figure 50: Michael Ostendorfer, Pilgrimage to the Church of the Beautiful Virgin at

Regensburg , c. 1520...... 301

Figure 51: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , first edition, c.

1508-1511...... 302

xiv

Figure 52: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , second edition, undated...... 303

Figure 53: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg , 1518...... 304

Figure 54: Hugo van der Goes, Annunciation [Portinari Altarpiece , exterior], 1473-78.

...... 305

Figure 55: Hugo van der Goes, Nativity [Portinari Triptych , interior], 1476-79...... 305

Figure 56: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Altarpiece of George the Bearded , 1534...... 306

Figure 57: Jan van Eyck, The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele , 1434-36...... 306

Figure 58: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Kneeling before

Christ on the Cross , 1520-9...... 307

Figure 59: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Holy Family , c. 1510...... 308

Figure 60: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judith at the Table of Holofernes , 1531...... 309

Figure 61: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Portrait of Elector John Frederick of Saxony ,

1547...... 310

xv

Introduction

On the surface, Lutheran epitaphs adopt a deceptively simple format. Men and women kneel in contemporary clothing before a narrative drawn directly from the Bible.

The format, which varies only slightly in most examples, lacks the flourishes that make art from other periods dramatic and compelling. Ostensibly, these portraits of individuals long-since deceased serve simply as documents of religious belief, physical appearance, and perhaps family ties for posterity. In their perceived transparency, they dissuade attempts at a more complex reading. Moving beyond this perception takes a conscious effort on the part of modern viewers, who experience the artworks removed from their historical and physical context. However, in reconstructing how the contemporary environment integrated epitaphs, the modern viewer finds a fuller understanding of the ideas that shaped sixteenth-century Saxon culture, weaving a fascinating story about the people and events that propelled the Reformation and assured its future.

Analysis of Lucas Cranach the Younger’s (1515-1586) Lutheran epitaphs from the second half of the sixteenth century, during the period directly following Martin

Luther’s death, reveals multi-faceted compositions intricately tied to the prevailing matrices of religious, social, and political change. Drawing on and adapting techniques used in pre-Reformation devotional artworks, the artist has layered detail not only about the life and beliefs of the sitter, but also about Lutheran theology, attitudes toward the use

1 of art in worship, the perceived role of local leadership in Reformation politics, the process of confessionalization, and the interplay between the confessed faith and receiving audience—all in a single artwork. The key to initiating analysis of the Lutheran epitaphs lies in systematic comparative examination of their construction and content through the lens of the Lutheran worldview. Such examination reveals consistencies in composition, content, type of sitter, and display in the church that correlate to symbolic interpretation of the Lutheran understanding of God’s two realms, the physical realm and the spiritual realm. In turn, identifying the influence of Luther’s concept of two realms highlights the influence of Lutheran theology, the importance of local leaders, and the impact of local politics while clarifying Cranach’s adaptions of pre-Reformation formats into the Lutheran visual language.

Epitaphs are particularly useful for understanding the importance of individuals and theology because they are specifically designated as funerary monuments with a religious or allegorical image and an inscribed death notice. 1 Denoted specifically as a death marker that may or may not be installed near a tomb, epitaphs reflect a lasting statement from the donor issued at the end of their life. 2 The panels reference religious

1 Paul Schoenen, “Epitaph,” in Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte . (Verlag: Stuttgart, 1967), 873. All translations are my own unless otherwise indicated. 2 Carl Christensen, “The Significance of the Epitaph Monument for Early Lutheran Ecclesiastical Art,” in The Social History of the Reformation , eds. Lawrence P. Buck and Jonathan W. Zophy (Columbus: Ohio State University, 1972), 297. Christensen’s article draws from study of approximately seventy epitaphs, dating from c. 1540-1600. These examples are from about a dozen towns and cities throughout Lutheran portions of Reformation Germany. Christensen defines an epitaph as “an artistically conceived memorial or monument, honoring the deceased, and normally containing a portrait, the representation of a religious theme, and a commemorative inscription. The epitaph need not stand in close proximity to the place of interment; thus, it serves a different purpose than the burial marker or tomb monument,” p. 297. Press, 1994), 128. 2 beliefs and contributions to this world as well as their hopes for the future. 3 Most epitaphs replicate a general formula consisting of a portrait of the deceased, frequently in a pious pose and depicted adjacent to a religious scene. 4 The date of the sitter’s death and other pertinent information frequently appeared as an inscription on either the painting’s frame or an attached plaque.5 Tied to death and the afterlife, epitaphs are also indicative of the religious world view of the congregation among which they appear, linking alterations in the form and content of epitaphs to contemporary beliefs regarding salvation, attitudes toward death, and hopes for Heaven. 6 Commissioned by either the commemorated individual or their family to hang in a public setting, epitaphs can be understood as depicting a legacy defined by either the portrayed or their descendants and targeted at a specific church audience.

During the sixteenth century, Lutheran patrons commissioned hundreds of these memorials. Gracing the walls of newly constructed or converted Lutheran churches, painted epitaphs became the most common type of artwork commissioned for Lutheran houses of worship, appearing in greater numbers than in pre-Reformation and Catholic counterparts.7 Lutheran epitaphs were especially popular with increases in evangelical lay

3 Ibid. Schoenen notes that epitaphs from the Reformation onward documented the culture background from which they emerged. 4 Ibid., 874-5. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid., 883. 7 In sixteenth-century Germany, epitaphs became the most popular, most public type of memorial, replacing traditional tombs. Epitaphs gained prominence as city burial laws increasingly restricted burials within town limits and were often an individual’s primary or singular memorial. As a result, epitaphs became more elaborate and expensive. See, for example, Christensen, “The Significance of the Epitaph Monument for Early Lutheran Ecclesiastical Art.” For burial laws and additional information regarding epitaphs, see, Jeffrey Chipps Smith, German Sculpture of the Later Renaissance, C. 1520-1580: Art in an Age of Uncertainty , (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994), 128. Patrons may have preferred painted epitaphs over sculpted epitaphs due to portability, cost, or personal preference of medium. 3 participation and interest in creating more didactic artworks, allowing a correlation between the appearance of the artworks with engaging and educating the congregation.

The multitude of Lutheran epitaphs alone makes this art form a subject worthy of scholarly attention. The extent to which paintings reflect the diverse cultural and social milieu of sixteenth-century Germany makes them a particularly fruitful way to better understand the interplay between art and culture during the first century of Lutheran reforms.

Epitaphs offer a more comprehensive cultural perspective than other common sixteenth-century artworks that emphasize politics or faith alone, such as polemical prints or Lutheran altarpieces without an epitaph. 8 These latter works tend to center on theological, philosophical, or didactic statements rather than the combination of religion, politics, and individual legacy. Through their proliferation and detailed documentation of donor accomplishments, epitaphs in this period go well beyond simply identifying contemporary religious attitudes and personal character. They unite Renaissance interest in the individual with Reformation theology, chronicling shifts in social status and family dynasty as well as regional development of Lutheran ideology, politics, and confessional identity. Responding to cultural, social, and political factors, epitaphs illuminate the role of art in constructing and reinforcing conceptions of self for both the commemorated and the viewer.

8 In the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century, epitaph and altar could merge, becoming what is commonly known as an Epitaphaltar . For more information on Epitaphaltars see, for example, Kurt Pilz, “Epitaphaltar,” in Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunst-Geschichte (Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmüller, 1967), 922-931 or Dagmar Alexandra Thauer, Der Epitaphaltar , (Munich: Mäander, 1984). The previous text references mostly sculpted epitaph altars of varying dates. The later text focuses on seventeenth-century works. 4

Individual legacy, in terms of lineage, succession, and hopes for the future, was a particularly salient issue in the rapidly changing socio-political climate of sixteenth- century Germany. The legacy of territorial leaders was particularly impacted when

Martin Luther (1483-1546) undermined the authority of Pope Leo X (1475-1521, r. 1513-

1521) and Emperor Charles V (1500-1558, r. 1519-1556) by disparaging Catholic ideology, ultimately placing more autonomy in the hands of local rulers. Luther’s conceptualization of the two realms, the idea that Christians exist dualistically in both spiritual and earthly dimensions, emerged, in the words of David VanDrunen, as Luther

“stood situated at the crossroads of great struggles involving not merely theologians but also civil and ecclesiastical authorities.” 9 The idea distinguishes between the temporal realm, led by secular magistrates and populated by all those on earth, and the spiritual realm, led by God and populated by the righteous. Lutherans occupy both realms simultaneously while on earth -- the secular world physically and the spiritual world internally. After worldly death, the faithful are granted eternal life in the Heavenly realm.

9 David VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought , (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Col, 2010), 55. For the two realms and its complex reception by scholars, see William J. Wright, Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms A Response to the Challenge of Skepticism (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010). The historiography of the concept of two realms is well outlined on pages 17-44. In this paper, which is based on a dissertation that examines Cranach’s extant epitaphs, I adopt Wright’s representation of the two realms as a world view rather than a political ideology. To this end, I use the phrase two realms rather than the Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. Examples of the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms as a political ideology can be found in VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms , particularly pages 55-62; David M. Whitford, “Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis” in: Church History Vol. 73, No. 1 (March 2004), 41-62. The idea that artworks could reflect the two realms has been briefly referenced by Oskar Thulin, “Das Bugenhagenbildnis im Zeitalter der Reformation,” in: Johann Bugenhagen: Beiträge zu seinem 400. Todestag (Berlin: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 1958), 73 and Joseph Leo Koerner, Reformation of the Image , (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 385. Thulin notes only that a 1537 portrait of Johannes Bugenhagen from the Cranach workshop depicts the sitter in both kingdoms. Koerner observes that the central Last Supper in Lucas Cranach the Younger’s Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt (1565), depicted between a parapet-like wall and prominent column, occurs under the sword of the Anhalt princes or in their ‘regiment’ as it was referred to in the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms. Koerner’s remark alludes to the continuously debated political interpretation of Luther’s ideas. 5

It is important to note that magistrates in the secular realm could be either civil or ecclesiastical. Luther explained that true Christians did not need temporal authority or laws because they lived by the commands of God. However, political leaders were essential in the earthly realm to maintain peace and govern those not bound by Christian law. 10 Luther and his followers consistently directed Lutherans to honor their Christian duty in both realms, compliant with civil authorities in the physical realm-- as long as they posed no danger to the eternal soul--and subservient to the will of God.

I believe that Luther’s conception of the two realms and his directives influenced the visual language of epitaphs emerging from the Cranach workshop from about 1520 to

1580, with the fullest manifestation of the influence appearing in epitaphs created in the second half of the sixteenth century under the guidance of Lucas Cranach the Younger.

Bequeathed with power over the external appearance of religion, particularly in contrast to pre-Reformation precedent, the Lutheran magistrates commemorated in these panels document their reception of Luther’s directive that Lutheran leaders cultivate and protect

‘true’ faith in their lands. To rephrase using sixteenth-century language regarding the two distinct realms of existence, these leaders demonstrated support of the Lutheran church in the temporal realm. At the same time, the panels reinforce the donors’ Lutheran confession, their witness to Christ, and their participation in the rites of the Lutheran church, demonstrating their membership in the heavenly kingdom populated by the

10 The notion that Christian princes should be responsible for the abolition of papal abuses and the maintenance of Christian practice in their lands frequently appeared in the writings of Erasmus, based on Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1, and 1Peter 2:13-14. Luther, like most educated in the humanist tradition, would have been exposed to these ideas in his studies. See, for example, James Martin Estes, Peace, Order and the Glory of God: Secular Authority of the Church in the Thought of Luther and Melanchthon, 1518-1559 (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 5-6 and 58-60. 6 righteous. As a participant in both realms, the commemorated’s God-given authority and piety as a temporal magistrate is reinforced, establishing him as a Christian qualified to lead in the physical realm and lending credence to their painted confession with its implied hope for the future of Lutheranism in their territories.

Epitaphs in the Context of the Reformation

The Cranach workshop epitaphs considered in this study emerged during a tumultuous time in Europe. Luther’s posting of ninety-five theses critiquing the Catholic

Church set in motion a string of events that would ultimately lead to the division of

Christian faith into multiple denominations. The resulting changes reached into all areas of sixteenth-century life. Increased autonomy and role of local leaders in establishing and maintaining religious peace—a change that will be shown to impact how epitaphs were commissioned and constructed— are particularly at issue for this dissertation. Lutheran adaptations of Christian worship and devotion further altered the visual language by which epitaphs were understood and received by the congregation. A brief overview of important religious events serves to reconstruct the historical context that shaped the appearance of epitaphs in the Lutheran church.

When Luther posted his theses on the wall of Wittenberg Castle Church, he did not intend to start a process that would result in a schism between Christians. It was not until after the conclusion of the Diet of Worms on May 25, 1521 11 that the reformer and his followers broke with what would become known as the Catholic Church. The imperial proceeding, presided over by Papal supporter Emperor Charles V, deemed

11 The Diet of Worms was conducted from January 28 to May 25, 1521. 7

Luther a dangerous heretic and outlawed any support for his ideas, leaving few options for reconciliation. For this reason, use of the term Reformation in this dissertation refers to the period after May 1521. 12

Reformation art also emerges in 1521, eventually growing into a distinct genre.

Typically, discussions about the development of Lutheran art begin with the 1521

Passional Christ and Antichrist [Figure 1], a propagandistic set of twenty-six paired woodcut prints published by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553) with the help of

Lutheran theologians. The aim of the pamphlet was to draw Christian laity away from the united authority of the Catholic Church and Charles V, swaying public opinion away from the Pope and Emperor in support of the reformers. Other printed propaganda quickly followed, serving to disseminate the Lutheran message quickly and broadly. The inclusion of images alongside text in the publications made the Lutheran message more accessible to a population that was predominately unlettered and better equipped to read pictures than text. By 1525, visual as well as textual printed propaganda disparaging the

Catholic treatment of their flock and popish practices deemed heretical by Luther spread throughout Europe.

Printed tracts detailing the role of secular authority in upholding religious changes also circulated at this time. As early as August 1520, prior to the Diet of Worms, Luther called on princes to support religious reform in his Address to the Christian Nobility .

12 I do not seek to engage in the debate over whether or not there was truly a “Reformation” or to what extent the term is useful. For a succinct explanation of the debates over the use of the term Reformation, see for example: Patrick Collinson, The Reformation: A History (London: Weindenfeld & Nicholson, 2003), 9-14. Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on January 3, 1521 with the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem . The Diet of Worms, running from January 28, 1521- May 25, 1521, followed Luther’s excommunication. 8

Soon after his excommunication, in 1523, he published On Secular Authority: To What

Extent it Should be Obeyed , the most well-known and significant tract concerning responsibilities of Christians in each of the two realms. 13 Luther’s University of

Wittenberg colleague and friend Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), the man to whom maintenance of the University would be entrusted after Luther’s death in 1546, echoed

Luther’s sentiments. Each of several editions of Melanchthon’s Loci communes rerum theologicarum , first appearing in 1521 and continuing through the middle of the sixteenth century, included a component outlining secular authority’s responsibility to protect true faith. 14 Melanchthon’s Loci had an extensive and lasting influence on Lutheran leadership. From the second half of the sixteenth century into the seventeenth century the

Loci was used as a textbook in the education of Lutheran pastors, influencing generations of Lutheran leaders. 15

Such close attention to the role of magistrates in printed material attests to the importance secular authorities played in the continuation of the Reformation. It was

Prince Frederick III (1463-1525), 16 Elector of Saxony (r. 1486-1525) who secreted

Luther away after the Diet of Worms and protected him against oppression from Pope

Leo X (r. 1513-1521) and the Charles V. When representatives of the Holy Roman

Empire withdrew respite from Catholic persecution of Lutheran belief offered by the Diet

13 VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms , 56-57. VanDrunen notes that the tract was written in October 1522, but not published until the following year. 14 On the concurrent development, see for example Estes, Peace, Order and the Glory of God , 469-70. Editions of the Loci , translated as Common Places in Theology or Fundamental Doctrinal Themes were published in 1535, 1543, and 1559. The original publication was in Latin, but later publications were translated into the vernacular. 15 Ibid., 176-77. 16 Frederick III was also known as Frederick the Wise. 9 of Speyer in 1526, Lutheran secular leaders signed a protestation of the results. 17 As a result of their demonstrated defense of what they deemed to be ‘true’ faith, these leaders earned the moniker Protestants. 18 The Diet of Augsburg followed on June 25, 1530, providing an opportunity for the Lutheran leaders, not just Lutheran theologians, to submit a confession of Lutheran theology and ideology to the emperor. 19 When the Diet was unsuccessful in reaching religious peace, a league of Protestant princes banded together under the leadership of Philip of Hesse and John III’s successor, Elector John

Frederick (1503-1554, r. 1532-1547) to form the Schmalkdic League. This military and religious alliance, which would admit anyone subscribing to the Augsburg Confession, propagated the Lutheran cause and pledged its adherents to defend one another should

Charles V attack any of their territories. 20 Such political partnerships among secular leaders in defense of Lutheranism were essential in protecting Luther and his followers, allowing the Reformation to move forward. Their confessions of faith, projected upon their subjects, would remain important as the Reformation moved into the second half of the sixteenth-century.

The League existed in relative peace until February 18, 1546, when Luther died following a stroke. Charles V, having recently made peace with France, was rumored to

17 See, for example, Nathan Rein, The Chancery of God: Protestant Print, Polemic and Propaganda Against the Empire, Magdeburg 1546-1551 , (St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History. Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2008), 3. 18 Collinson, The Reformation: A History , 76. 19 The resulting document was the Augsburg Confession, penned largely by Philipp Melanchthon using Luther’s ideas and signed by Frederick III’s successor, Elector John III of Saxony (1468-1532, r. 1525- 1532), as well as Margrave George of Brandenburg (1484-1543, r. 1536- 1543), Duke Ernest of Lüneburg (1497-1546), Langrave Philip of Hesse (1504-1567), and Prince Wolfgang of Anhalt (1492-1566). 20 Rein suggests seeing Thomas A. Brady JR, Protestant Politics: Jacob Sturm (1489-1553) and the German Reformation (Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press, 1995) for an account of the formation of the League. 10 be planning an attack on the German territories of the Schmalkaldic League. In response, the League launched a military and printed defense. The conflict between Catholic emperor and Protestant princes came to a head at the Battle of Mühlberg on April 24,

1547. Here, the league was defeated partially due to the entrance of Maurice of Saxony

(1521-1553), John Frederick’s cousin and rival as well as Philip of Hesse’s son-in-law, into the war on the side of the emperor. For his role in the defeat of the league, Maurice was given the title Elector of Saxony (r. 1547-1553) by Charles V, taking over John

Frederick’s electoral seat in Wittenberg and inheriting oversight of the University of

Wittenberg. His actions also earned Maurice, a Lutheran, the title Judas of Meissen for his construed betrayal of the Protestant cause. 21 Following the league’s defeat, Charles V implemented the Augsburg Interim (1548), which offered a few concessions to Protestant practices but fundamentally re-established Catholicism in the defeated lands.

Reformers were not content with the newly imposed religious statutes. Philipp

Melanchthon, along with fellow Wittenberg scholars, responded to the Augsburg Interim with the Leipzig Interim (1548). Melanchthon and his faction, called Philippists, developed the Interim under the sponsorship of Maurice of Saxony, who with his newly won and long-sought after title of elector worked to reestablish himself with Lutherans in part through defense of the University. The aim of Interim supporters was religious peace with Charles V. Although the Electorate of Saxony accepted the compromises penned by

Melanchthon in the Interim, not all Lutherans conceded.

21 See, for example, Rein, The Chancery of God , pages 6-7 for a summary of the League’s demise. 11

The city of Magdeburg, alternatively listed as a free Imperial City or as an episcopal city in Imperial diets, played an important role in mid-sixteenth-century Saxon history. Magdeburg became a stronghold for Gnesio-Lutherans, who refused to accept the

Interim or capitulate to any of the emperor’s demands for surrender. 22 In defense of their stance, Gnesio-Lutherans launched a written and visual campaign 23 against the emperor,

Catholics, Maurice, and any other Protestant groups that sought to compromise with the emperor. The most virulent attacks were against the group of Wittenberg scholars, theologians, and rulers that supported the Leipzig Interim. As primary author of the

Leipzig compromises, Melanchthon became a figurehead for the group. 24 The altercation between the two groups came to a head with Maurice’s siege and capture of Magdeburg in 1550-51. Soon after, in late 1551, Maurice initiated a chain of alliances that would result in the Peace of Passau and a respite from religious war, securing him a place with

Wittenberg Lutherans again. 25 Judging from the Cranach epitaphs, the conflict between

Philippists and Gnesio-Lutherans particularly affected local leaders. Several of the

Cranach epitaphs pointedly show support of the Philippist cause sometimes in opposition to Gnesio-Lutherans. Maurice is not portrayed among these men, perhaps because he had died in July 1553 and had already been replaced as elector by his brother Augustus, who

22 For a brief history of Magdeburg and its importance in German history, including the sixteenth century, see Rein, The Chancery of God , 9- 16. The status of Magdeburg as either a free Imperial city answering directly to the emperor or an episcopal city answering only to a bishop, as opposed to answering to a local prince or duke, is somewhat ambiguous. Although it was under the control of an archbishop in name, the city frequently made decisions without his approval. (Rein, 13). 23 For a detailed analysis of Magdeburg’s printed propaganda campaign from 1546 to 1551, see Rein, The Chancery of God , particularly 1-46. 24 For example, an unnamed pamphlet published shortly after the Interim “reproduced an extensive, private opinion of Philipp Melanchthon harshly criticizing the Interim on theological grounds.” A publication of this sort would target those supporting the Interim, including Maurice of Saxony and Charles V, and “in the eyes of the Protestant public, cast Melanchthon as a hypocrite.” Rein, The Chancery of God , 23. 25 Euan Cameron, The European Reformation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991), 357. 12 was commemorated in one of Cranach’s final epitaphs. 26 Or, perhaps unlike his cousin

John Frederick, who was also commemorated in a Cranach epitaph, he was never fully accepted among the Wittenberg ranks.

As indicated by this in-fighting among Lutheran groups, the Leipzig Interim did not succeed in appeasing religious and political tensions in Germany. Formal imperial acceptance of Protestantism and provisions for peaceful co-existence finally came from

Charles V in 1555 with the implementation of the Peace of Augsburg. The cornerstone of the Peace was the edict, “under his rule, his religion,” allowing the ruler of a territory to determine the religious rituals of the inhabitants of his lands. 27 Under the new law, the religious beliefs of terrestrial rulers became even more central to the practices of their territories. For devout Lutherans, defense of Lutheran practices after the Peace of

Augsburg was of the highest importance as competing Protestant traditions, mainly

Calvinism, began encroaching on formerly Lutheran lands. 28

Epitaphs dedicated to local Saxon Lutheran leaders reflect their concern about the future of the religious confession of their territories in what was a time of quick and sometimes violent religious upheavals. Therefore, the compositions of the epitaphs are most comprehensible when considered within their historical contexts. The sitters in the epitaphs reference their legacy of support for Lutheranism, aligning with Luther’s and

26 Augustus did commission a Cranach epitaph to hang as an altarpiece in his retreat in Augustusburg Castle Church. The panel is accompanied by a pulpit decorated by a series of religious scenes created by the Cranach workshop. 27 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 391. According to Koerner, The tag was coined by Joachim Stephen, a professor of law at Greifswald. Koerner, 478, note 45. 28 Ibid. Koerner cites Anhalt, home to the Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt as an example of religious conflict. See pages, 392-399 for religious conflict in the region in the second half of the sixteenth-century, at the end of which Anhalt accepted a Calvinist confession. 13 later Melanchthon’s writings on the role of secular leadership in religious and political realms. Following the dictum, “under his rule, his religion,” these epitaphs can also be read as an effort to exert influence over the future confession of their congregation by emphasizing qualifications to rule as a good Lutheran leader following Luther’s directives and demonstrating support of Lutheranism in the temporal realm.

The Cranach Workshop and the Visualization of Lutheranism

The visual vocabulary of Luther’s ideas took shape primarily in the hands of

Luther’s friend and fellow Wittenberger Lucas Cranach the Elder. The close relationship and mutual respect of the pair is attested to in the intermingling of their personal lives. 29

In the 1520’s the elder Cranach collaborated with Luther in the creation of polemical prints and paintings, such as Passional Christ and Antichrist [Figure 1], in order to present Lutheran beliefs to the public and encourage opposition to the Catholic Church.

This partnership between artist and reformer places the Cranach workshop at the center of Reformation artistic production and an extensive network of Lutheran clients, situating panels painted in the Cranach workshop among the earliest visualizations of Lutheran ideas.

More than just a Reformation artist, the Cranach workshop was also a dominant player in German artistic production throughout the sixteenth century. The success of the workshop was made possible through the hard work of Lucas Cranach the Elder. Cranach

29 For example, Luther was first made godfather to Cranach’s daughter Anna in 1520. Later, Cranach the Elder was present as a witness at the betrothal of Luther and Katharina von Bora in June 1525. Cranach was named godfather to the couple’s first child, Johannes, in 1526. See, for example, Bonnie Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder: Art and Devotion of the German Reformation (New York: University Press of America, 2009), 12. 14 the Elder was called to Wittenberg in 1504 by Frederick III and promoted to official court painter around Easter 1505. Cranach’s winged serpent coat of arms, granted to him by

Frederick III in 1508, reflects his elevated status and close connection to the court. 30 The serpent also established authorship, marking paintings as deriving from the Cranach workshop. The Cranach family established themselves in Wittenberg, which held its own prominence as the capitol city for Frederick III and home to Wittenberg University. 31 In addition to serving as court painter, Cranach the Elder was a known figure in the civic community. By 1518, Lucas Cranach the Elder had amassed wealth, including several homes and, as of 1520, the only pharmacy in the area. Between 1519 and 1549, Cranach the Elder was a town council member and served as burgomaster in 1537, 1540, and

1543. 32

In terms of patronage, Cranach benefitted not only from his civic connections, but also from the prominence of the city of Wittenberg. With the foundation of the University of Wittenberg in 1502, the city expanded from a remote city to a center of literary and visual humanistic culture. Cranach’s status within the community put the workshop in touch with upper class citizens, many of whom would also become workshop clients.

Commissions from these elite-- mostly religious paintings, portraits, or courtly scenes-- generated the majority of workshop output. Ultimately the reach of the workshop was so

30 On January 6, 1508. Reproduced in Werner Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 1 st American edition (New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1980), 403. 31 See, for example, Bernard Aikema, “Cranach: A Different Renaissance” in Cranach: A Different Renaissance , edited by Bernard Aikema (Milan: 24 Ore Cultrua srl, 2010), 15 or Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 41-45. 32 Cranach the Elder served on the Wittenberg City Council as one of a group of governors serving year- long terms once every three years beginning in 1519. He also held the one of two City Treasurer positions in 1519, 1531, and 1534 and as burgomaster in 1537, 1540, and 1543. 15 extensive that the majority of notable Lutheran churches in Saxony contained a Cranach altarpiece, with all of the diocesan churches in the region housing at least one Cranach panel. 33

Contemporary commentators took note of the workshop’s prolific production. In

1532, Melanchthon listed Cranach with Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and Matthias

Grünewald (1470-1528) as the most prominent competitors in German artistic production. 34 Christoph Scheurl, another professor at Wittenberg University, celebrated

Cranach’s realistic style and his ability to paint with speed. 35 Recognition from

Melanchthon and Scheurl attests to the opinion of the workshop in Saxony. Cranach’s signature flattened style was designed to be easily recreated by workshop assistants, increasing workshop production further. 36 Lucas Cranach the Younger, who inherited the workshop from his father, also trained in the style and adapted to it so seamlessly that scholars still debate methods by which to differentiate the two hands. 37

While the workshop completed ample commissions prior to the Reformation and continued to produce some Catholic artworks after the Reformation began, the Cranach

33 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 62-63. 34 See, for example, Gerald Fleming, “On the Origin of the Passional Christi and Antichristi and Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Contribution to Reformation Polemics in the Iconography of the Passional,” Gutenberg-Jahrbuch (1973), 351 or John Dillenberger, Images and Relics: Theological Perceptions and Visual Images in Sixteenth-Century Europe (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 77-78. Although Melanchthon saw competition for commissions as centered on these three artists, he placed Dürer’s work at the apex of Germany’s artistic production. For the purposes of this dissertation, Dillenberger provides a very interesting quote regarding Melanchthon’s comparison: “The Christian humanist ideal is universal and international. That for Melanchthon was represented by Dürer. By contrast, Cranach and Grünewald were provincial artists, representing the peculiarities of a particular time and place with few transcendent graces. 35 This assessment of Cranach’s style is printed by Scheurl in a 1509 letter of dedication. See, for example, C. Schuchardt, Lucas Cranach des Älteren Leben und Werke , Teil 1 (Leipzig, 1851), pages 27-35. 36 For a complete description of workshop practice, see Gunnar Heydenreich, Lucas Cranach the Elder: Painting Materials, Techniques and Workshop Practice (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2007). 37 The debate over whether the Weimar Altarpiece was created by father or son is one example. Some have suggested that Cranach the Elder started the work, although most agree that Cranach the Younger had control over the finished product. See, for example, Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 157, note 1. 16 family name has become most strongly connected to Reformation art. This connection, begun in 1520 with two portraits of Luther, grew in strength with printed works like

Passional Christ and Anti-Christ [Figure 1], and soon moved on to Lutheran-inspired paintings. The visual language adapted from pre-Reformation precedent and created for these artworks by Cranach the Elder in conjunction with Luther helped build a Lutheran visual vocabulary that was subsequently adapted by Lutheran artists and authors and inherited by Lucas Cranach the Younger. It was in this language that Lutheran artists argued tenants of faith and created polemics against competing religious traditions. The prominence of the workshop in the Saxon community as well as the proximity of the

Cranach epitaphs to the first iterations of Lutheran theology marks them as an excellent starting point for analysis of Lutheran epitaphs.

Cranach the Younger, Artist

Of the twenty-four extant Reformation epitaphs produced in the Cranach workshop, only one was created prior to 1552. By this time, the Leipzig Interim had been accepted and the process of religious compromise, culminating in the 1555 Peace of

Augsburg, had begun. Maurice of Saxony died in 1553, leaving his newly-won electoral seat to his brother Augustus. Former Elector John Frederick was exiled in Weimar and joined by Cranach the Elder in 1550. The departure of the elder Cranach meant Cranach the Younger inherited his father’s workshop, including the trademark winged serpent insignia. While Cranach the Elder initiated the development of Lutheran visual language and established the workshop reputation, it was Lucas Cranach the Younger who oversaw the creation of the majority of Lutheran epitaphs marked by the Cranach brand. 17

The younger Cranach enjoyed the prestige brought to his family by his father. He was born on October 4, 1515 as the second of five children to parents Cranach the Elder and his wife Barbara (nee Brengbier). 38 As an adult, he inherited political position in

Wittenberg, serving on the city council from 1549-1568. Cranach also benefitted from his father’s connections socially, meeting his first wife, Barbara Brück (1518-1550) through the Elder’s service on the council with Barbara’s father, Dr. Gregor Brück. 39 Lucas

Cranach the Younger and Barbara Brück married in 1541, producing four children before

Barbara’s death in 1550.40 Cranach the Younger remarried a year and a half later, again drawing on Cranach the Elder’s social connections. This time he wed Magdalena Schurf

(1531-1606), a niece of Melanchthon and daughter to Wittenberg professor and electoral doctor Augustin Schurf. His second union produced five children, two of whom settled in

Wittenberg. 41 Like their father and grandfather, Augustin Cranach (1554-1595) and

Christoph Cranach (d. 1596) would hold positions on the Wittenberg City Council from

1584-1595 and 1594-1596 respectively. 42

38 For more genealogy, see Theo Ludwig Girshausen, “Cranach, Lucas der Ältere,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), 395-387. Accessed online April 2, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche- biographie.de/pnd118522582.html . The Cranachs had five children survive to adulthood: Hans (c. 1513- 1537), Lucas (1515-1586), Ursula, Barbara, and Anna (1520-1574). 39 For more genealogy, see Theo Ludwig Girshausen, “Cranach, Lucas der Jüngere,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), 398-400. Accessed online April 1, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche- biographie.de/pnd118522590.html . Similarly, Barbara Cranach married Christian Brück, son of Dr. Gregor Brück and future Chancellor of Elector John Frederick, in 1537. Ursula Cranach married Georg Dasch, a Würzburg jurist and later a city councilor of Gotha. Anna Cranach married the apothecary Caspar Pfreund. Pfreund was an associate of Cranach and served as city councilor from 1551-1566. 40 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 80. The children of this marriage were Lucas (1541- 1612), Barbara, Johann (d. 1548), and Christian (d. 1556). The eldest son, Lucas III (d. 1612), became a city councilor in Torgau and Meissen. Cranach the Younger sometimes called himself Cranach der Mittlere to distinguish himself from his son. 41 The children of this marriage were Magdalena (d. 1554), Augustin (1554-1595), Agnes (d. 1560), Elisabeth (1560-1646), and Christoph (d. 1596). 42 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 42. 18

In addition to prestige, wealth, and a seat on the city council, Cranach the

Younger inherited his vocation from his father. The son likely began his apprenticeship alongside his older brother Hans (c. 1513-1537) 43 between 1527 and 1529. Hans and

Lucas would have joined one or two other apprentices and a number of journeymen. 44

Cranach the Elder would have been responsible for the overall design of workshop commissions in the early years and would likely have painted the majority of higher profile commissions. His sons probably had a hand in workshop production, but the process was so streamlined that it is difficult to discern individual hands in most works. 45

As Cranach the Younger trained to take over management of his father’s workshop, he would have played an increasingly prominent role in overseeing the production of artworks. There are no records indicating the exact date the younger Cranach took over the workshop, but it is certain that Cranach the Younger had control of the workshop after his father left for Weimar. In turn, Cranach the Younger’s son, Augustin, inherited the workshop after the death of his father in 1586 until his own death in 1595. The last extant Lutheran epitaph in this study saw completion in 1586, as the workshop was likely transitioning to new leadership. The artistic production of Augustin and his son, Lucas

Cranach IV, is considered mediocre and little is known. 46 For this reason, the focus of

43 Ibid., 77 44 Ibid., 45. The number of journeymen would have changed in response to the number and size of commissions in the workshop at any given time. 45 The seamlessness in style from one artist to the other has resulted in long debates, primarily among German art historians, over authorship of paintings from the period in which both Cranach the Elder and Cranach the Younger were present in workshop practice. A few articles in the forthcoming Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder will address the topic. 46 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 12 19 this study rests on the epitaphs created in the Cranach workshop under the supervision of

Lucas Cranach the Younger.

Current state of Literature

In 1972, Carl Christensen noted that “The epitaph constituted by far the largest single group of art monuments installed in Protestant churches in sixteenth-century

Germany.” 47 Despite the prolific production of epitaphs and their close ties to prevailing matrices of cultural and social change, painted sixteenth-century German Lutheran epitaphs and the Cranach epitaphs in particular have not received comprehensive treatment as a thematic group. However, the groundwork needed for such a study has been laid in catalog-like documentation of many of the extant epitaphs as well as research on Cranach and Reformation art, on references to sixteenth-century events in Cranach epitaphs, and on the place of monuments in specific churches. Cross-referencing these texts with theological and political histories, scholarship on memoria , and the development of Lutheran visual language brings the context in which the epitaphs emerged into focus. Yet, it is only through synthesizing this information with an analysis of the extant Cranach epitaphs as a group, through identifying consistencies in epitaph format and sitter biographies, that the importance of the new epitaph composition and the influence of Luther’s two realms become clear.

Foundational texts locate and provide basic information for epitaphs broadly and the Cranach epitaphs specifically. The necessary starting point for such a study is Werner

Schade’s “Die Altar- und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.” as well as “Die

47 Christensen, “The Significance of the Epitaph Monument in Early Lutheran Ecclesiastical Art,” 297. 20

Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranachs d.J.” (1968), which document most of the epitaphs produced in the Cranach workshop, placing emphasis on description and at times suggesting precedent for religious narratives in the work of Cranach the Elder or other early sixteenth-century German artists. 48 Oskar Thulin’s Cranach-Altäre der Reformation similarly establishes basic information about four of the epitaphs in this study. 49 Carl

Christensen’s “The Significance of the Epitaph Monument for Early Lutheran

Ecclesiastical Art,” is narrower in scope, succinctly outlining factors contributing to the prominence of epitaphs in Lutheran circles, the importance of Renaissance interest in identity, and favored subjects for Lutherans audiences. Christensen’s article also provides good primary and secondary written references for research on epitaphs. 50 These sources form a broad overview of the Cranach epitaphs and their place in the development of the epitaph genre.

Monographs about the Cranach workshop provide important contextual information. Biographical details for the family members build a more complete picture of the family’s place in Wittenberg society as well as political and religious affiliations influencing commissions. Examining reproductions of paintings and prints produced by

Cranach the Elder and his successors finds precedents for narratives, comparative

Catholic epitaphs, and portraits of important sixteenth-century figures. The sources most

48 Werner Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” (Ph.D. diss., Humboldt University, 1956) and Werner Schade, “Die Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranachs d.J .,” in Ze Studiów Nad Sztuka XVI Wieku Na Śląsku I w Krajach S ąsiednich (Wrocław: Muzeum Śląskie, 1968). 49 Oskar Thulin, Cranach-Altäre der Reformation , (Berlin: Evang. Verlag Anst., 1955). The title of Thulin’s work is somewhat misleading as some of the paintings in the study may not have actually functioned as altars. 50 Carl Christensen, “The Significance of the Epitaph Monument for Early Lutheran Ecclesiastical Art,” in The Social History of the Reformation , eds. Lawrence P. Buck and Jonathan W. Zophy (Columbus: Ohio State University, 1972). 21 commonly cited as catalogs of Cranach workshop production and biographical information remain Werner Schade’s Cranach Family of Master Painters , Dieter

Koepplin and Tilman Falk’s Lukas Cranach and Max Friedländer and Jakob Rosenberg’s

The Paintings of Lucas Cranach .51 It should be noted that the preceding texts tend to place more emphasis on the work of Cranach the Elder, limiting their usefulness for the present study. A landmark online source for Cranach studies, the Cranach Digital

Archive hosted by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, is more inclusive. Initiated in late

2009 with the ultimate goal of creating a digital archive of Cranach artworks, the database now provides access to almost a thousand high resolution images and boasts nine founding partner institutions, eighteen associate partners, and many contributors. 52

The catalog continues to grow substantially and is currently one of the most fruitful sources for high resolution reproductions of and basic facts for Cranach works, including those from the hand of Cranach the Younger.

A few canonical texts provide more in-depth study of historical factors impacting epitaph commissions. Most consistently referenced in art historical scholarship is The

Reformation of the Image by Joseph Leo Koerner, followed closely by Koerner’s The

51 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters ; Dieter Koepplin and Tilman Falk, Lukas Cranach: Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik: Ausstellung Im Kunstmuseum Basel 15. Juni-8. September 1974 (Basel: Birkhäuser, 1974); Max Friedländer and Jakob Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach , translated by Heinz Norden (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1978). Schade’s text covers Cranach workshop production, organizing and reproducing hundreds of paintings using historical and biographical context as well subject matter. Koepplin and Falk’s two-volume set provides a comprehensive catalog, arranged by theme, which is a useful source for listings of Cranach the Elder’s artistic output. Similarly, Friedländer and Rosenberg produced a catalogue raisonné that is a valuable source basic information about Cranach paintings. Dr. Karin Kolb is working on a revised catalog, but it has not been published yet. 52 Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf / Cologne University of Applied Sciences, “Cranach Digital Archive,” accessed July 3, 2014, www.lucascranach.org . 22

Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art .53 In addition to providing a closer analysis of a handful of individual epitaphs from the Cranach workshop, Koerner deals with the broader issues of adaptation and reception of Reformation art while simultaneously addressing historical context, theological implications, and stylistic development. His text is essential as a base for any study of Reformation artwork. In fact, a few of his comments made in passing inspired this dissertation. However, Koerner’s work necessarily covers a different set of artworks including only a few of the epitaphs in this study. Bonnie Noble’s Lucas Cranach the Elder: Art and Devotion of the German

Reformation (2009) is similarly important as a more focused study of the function and reception of four monumental Cranach altarpieces, including one of the epitaphs in this study. Her comparisons consider religious and political factors and include a very useful set of observations and explanations regarding new attitudes toward art reflected in

Lutheran altarpieces. The theological and historical context in which the Cranach epitaphs emerged takes shape in the words of these two important Cranach scholars.

A distinct focus on specific political, religious, or social factors illuminates aspects of the background narrative and the place of political figures in Lutheran art. Carl

C. Christensen’s Art and the Reformation in Germany is a valuable resource on theological and political implications in Reformation artworks taken from the perspective of a historian.54 His citations of passages from Luther’s sermons and writings provide textual basis for visual representation. Christensen’s Princes and Propaganda: Electoral

53 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image . Joseph Leo Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993) is also a good source for sixteenth-century German artwork. Koerner considers the Weimar Altarpiece in the latter work on pages 363-410. 54 Carl Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1979). 23

Saxon Art of the Reformation provides additional historical context that simultaneously highlights the frequency with which the electors were portrayed in propaganda and provides context for the inclusion of other secular leaders in epitaphs.55 Susan

Boettcher’s excellent articles on memoria and the appearance of Philippists in certain

Cranach paintings further suggests motivations for referencing local figures and events in art of the period while also explaining how the paintings created a sense of history for followers of Philipp Melanchthon in Wittenberg, implicating Lutherans as the inheritors of true faith.56 These three works bring to light the importance of local leaders and their inclusion of Reformation art.

Two very recent sources focused on epitaphs in a single locality expound the place of epitaphs within the architectural space of the church. Reformation der Memoria:

Denkmale in der Stadtkirche Wittenberg als Zeugnisse Lutherischer Memorialkultur im

16. Jahrhundert , written by Doreen Zerbe, is an excellent compilation of historical documents, donor information, and contextual facts for the Cranach epitaphs hung in

Wittenberg City Church. 57 Zerbe’s meticulous detailing of inscriptions for each of the epitaphs in the church, not just those from the Cranach workshop, and her observations regarding donor identity clarify ties between social status and an epitaph’s position in the

55 Carl Christensen, Princes and Propaganda: Electoral Saxon Art of the Reformation (Kirksville, MO: R.V. Schnucker, 1992), 115. 56 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 85-112; Boettcher, “Late 16 th Century Lutherans: A Community of Memory,” in Defining Community in Early Modern Europe , eds. by Michaël Halvorson and Karen E. Spierling (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008), 121-142; and Boettcher, “Von der Trägheit der Memoria: Cranachs Lutheraltarbilder im Zusammenhang der Evangelischen Luther-Memoria im Späten 16. Jahrhundert,” in Protestantische Identität und Erinnerung , ed. Joachim Eibach and Marcus Sandl (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2003), 47-69. 57 Doreen Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria: Denkmale in der Stadtkirche Wittenberg also Zeugnisse Lutherischer Memorialkultur im 16. Jahrhundert (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsantalt, 2013). 24 church while reproducing important primary sources in the form of accompanying inscriptions.58 Maria Deiters’ 2012 article, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space:

Post-Reformation Furnishings in the Parish Churches of St. Nikolai and St. Marien in

Berlin” further explains how the physical location of epitaphs within a Lutheran church in Berlin reflected new attitudes in Lutheran ideology.59 The emphasis on location seen in these documents provides comparative examples for the display of Cranach epitaphs.

A selection of readings from historians regarding the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms and Luther’s understanding of the two realms have been particularly useful in shaping a conception of this complex ideology and its impact on sixteenth-century Lutherans. 60

Most valuable was William J. Wright’s Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two

Kingdoms: A Response to the Challenge of Skepticism, which took the perspective of the two realms as a Lutheran world view, or a fundamental approach to understanding human existence.61 Wright’s view is distinct from the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms, which is specifically relegated to political ideology rather than everyday life, dealing with Luther’s and later Melanchthon’s interpretation of the exact role secular authorities should play in determining the ceremony and leadership of the church. David VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought and

David M. Whitford, “ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis” particularly clarify the difference between the

58 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 57-58. 59 Maria Deiters, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space: Post-Reformation Furnishings in the Parish Churches of St. Nikolai and St. Marien in Berlin,” in Lutheran Churches in Early Modern Europe , edited by Andrew Spicer (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2012), 63-96. 60 I thank Dr. Lizzy Ellis-Marino and Dr. Ute Lotz-Heumann for directing me to sources and offering constructive criticism. Any mistakes in interpretation of this information are my own. 61 Wright, Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms. 25

Doctrine of the Two Kingdoms as a political ideology and the two realms as a broader

Lutheran theology conceptualizing human existence.62

Recent scholarship on Reformation art has become increasingly diversified and specialized, comprising theological as well as historical, social, and political factors that contributed to the form, content, and placement of artworks. Thus, the framework exists for a comparative study of a set of epitaphs from a single workshop. Synthesizing visual analysis of a set of epitaphs with existing scholarship fills a research gap, uniting the

Lutheran understanding of two realms, the influence of local events and people, and the sitters’ hopes for the future of their region during a time of rapid change with the development of a Lutheran visual language especially as it appears in the prominent placement of the commemorated leaders in the Cranach workshop Lutheran epitaphs.

Methodology

Understanding epitaphs is a multi-faceted research topic, so, as indicated by the state of research, an interdisciplinary approach is necessitated. Referencing scholarship by historians and theologians in addition to art historians best reconstructs the perspective of sixteenth-century Lutheran donors and audiences. While research must be inclusive, the analysis and methodology embraced in this dissertation is art historical. By comparing and contrasting donor placement, pictorial construction, religious narrative, and installation location of each of the Cranach epitaphs with artistic precedent and within the social, theological, and political contexts, the connection between the Cranach

62 VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms , particularly pages 55-62; David M. Whitford, “ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis,” 41- 62. Whitford pages 44- 45 in particular identifies the boundaries of the two realms in contrast to the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms. 26 memorials and the Lutheran conception of simultaneous placement in the two realms becomes apparent.

Research began by assembling all the extant epitaphs created in the Cranach workshop between 1521 and 1600 as represented in available catalogs and referenced sources. 63 The resulting data set was twenty-four epitaphs identified as from the Cranach workshop by style as well as by the trademark Cranach insignia and defined as serving a funerary function in the foundational scholarship on Cranach epitaphs.64 Next, each painting was examined and cataloged focusing on the secular identity of the commemorated, the religious narrative depicted in the background, the name of the church in which the epitaph originally hung and, when possible, the original location of installation within the church. Reconstructing the physical context for the epitaphs through site visits to their home church whenever possible facilitated a better understanding of location. Careful comparison of each piece of information revealed continuity in a new style of epitaph construction, placement in the church, and the biographies of the sitters.

In consideration of the established commonalities, particularly in comparison to pre-Reformation examples, the importance of a new way of depicting donors came to the forefront. Examination of the Cranach epitaphs exposed both the predilection of the artist to situate the commemorated in a defined segment in the foreground of the painting as well as the repeated appearance of a subject of importance to Lutheran theology in the background. Further research into the importance of secular authority in Lutheran

63 Most of the epitaphs were identified in Schade’s dissertation. 64 See appendix C for the complete list. 27 ideology led to Luther’s directives for Lutheran leaders as well as the Lutheran understanding of Christian existence in both secular and spiritual realms. The observation regarding sitter placement and identity lent to the conclusion that the commemorated are depicted as participants in church services in the temporal realm as well as members of the Lutheran spiritual realm implied by a depiction of a Lutheran subject appearing in the sitters’ heart upon hearing the Word. Beginning with continuities in donor placement, this dissertation culls, analyzes, and presents these findings, while also providing a foundation for other disciplines to incorporate analysis of visual material when seeking to reconstruct the social, political, religious realities of these people and time periods.

Chapter Outline

The goal of this document is to demonstrate the influence of the Lutheran conception of two realms on the placement of donors in Lutheran epitaphs from the

Cranach workshop. The significance of this placement is most clear in comparison of the set and in contrast to the most common arrangement of donors in pre-Reformation devotional artworks. As such, the most efficient organizing element is the donor placement itself. Analysis begins in Chapter One with a description of the placement of the commemorated in a typical Cranach epitaph. A very brief discussion identifying the placement of sitters in pre-Reformation artworks underscores the importance of the new donor location. The significance of the change in format implicates new attitudes toward commemoration that align with Lutheran expectations for secular leaders as well as the

Lutheran understanding of the two realms. After establishing the spatial distribution and its significance, the next section establishes precedent in early Reformation artworks that 28 manifest the two realms. Finally, Chapter One closes with variations to the most common epitaph format as demonstrative of adaptations and exceptions within Cranach’s epitaph oeuvre .

Chapters Two and Three each detail one aspect of the typical format. The background religious narrative, the clearest indication of the image that appears in the heart of the sitter upon hearing God’s Word thereby indicating their involvement in the invisible community of Lutherans comprising the spiritual realm, is the basis for Chapter

Two. In this section of the painting, Cranach depicts a scene that would have meaning to a Lutheran audience particularly in terms of local confession of faith as exemplified by the sitters’ witness to biblical events. In turn, the scene reflects the process of confessionalization, educating the viewer in theology, norming rites, and integrating religion with politics. 65 The chapter begins with a fuller explanation of confessionalization, a basis for the appearance of the process in earlier Lutheran art, and the pictorial construction as implicating the invisible spiritual realm in the heart of the donor. Finally, the background narrative in each painting is discussed as a statement of

Lutheran faith.

65 The exact definition of confessionalization, like the terms Reformation, Lutheran, and Catholic in this period, can be subject to some debate. I take the term to refer to be the process in which confessional communities create identity by marking the boundaries of their own doctrine, often in comparison to another confession. My understanding has developed from many sources, but in particular, Erika Rummel, The Confessionalization of Humanism in Reformation Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 3-8. Rummel’s “Introduction” offers a helpful description of the term confessionalization. In the final paragraph of this chapter, Rummel cites Wolfgang Reinhard’s eight stages of confessionalization: “(1) firm dogmatic conviction, and unhesitating action (“Entscheidungsfreude”), which entails intolerance and the rejection of accommodation; (2) organized dissemination of ideas; (3) planned propaganda and suppression of counterpropaganda through censorship; (4) indoctrination through schooling; (5) enforcement of discipline; (6) norming of rites; (7) norming of terminology; and (8) political integration.” (pg. 8) Susan Boettcher has written a succinct article chronicling the debate over the term. Susan Boettcher, “Confessionalization: Reformation, Religion, Absolutism, and Modernity,” History Compass 2 (2004), 1- 10. 29

Chapter Three identifies how Cranach as an artist alludes to the temporal realm in the construction and content of the epitaph. Display of epitaphs in the Lutheran church is paramount. The discussion begins with the significance of location in terms of the appearance of sitter engagement with the physical space of the church. Association with areas where liturgical rites were practiced will be shown to be particularly important.

References to the commemorated’s actions in defense of Lutheranism during their lifetime appear throughout the painting, further implicating the temporal realm.

Chapter Four explores how the composition and content of Lutheran epitaphs adapt the visual language preferred in pre-Reformation and contemporary Catholic examples by comparing and contrasting the two epitaphs types. A discussion of differences in attitudes toward the use of art in worship and the identification of comparative examples begins the chapter. Next, four specific points of comparison serve to highlight changes in epitaph form: 1) placement of the sitters, 2) the way in which the viewer’s gaze is directed, 3) depiction of the divine, and 4) references to the sitter’s identity. The differences between the two types of epitaphs demonstrate the distinctiveness of the Lutheran epitaphs by showing how they underscore the role of local leaders in propagating and protecting the Lutheran confession, which in turn highlights the continued emphasis on the importance of local leadership into the second half of the sixteenth-century.

Summary

Comparing and contextualizing twenty-four extant Cranach workshop epitaphs, created primarily under the leadership of Lucas Cranach the Younger, with pre- 30

Reformation and contemporary Lutheran examples indicates that Lutheran ideology and directives to secular leaders impacted the appearance of Lutheran epitaphs. Specifically, the Lutheran understanding of God’s two realms, one temporal and one spiritual, provided the basis for an adapted method of depicting sitters so that they symbolically inhabit both realms simultaneously. Cranach depicts these Lutheran leaders both as penitent sinners in the spiritual realm as well as secular authorities upholding faith in the temporal realm following Luther’s directives. Luther and his successors consistently reiterated these directives throughout the sixteenth century, demonstrating their continued influence on Lutheran thought in the later years of reform. The findings of this study demonstrate not only that the Lutheran worldview describing two realms influenced

Cranach’s new design for Lutheran epitaphs, but also the hope of Lutheran leaders that their confession of faith would continue to carry authority despite the encroachment of competing Protestant traditions on Lutheran lands in the second half of the sixteenth century.

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Chapter 1: Epitaphs and the Two Dimensions of Human Existence

“There are two kingdoms, one the kingdom of God, the other the kingdom of the world. I have written this so often that I am surprised that there is anyone who does not know it or remember it.” 66 With these words from Luther’s 1525 writings, the reformer summarizes what he deems a prevalent idea. Namely, Christian life exists in two realms with Lutherans living in both kingdoms simultaneously. 67 His followers echoed the concept of the two realms, which in turn structured the individual Lutheran experience in sixteenth-century Saxony. The Cranach epitaphs, deriving from a workshop directly connected with Luther and his Wittenberg colleagues, have been shown to draw on prevailing Lutheran ideology to reflect new attitudes in and about Lutheran artworks. As analysis of the Cranach epitaphs will demonstrate, the artist adapted pre-Reformation artistic convention to imagine the Lutheran concept of two realms in paint. In doing so,

Cranach pictorialized reception of the Word and participation in the church in the earthly realm as an exchange that prompted the appearance of the invisible spiritual realm in the hearts of the faithful. Secular leaders model this exchange, serving as an example of proper conduct in the church and embodying the individual Lutheran experience. The

66 WA 18:14-26; LW 46:69-70. Reproduced in Wright, Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms , 17. 67 See, for example, Wright, Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 126. Wright notes that in Luther’s mind “the Christian was two persons,” one in each realm. 32 resulting memorials took on a new structure for religious imagery that reflected passive reception of grace rather than active meditation to reach the divine while concurrently emphasizing the importance of secular authority in maintaining Lutheran confessions of faith in their territories.

The significance of the new structure is most easily understood within the context of the Lutheran worldview and in comparison to pre-Reformation works. Northern

Renaissance precedents typically placed donors in the wings of a triptych alongside their patron saints, adjacent to the central religious imagery. The focus of the artworks would be the holy figures on which the sitters appeared to meditate, turning body, eyes, and hands inward, demonstrating the idea that active prayer could merit heavenly rewards.

The sitter in turn serves as a model for the viewer’s behavior, demonstrating how meditative engagement could theoretically help the pious to transcend from corporeal sight to spiritual sight, producing an experience of divine prescene in anticipation of its future realization. Specifics of this interaction will be expounded upon in Chapter Four, subsequent to the analysis of the Cranach epitaphs, in order to facilitate a fully detailed comparison. For now, the emphasis remains on the change in epitaph structure resulting in a new form. The most common type of Cranach epitaph adjusts the location of the sitters in the panel, moving the memorialized from the wings or sides to the central foreground and, for the most part, directing their attention outward into the space of the church instead of inward toward the central panel and Holy figures. Fourteen of the twenty-three epitaphs clearly locate the commemorated in a segment of the painting that is carefully indicated to be neither solely of the church nor of the painting. Rather, they

33 are in both simultaneously, demonstrating their dual placement in two realms during their lifetime. Most of the remaining nine artworks vary from the most common type, maintaining the idea that participation in the physical realm of the church resulted in the interior image of the spiritual realm in the heart of the individual.

After establishing the most common type of Cranach epitaph, the exterior orientation of the sitters is shown to exemplify passive reception of grace and the appearance of the spiritual in their heart upon hearing the Word. Artistic precedent for the most common epitaph form, located in Cranach’s own Reformation artistic production, is then considered alongside expectations for Lutheran leaders. Alterations and exceptions to the typical format as well as their significance conclude the chapter. When considered concurrently, these observations demonstrated that the placement of the sitters in a space neither solely of the church nor of the religious narrative is the basis for a new type of epitaph that alludes to simultaneous inhabitance of both realms of existence, demonstrating a confession of Lutheran faith, bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel, and adhering to expectations for Lutheran leaders.

A Common Type

As indicated in the introduction, the basic formula for German Reformation epitaphs consists of a portrait of the deceased in a pious pose adjacent to a religious narrative. Cranach’s epitaphs follow this general guideline, often locating the commemorated in a delineated segment in the foreground of the painting, visually distinct from the religious imagery in the background. Inspiration for this arrangement can be identified in the prevailing Lutheran worldview contending that existence was 34 divided into terrestrial and spiritual realms. Placed between background imagery symbolizing the spiritual realm that appears in the heart of believers and the church populated with the congregants participating in the outward signs of the Lutheran church, the sitters symbolically occupy both spiritual and temporal spaces simultaneously, indicating their participation in both realms during their lifetime. In this manner, the most common format for newly emerging Lutheran epitaphs adapted the two realm ideology into pictures.

Epitaph for Georg Niemeck (1571) [Figure 2] is a representative example of the innovative format. The epitaph, which was originally commissioned for Wittenberg City

Church but now resides in Nischwitz, 68 portrays chamberlain and town magistrate Georg

Niemeck (d. 1571) with his unnamed wife and daughter. 69 The three figures are carefully assembled on a strip of grass running the length of the foreground parallel to the artwork’s frame. Behind them, a group of mourners gather under the arch of a cave at the

Entombment, while Christ is lowered into a greyish-white sarcophagus on a white cloth.

Behind the mourners, in the far background, is the Crucifixion. The progression from the

Crucifixion, to the Entombment, to the sitters, creates a sense of related but distinct spaces which culminate at the boundary of the panel in the space of the viewer. The two background spaces are self-contained. The mourners interact with one another and respond to the burial of Christ in the traditional manner. No one in these background scenes looks into the space of the viewer. In striking contrast, the family members are

68 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 276. The epitaph was gifted to Nischwitz in the 18/19 th century. 69 Ibid., 276. 35 neither integrated into the physical space under the arch nor do they look at the scene unfolding behind them.

The family’s placement and orientation are hallmarks of Cranach’s new epitaph type. Figures kneel on a strip of grass, a natural feature that would be appropriate in the vicinity of a cave, distinguished from the rest of the scene by a sarcophagus spanning the entire panel. This designation is essential in underscoring how the image could be received by a Lutheran audience. The figures seem to appear in a space that is of the painted world in the continuation of a ground covering. However, they are emphatically separated from the background space by the sarcophagus. Their hands point toward the center, indicating an awareness of the symbolic presence of the divine. However, their eyes do not follow their hands nor do their bodies appear fully rotated. The artist paints the sitters so that both shoulders can be seen along with most of the faces as they turn toward the viewer’s space. The eyes of the members of the Niemeck family also look outward, with the two women appearing to gaze unfocused into the space of the church and Georg Niemeck focusing directly on the viewer. Thus, while the family kneels in a space indicated to be adjacent to the religious narrative through continuous ground treatment, their attention turns toward the physical realm of the church. The somber black and white clothing preferred by contemporary Lutherans further distinguishes the sitters from the comparatively more colorful garments worn by the mourners and provides an additional place for identification with the sixteenth-century audience in the church. The sitters are neither in the church nor in the image, but in both simultaneously.

36

Most of the other Cranach epitaphs use a similar designation to indicate the sitters’ placement in both realms. Beginning with Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann (1552)

[Figure 3], 70 the first documented epitaph painted after the Reformation had been established, and continuing through the second to last epitaph painted under the supervision of Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Otto von Pogk [Figure 4] (1578), 71 a strip of grass defined as neither part of the narrative nor of the church is frequently the place where the commemorated kneel. In Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann , this strip of land is broken into two segments, with the grassy, green hills holding the male family members on one side and the female family members on the other. Most of the young men gaze slightly upward and out of the panel without focus while Balthasar turns directly toward the space of the church. The women on the right, like the younger males, gaze without focus into the space of the church from their place in the painting. Von

Pogk and his wife kneel on a grassy strip as well, this time designated as a separate space

70 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 32-33; Ulrike Dura, “Das Opfer des Elias,” Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig , n.d. URL: http://museum.zib.de/cgi- bin/sgml/satz.cgi?Objekt=gm001536 . Accessed November 13, 2012; Walther Scheidig, Peter Keler, and Heinz Lüdecke, Deutsche Cranach-Ehrung 1953: Weimar und Wittenberg (Dt. Lucas-Cranach-Komitee, 1953), 39, catalog 55. On the left berm Hoffmann (d.1552), Kramermeister or head of the merchant’s guild in the trade city of Leipzig, kneels in a fur-trimmed robe with four boys including Michael from his first marriage and Heinrich from his second marriage. The opposite berm holds the women of Hoffmann’s family. His first wife, Katharina née Becker, dons a black robe with a white head covering, indicating she is deceased, and a white cloth over her mouth referencing her sorrow. Hoffmann’s second wife, Magdalena née Wiedemann, kneels next to Katharina in a black hat, black robes, and a white cloth over her mouth as well. The women are joined by Catherine and Barbara from the first marriage and Elisabeth and Magdalena from the second. The opposite berm holds the women of Hoffmann’s family. His first wife, Katharina née Becker, dons a black robe with a white head covering, indicating she is deceased, and a white cloth over her mouth referencing her sorrow. Hoffmann’s second wife, Magdalena née Wiedemann, kneels next to Katharina in a black hat, black robes, and a white cloth over her mouth as well. The women are joined by Catherine and Barbara from the first marriage and Elisabeth and Magdalena from the second. 71 St. Nicolai Coswig (Anhalt), “Epitaph von Pogk,” n.d. Accessed online June 28, 2013. URL: http://www.kirche- coswig.de/Karte_Coswig/Unsere_Kirche/Eingang/Kirche_betreten/Grabstein/Epitaph/epitaph.html ; Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 390, note 697. Von Pogk (d. 1577), the castellan (Schlosshauptmann and Hofmarschall ) of Coswig Castle, kneels on the left in full armor, and his wife Margaret née Robils, commissioner of the epitaph, kneels on the right. 37 by a cliff rising behind them and serving as the resting place for the three sleeping apostles on the Mount of Olives. The pair too looks into the church without fixing eyes on the viewer while their bodies turn inward. In both epitaphs, natural surroundings are used to define a space not wholly of the background while the sitters face outward into the space of the church.

The artistic choice to create a space adjacent to but not fully integrated with the background carries into an epitaph where the religious narrative occurs in an indoor space. In Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt (1565) [Figure 5], Joachim (1509-1561) kneels on a tile floor in the left foreground of the image wearing an opulent robe, jewelry, and his sword denoting his noble status. The space he occupies is made distinct from the remainder of the panel by a bench that spans the length of the picture plane. Joachim of

Anhalt’s epitaph also establishes a second boundary demarcated by the visually-dominant column framing the scene in back. In the background, Joachim Ernst, who commissioned the epitaph for his uncle Joachim, appears with four other contemporary Anhalt princes. 72

Given the contemporary dress of the sitters at the table, where Luther, Melanchthon, and colleagues gather, as well as their mostly unfocused gazes, the transitions are particularly important. Denoting transitions in the flow of space does what dress and gaze alone cannot do: it denotes an inner circle of men appearing in the spiritual realm of Joachim’s heart, where the closeness of the men at the table to Christ honor them with a privileged place. By adapting the most common format to individual epitaphs using objects inherent to the setting of the story, Cranach grounds the story in the physical world rather than

72 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 385. 38 emphasizing ascension to the divine, creating a more cognitive rather than contemplative relationship between the viewer and the panel. The sitter is shown in both realms as an example Lutheran faith, receiving the Word from the space of the church and, as a result, accessing the invisible spiritual realm in his heart.

Carefully Rendered Positions

The placement of the sitters in both realms is reinforced by the artist’s method of rendering commemorated figures and their families. Notably, most of the figures turn more outward toward the space of the church than inward toward the religious narrative.

In some cases, their eyes seem to seek the viewer in the space before the panel. At other times they wander unfocused into the space of the church where the congregation would have been participating in the activities that outwardly defined the Lutheran church such as Baptism, the Eucharist, and preaching. While the sitters in the foreground turn toward the outside, they acknowledge the scene in their heart with their prayerful pose directed toward the middle of the panel, passively receiving grace in their piety and emphasizing the most important part of the painting.

Another epitaph in the common format demonstrates Cranach’s method of depicting sitters. Epitaph for Michael Teuber (c. 1575) [Figure 6], likely depicts

Wittenberg jurist Michael Teuber (1524-1586). 73 Since the painting is in a private

73 Koepplin und Falk, Lukas Cranach , 456; Schade, “Die Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranachs d.J .,” 74; Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 390, note 698. Teuber’s secular role, which will be considered in chapter three, reinforces this identification. Schade offers the attribution and notes the original location of Teuber’s epitaph was in Wittenberg City Church. The painting is now in a private collection. Due to removal from the original context, there is some question as to identification of the sitter. Johann Heinrich Zedlers, Universal-Lexicon , Volume 42 (Leipzig, 1744), column 1528. Accessed online April 16, 2013. URL: http://www.zedler-lexikon.de/blaettern/zedlerband.html?bandnummer=42&seitenzahl=777 . The number and gender of Teuber’s family members support the identification. Teuber was married only once 39 collection, access to the panel is via reproductions, and therefore somewhat limited. From the most detailed image, a low bush marking the transition between the sitters and the background narrative is visible. The family adopts the same clothing, pose, and gaze as most of the other commemorated families, kneeling in contemporary black garments.

Prayerful hands lead the viewer’s gaze to the religious narrative, a focus reinforced by the turn of the donors’ bodies slightly toward the central image. While the angle of their bodies directs the viewer’s gaze toward Christ, the sitters’ eyes do not appear to register the scene. They do not engage with the religious figures and most do not recognize the viewer. Only Teuber’s wife faces directly outward. The remaining sitters, including

Teuber, appear to look into the space beyond the painting toward the congregants and liturgical activities inside the church. While the grassy strip on which the family prays marks them as distinct from the background narrative, their gaze and body indicate their attention is directed toward the church. They concurrently participate in both realms.

Lutherans In Two Realms

Cranach’s innovative epitaph format is an important departure from previous formats, reflecting changing attitudes toward worship and the role of art in devotion. In the new position, depicted in a space neither of the religious narrative nor of the church, the donors occupy the earthly realm and the spiritual realm simultaneously. From their position, they demonstrate ideal behavior in both realms, with grace an effortless result of

to a woman named Euphrosyne (d. 1586) née Paulis. Three of their daughters are documented in the historical record: Euphrosina, Katharina (d. 1581) and Anna (1563-1579). Certainly it is possible that the three documented daughters could be among the four girls kneeling before their mother. It is also possible that one of the daughters and the remaining son either died before adulthood or were overlooked in historical records. 40 true faith and the appearance of the spiritual realm a natural result of true believer’s participation in the rites of the church. Impetus for symbolizing this overlapping space in the extant Cranach epitaphs likely derived from both the pervasiveness of the two realms in Lutheran thought 74 as well as from the importance Luther placed on fulfilling roles assigned to Lutherans. As will be shown in Chapter Three, the figures commemorated generally hold a leadership position, placing a special emphasis on Lutheran expectations for leadership roles in the earthly realm. The integration of these ideas into a new type of epitaph helps to distinguish Cranach’s Lutheran devotional artworks from their pre-

Reformation and Catholic predecessors. Highlighting the most important aspects of

Luther’s conception of the two realms and the role of secular leaders relates these ideas to

Cranach’s artistic choices in the epitaphs.

Luther and the Lutheran leaders that followed in his wake developed a specific conception of the place Lutherans held in the earthly and spiritual realms. In the physical world, each individual served the part they had been given by God: peasants were as important in their divinely-ordained subordinate position as rulers were in their divinely- ordained leadership position. 75 It is important to note that, for this dissertation, the terms temporal, terrestrial, or secular leader are used to refer to church as well as civic governors in the earthly realm, since the two realms did not differentiate between religious and political spheres in the temporal world. 76 Rather, in the words of Luther,

74 For more information on how Luther integrated the idea of two realms into different contexts, see Wright, “Chapter Four: The Two-Kingdoms Worldview: How Luther Used the Concept in Diverse Contexts,” in Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 113-146. 75 See, for example, Rein, The Chancery of God , 51-52. 76 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 17. Wright notes that the Doctrine of Two Kingdoms has become heavily politicized. However, the strict distinction between church and state in the 41

“one is the kingdom of God, the other the kingdom of the world.” 77 Those called to lead the church served a different role than those called to serve civic governments, but both were leaders in the physical kingdom of the world as distinct from the kingdom of God.

Temporal laws and governance did not impact the eternal soul and should be obeyed unless commands were clearly contrary to God’s law.78 The distinctions between realms allowed for rebellion against the Pope and those who supported him because, in Luther’s eyes, these temporal figureheads impeded the path to salvation. In the words of Luther,

“Therefore we must resist the spiritual power when it does not do right, and not resist secular power even when it does wrong.” 79 Following Luther’s distinction, priestly leaders can be referred to as spiritual powers whereas leaders guiding the implementation of human law can be referred to as secular or worldly powers, but both still function in the earthly realm where humanity carries authority based upon God-given roles. This careful distinction was an important aspect of Lutheran identity and a crucial factor in the development of Lutheran epitaphs.

The epitaphs integrate the Lutherans conception of life in the two realms into a visual format. The faithful came to the spiritual realm, like Christ, without wealth or power or authority, submitting to the Father in Heaven. In this realm, God alone ruled with the faithful submitting equally before him. In the temporal realm, the faithful were

modern conception does not fully reflect Luther’s understanding of these terms. He quotes Gerhard Ebeling, Luther: Introduction to His Thinking , trans R.A. Wilson (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970; original German edition, 1964), 177. 77 LW 46:69-70. Quoted in Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 17. 78 Estes, Peace, Order And the Glory of God , 11-12. 79 Ibid., 12. Excerpt from Luther’s Works , edited by Jaroslave Pelikan, Helmut T. Lehmann, et al. 55 vols. 1955-1986, 44:91-93. The idea that Christians had a duty to obey was drawn from Romans 13:1-7, Titus 3:1, and 1Peter 2:13-14. Estes, 11. 42 continually charged to honor God by fulfilling the roles bestowed upon them to the best of their ability. The distinction between the two realms is well-stated in a 1528 quote from Philipp Melanchthon’s Scholia :

Therefore let us carefully discern these two kingdoms: the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of Christ, as we have urged many times up to this point. The kingdom of Christ is found in the hearts of the saints who according to the gospel believe that they have been received into grace on account of Christ, who are renewed and sanctified by the Holy Spirit and taste eternal life, who show forth their faith in good works and on account of God’s glory do all good to all, so that they invite many to knowledge of the gospel. They tolerate all things, nor do they allow themselves to take up arms in a desire for vengeance against those who have injured them. They obey the magistrates with great care, they hold public offices (if such are entrusted to them) with vigilance and courage. If duty demands, they punish the guilty and fight in battle. However, they do not rush in to seize public offices of their own accord, but if forced by their calling they take them up. Furthermore, the kingdom of the world, as I have often said, is a legitimate order that defends public peace with the authority of magistrates, with laws, judgments, punishments and war. 80

As indicated in Melanchthon’s writings, the physical realm is populated by all those on earth and subject to temporal leaders who were called to their post. The spiritual realm was undefined and invisible, located in the hearts of the faithful who have been called to

God and receive his grace.

For leaders, fulfilling Lutheran duties in both realms included promoting and defending the ‘true faith.’ Luther called on pious princes to defy the Pope and support reform as early as August 1520 in the Address to the Christian Nobility .81 In these initial calls to action, Luther saw secular leaders as carrying no authority in dictating spiritual matters. However, in later works such as On Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should

80 Quoted and translated from Melanchthon’s Scholia (1528) in Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms , 89-90. 81 Ibid., 18. Interestingly, this letter is addressed to the individuals comprising the Christian nobility ( an den christlichen Adel ) as opposed to more general Christian authorities ( an die christlichen Obrigkeiten ), which would have included the ruling bodies of imperial cities. 43

Be Obeyed (1523), 82 he charged leaders with the responsibility of defending the peace of their lands in part by establishing and maintaining the ‘true’ church. 83 Significantly, the charge was transferred from “Christian nobility” specifically to “secular authority” more generally between the initial 1520 publication and the subsequent 1523 tract. Secular leaders were tasked with preserving their vassal’s faith, thereby protecting the peace of their lands, through defense of true religion against blasphemes, prevention of a division of faith in the populace, and elimination of public practice of unnecessary religious ceremonies. 84 A leader who tolerated these distractions put his subjects at the risk of

God’s wrath, which was said to be inflicted upon lands instead of individuals. 85

Following this line of thought, a Lutheran leader who did not defend Lutheranism could be perceived as putting his subjects in danger and failing to fulfill his God-given duties.

The leaders in the Cranach epitaphs demonstrate their adherence to Lutheranism in their modelling of proper conduct in their epitaphs and frequently, as will be discussed in

Chapter Two, the depiction of the religious narrative.

Developments in the second half of the sixteenth century, at the time when

Lutheran epitaphs from the Cranach workshop proliferated, further emphasized the need for leaders to publicly declare their Lutheran faith. Philipp Melanchthon, the colleague who inherited leadership of the Lutheran flock in Wittenberg after Luther’s death in

82 Von weltlicher Uberkeytt, wie weyt man yhr gehorsam schuldig sey , discussed in Estes, Peace, Order And the Glory of God , 37-41. 83 The notion that Christian princes should be responsible to abolish papal abuses and maintain Christian practice in their lands frequently appeared in the writings of Erasmus. Both Luther and Melanchthon, like most of those raised in a humanist tradition, would have been exposed to these ideas in their studies. See for example, Estes, Peace, Order And the Glory of God , 5-6 and 58-60. 84 Estes, Peace, Order And the Glory of God , 42-45 85 Ibid., 44-45. 44

1546, published on the subject of secular leadership throughout the Reformation. 86 The most detailed publication reflecting his mature position is found in Melanchthon’s De officio principum (1539), which used biblical and historical sources to support Luther’s charge to secular authority to uphold true religion. Furthermore, external church ceremonies were labeled as human traditions that should be placed under the command of secular authorities. In this way, Melanchthon argued that God commanded leaders to establish and maintain the Lutheran religion as well as remove abuses, emphasizing the need for temporal peace through the support of true religion and giving secular leaders a hand in the outward appearance of faith in local churches. 87 Luther and later

Melanchthon’s writings assigned secular as well as religious leaders heightened control over religious practice in their lands-- a trend that culminated with the Peace of

Augsburg-- likely driving the choice of sitters in the Cranach epitaphs. The dominance of individuals in leadership positions, particularly when set before a narrative relating to the practices of the Lutheran church, underscores the influence these figures wielded over the outward religious practices in their lands. With the upheavals in the second half of the

86 Ibid., 62. Melanchthon’s first publication on the importance of secular leaders, Loci communes (1521), parallels Luther’s views on authority. The first edition of the Loci was Latin. However, prior to Melanchthon’s death in 1560, fifty-six Latin editions and twenty-eight German editions, including at least one from 1555, had been published. Seventeen of these were of the first edition (1521-1526) paralleled by George Spalatin’s nine German editions. Arthur Carl Piepkorn, “Review: Melanchthon on Christian Doctrine: Loci Communes 1555 by Philip Melanchthon by Clyde L. Manschreck,” in Church History vol. 35, no. 3 (Sept. 1966), page 345. I have not been able to locate a full catalog of editions. A 1535 revision to the Loci , appearing as “De magistratibus civilibus et dignitate rerum politicarum,” founded the idea of cura religionis (the care of religion), ultimately forming the basis for Lutheran understanding of the topic. Ibid., 93-94. The Loci was released in a third edition in 1543 to address a dispute with Catholic theologians during the Worms (1540) and Regensburg (1541) colloquies. However, no substantial changes were made. The influence of the Loci (pages 176-77) was wide-spread. Many Reformation theologians were exposed to the ideas regarding the role of secular magistrates, as the Loci was included in textbooks used to educate Lutheran pastors. 87 Ibid., 93-94. 45 sixteenth century related to the influx of competing Christian confessions into Lutheran lands, the secular leaders had an additional incentive to create memorials promoting their

Lutheran beliefs.

Nobility were not the only group charged with protection of the Lutheran confession in their lands. Luther advocated for all Lutherans, regardless of their station, to preach and teach the Gospel as participants in the spiritual realm. In the temporal realm, when the faithful gathered as a group, Luther argued church magistrates should be elected by their congregation. 88 In this position, church magistrates served as shepherds for their congregations. These church magistrates alongside civic government in the form of nobility and city officials carried authority along with a third group. Luther himself and his fellow professors at the University of Wittenberg held particular legal standing as officials of the elector by virtue of the institution’s founding by Elector Frederick the

Wise. 89 Most of the sitters in the Cranach epitaphs noticeably represent these three institutions—the state, the church, and the university.

A mid-century letter from Prince Joachim II of Brandenburg, a Leipzig Interim supporter, to Maurice of Saxony evidences the dissemination and reception of these directives by Lutheran leaders. In his correspondence, the Prince urges Maurice to

88 Ibid., 34. In That a Christian Assembly or Congregation Has the Right and Power to Judge All Teaching and to Call, Appoint, and Dismiss Teachers, Established and Proven by Scripture , published in 1523, Luther made a case for all members of the Lutheran church, or the priesthood of all believers, to preach and teach the gospel. When large groups of Lutherans gather, the group should be able to choose their own leaders. 89 VanDrunen, Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms , 55. 46 support the Interim. 90 Further, Joachim II argues that in regards to outward observance and ceremonies:

…everyone is obligated to obey the secular authorities, and it is not right that everyone simply follow his own head. Rather, the decrees of the authority should be obeyed, since they are established for the sake of proper order, with the freedom, as mentioned earlier, that one is not saved if one does [obey] or damned if one doesn’t. 91

Joachim II’s letter demonstrates how one Lutheran leader internalized the concepts in

Luther’s and Melanchthon’s writings to coerce another leader to attend to the maintenance of peace and to oversee religious ceremony, representing how ideas specifically labelled as “secular authority” had spread by the time of the Interim in 1548.

Secular government’s charge to maintain peace through the protection of the Lutheran church on one hand and overseeing the external practices of the church on the other became law with the passing of the Peace of Augsburg (1555). With the phrase cuius regio, eius religio (whose rule, his religion), princes were given the legal right to mandate the faith of their subjects. The Cranach epitaphs reflect this emphasis on local leadership in the care and maintenance of the Lutheran confession.

The socio-political climate that gave rise to Luther and Melanchthon’s thoughts about governance also saw the emergence of Lutheran artwork and the dissemination of epitaphs from the Cranach workshop. These very leaders, deriving from the city officials, church elect, university members, and the nobility-- figures who were tasked with protecting the church from heresy and providing a line of defense for the populace

90 Quoted in Rein, The Chancery of God , 107. Prince Joachim argues that the Interim “permits that the ceremonies should be held as a Christian pedagogy, or as discipline for children, for the sake of good order.” 91 Quoted in Ibid., 107-108. 47 against damnation-- were the primary subjects of the Cranach epitaphs. Proportionally, church and university magistrates, namely many of or related to the first generation

Wittenberg Reformers from Luther’s inner circle, are most frequently honored in the

Cranach panels perhaps simply due to their numbers or proximity to the Cranach workshop. Princely and secular magistrate sitters follow closely behind in numbers.

In consideration of Lutheran attitudes toward leadership and the increased responsibility of authorities in monitoring the activities of the church after the Peace of

Augsburg, these epitaphs were likely in part a declaration of the donor’s confession of the true faith, thereby advocating for their qualifications to lead as a Lutheran leader following Luther’s directives. Furthermore, as these memorials were intended for display after death in a Lutheran church, they also glorify the legacy of an individual for reception by a local Lutheran audience that was likely already somewhat familiar with their exploits. In choosing to demonstrate their support of Lutheranism through a religious narrative indicated to appear in the heart, a narrative that was frequently personalized, the sitters remind the viewer of this work during their lifetime. They exemplify piety and declare a posthumous desire for their subjects to continue to support

Lutheranism just as they had during their tenure as magistrate. Such support was particularly crucial in the mid- to late-sixteenth century as divergent Lutheran confessions vied for leadership over Luther’s flock and as competing Protestantism faiths began emerging. In this climate of change, secular identity, particularly leadership qualifications, is an important aspect of the statements of faith in the Cranach epitaphs.

These two facets of identity— secular leadership and Lutheran confession—are given

48 visual form in the depiction of the sitters as participants in both realms. The background religious narrative, indicative of the spiritual realm appearing in the heart of believers upon hearing the Word, demonstrates adherence to Lutheran belief and the passive acceptance of grace characteristic of Lutheran faith. Alternatively, the space before the sitters, referenced in their position between the narrative and the viewer and indicated by position in the painting and gaze, is representative of the temporal realm, placing the donor in both realms simultaneously. The identification of the sitters as secular authorities indicates that the epitaphs can be understood as confessions of faith directed at

Lutheran audiences in the hopes that they would continue to uphold Lutheran belief just as the sitter, had done in fulfillment of Lutheran directives.

The Two Realms and the Wittenberg Predella

Support for the hypothesis that Lutheran epitaphs from the Cranach workshop drew on the idea of two realms of existence to structure a new type of epitaph can be found in the most renowned Reformation artwork from the Cranach workshop, the

Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7] (1547) by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Specifically,

Cranach’s careful delineation of the space where Luther and the congregation gather in the predella [Figure 8] as a space distinct from the one in which Christ resides foreshadows developments seen in the Cranach epitaphs starting in 1552 with Epitaph for

Balthasar Hoffmann [Figure 3]. In both the predella and the epitaphs, the painting’s composition indicates that, upon hearing the Word of God, the invisible, spiritual realm passively appears in the heart of the faithful.

49

Joseph Leo Koerner has eloquently described the content of Cranach’s most famous predella, identifying how the construction symbolizes reception of the Word of

God. 92 The cross appears bathed in light cascading from the left, despite light in the upper panels as well as in the physical space of the church coming in from the right. Its base sits in the center of a tile without finding support in the space. Christ’s loin cloth billows in a breeze that doesn’t seem to touch the otherwise still, closed room. Blood flowing from

Christ’s seeping wounds stops at the base of the cross without leaving a trace on the floor around him. Luther stands in a pulpit on the right side of the painting, Bible open and hand outstretched as caught in the act of preaching. His audience, which includes

Cranach the Elder, listens intently. As Koerner notes, “The way they behave, gazing piously but altogether unamazed (some even glancing toward us, as if distracted), does not however, indicate that Christ, himself is visible to them in flesh and blood. Neither does he appear, nor is he dramatically received, as a miraculous vision.” 93 To achieve the effect of the vision, the cross would have to be integrated into the scene, perhaps appearing as if descended from Heaven on clouds or by levitation. 94 Rather, for Koerner, the cross in the Wittenberg Altarpiece predella “must be somehow a crucifix ‘in the heart,’” 95 whose appearance is justified by the giving and receiving of the Word and that the Bible itself only conveys Christ as “Scripture’s only content and key.”96

In light of the Lutheran understanding of two realms of existence, this analysis can be taken a step further. Christ appears here as a symbol of the spiritual realm, which

92 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 171-190, particularly 175-187. 93 Ibid., 175-6. 94 Ibid., 176. 95 Ibid., 177. 96 Ibid., 190. 50 manifested in the heart of the faithful when a community of believers gathered to preach and receive the word. As Koerner notes, again quoting Luther, “hearing the word

‘Christ’ causes a picture of the crucifix to ‘delineate itself…in the heart.’” 97 Furthermore, the space where the faithful gather is an overlapping space similar to the type found in the

Cranach epitaphs. The predella’s golden-brown walls and tiled floor somewhat resembles the City Church choir, but it is not a replica of the space. 98 The real choir did not house a pulpit and its three windows are missing. Rather, the space is evocative of the physical place where the community of the faithful assembles. Other visible signs of the spiritual realm are referenced in the three panels above, which represent the Lutheran sacraments of baptism, communion, and confession as resting quite literally on Christ’s crucifixion.99

These external signs from God complete the definition of visible Lutheran church as outlined in the Augsburg Confession (1530) “as the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.” 100 They are the tangible signs by which the spiritual community of the true faith is defined in the physical realm. In epitaphs, the confession of adherence to the sacraments of the Lutheran church as they are represented in the upper panels of the Wittenberg Altarpiece morphs into abstract signifiers of true faith that symbolize the real but invisible spiritual realm appearing in the heart of the commemorated. By adapting this idea, the artist is able to personalize the appearance of faith, creating a scene that reflects aspects of Lutheran faith advocated for by the commemorated during their

97 Ibid., 217. 98 Ibid., 172. 99 Ibid., 184. In this way, Christ also acts as the cornerstone of the church. 100 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 140. 51 lifetime. In other words, symbolizing the spiritual realm in the heart of the believer shows both faith and individualized support of Lutheranism. Like the congregants in the

Wittenberg Altarpiece , the figures do not see or even, in most cases, react to the presence of the divine. Rather the presence of the divine appears effortlessly in the heart upon receiving the Word, demonstrating personal support of Lutheranism, qualifications to rule, as well as passive reception of grace based solely on acceptance of Christ as the redeemer as outlined in the Bible.

Variations in Placement

The most common format for the new epitaph type, as described in the first section, first appeared in Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann [Figure 3] in 1552. Only five years earlier Cranach the Elder had painted the Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7], implicating his solution for depicting the appearance of the spiritual realm in the heart in the predella as part of the inspiration for the majority of the later Cranach epitaphs.

However, the concept behind the new construction appeared much earlier in the

Reformation, in an epitaph painted circa 1525. The format used in what can be called the first extant Lutheran epitaph from the Cranach workshop would be altered in several ways in the second half of the sixteenth-century, finding form in several different compositions in addition to the most prevalent format. These variations indicate how the idea of the place of Lutherans in two realms could be adapted or at times eliminated depending on the demands of the commission.

Some alterations to the typical format are very slight. Epitaph for Sara Cracov

(1565) [Figure 9], painted for one of Johannes Bugenhagen’s daughters and her second 52 husband, Professor Georg Cracov, shows the family 101 crowding the base of a Crucifixion group and obscuring a what is most often a clear demarcation of transitions between overlapping spaces. 102 However, other cues in the painting signal the edge of the spiritual realm in the heart, maintaining a distinction. The ground under the family’s knees is composed of rocky brown dirt, with scattered plants. Behind the crosses the grass is uniformly lush and bright green. The three crosses are painted as part of this flourishing space, as is very subtly shown in the wooden stake beneath Christ’s cross meeting the ground between Cracov and his youngest daughter. A brownish rock rests before the stake. A small cliff is just perceptible behind it, with a sliver of green grass coloring the space between the stake and Cracov’s daughter, implying the place of the crosses and the background scene is part of the lavish space rather than the rocky strip of land. As in the other epitaphs, the dark, contemporary clothing worn by the family members surviving into adulthood and the white death robes of the young children further distinguishes them from the shepherds in red and orange in the background. In addition, the forward gaze of most sitters turns the viewer back to the space of the church in which they stand. In this example, the somewhat obscured transition between spaces does not dramatically alter the otherwise standard composition.

101 Cracov kneels on the left beside two living sons and two deceased sons with the Cracov coat of arms resting nearby on the base of the impenitent thief’s cross. Opposite, under the penitent thief, Sara kneels with three daughters, among them Katherine (d. 1600), and a gold and black crest balanced at her left side. The crest does not match the blue crest with a gold harp associated with Johannes Bugenhagen. Sara may have used the coat of arms for her first husband, Markus Gallus. Hellmut Kretzschmar, “Cracov, Georg,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), 385-386. Accessed online April 15, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche- biographie.de/pnd117664251.html . 102 Albrecht Steinwachs, St. Mary’s, the Evangelical Parish Church in Wittenberg, the Town of Luther (Spröda: Edition Akanthus, 2000), 50. Sara’s first marriage was to a deacon by the name of Markus Gallus (d. 1547). Georg Cracov was a Doctor of Law. 53

Likewise, the figures in the Augustusburg Altarpiece (1571) [Figure 10], created for the Castle Church of Augustusburg, cluster around the cross, obscuring its base completely. Elector Augustus is shown on the left, his sword at his hip and an elaborate cap with a feather accent resting at his feet. His wife, Anna of Denmark (1532-1585), kneels opposite him in a complimentary-colored gown, and fourteen of their children kneel in red garments between them. 103 It is unclear as to whether the crucifix is among the sitters or directly behind them. What is clear is that there is a gradation in light, casting a shadow around the outer edges and narrowing to a bright light focused on

Christ. This light takes the shape of a heart, implying the lighted realm is manifested in the heart where, as has been discussed in relation to the Wittenberg predella, the Word is given and received, symbolizing the invisible inner realm in the heart of Augustus and his family. 104 Like sitters in most of the other Lutheran epitaphs, the family does not engage with the narrative in the background. Rather, in this case they all direct their attention into the church space, turning their attention to the place where the Word is preached.

Thus this variation, which was one of the last epitaphs to emerge from the workshop of

Cranach the Younger, more literally visualizes what had been alluded to in earlier epitaphs. The religious narrative in the background is in the heart of the commemorated, appearing as they receive the Word.

103 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 448, note 460. On February 26, 1569, Cranach writes to Electress Anna to obtain the ages and likeness of her children that were not yet painted by him for the Augustusburg Altarpiece. Two coats of arms are sculpted into the upper part of the frame, one of the left for Augustus and one on the right for Anna. 104 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 219 observes that the composition adumbrates a heart, orienting the panel inward. 54

A symbolic heart shape also forms through darkened edges and the placement of figures in Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer (1573) [Figure 11] and Epitaph for

Michael Teuber (c. 1574) [Figure 6]. 105 In the first epitaph, the heart forms through the dark clothes and deep green grass rounding the bottom edge from about mid-panel down.

The shape is picked up above in the arched panel and dark green leaves coming to a point in the center. The overall effect is a gently rounded heart-shape. The transition in Epitaph for Michael Teuber is more subtle, forming a point rather than a curve at the bottom in the angled arrangement of the sitters. Again, an arch rounds the upper edges and a small cleave is created in the sky by a triangular gathering of dark grey clouds in the center.

The triple appearance of a heart shape in the Cranach epitaphs underscores that locus of the image in the background as per Luther’s description. Following his words, three of the Cranach epitaphs frame the natural delineation of the divine in the heart of the donor.

Notably, the heart is also the body part struck by a gush of blood from Christ’s side in depictions of Law and Gospel as will be indicated in the next chapter. Similarly,

Augustus later commissioned the Colditz Altarpiece [Figure 12] for the Colditz Castle church in 1583, specifically requesting the work be round or heart-shaped.106 Koerner notes that the “pervasive reds, unusual in Cranach’s oeuvre , anchor the format’s figural meaning (as in a bleeding heart) to the picture it contains.” 107 Moreover, these reds echo those seen in the background imagery of Cranach’s new epitaph type, again

105 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 219. 106 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 452, notes 528-532 and 538-539. Cranach advises against a round panel. He submits two sketches in November 1583, one heart-shaped and “one of a different kind.” No additional information is provided by Schade. Elector Augustus chose the heart- shaped model. 107 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 219. 55 demonstrating that the brightly colored realm is in the heart not in the physical realm. By defining the background as in the heart and deriving from the giving and receiving of the

Word, the artist underscores that it is not of this world, but a symbolic representation of the divine passively received by those participating in liturgical rites.

In contrast to the clustered forms in Epitaph for Sara Cracov [Figure 9] and the

Augustusburg Altarpiece [Figure 10], the figures in Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck (1564)

[Figure 13] appear in a space lacking clear distinctions. 108 The entire scene is viewed through an arched marble frame, hinting at a transitional space. A wooden beam spanning the length of the barn supported by a column almost appearing to rest on Mary’s shoulders has implied intersection with the rounded arch at its apex. However, the wooden construction and angular shapes in the barn are at odds with the curve of the portal and the hard stone material, creating a distinction between spaces. Furthermore, the flooring of the arch is difficult to fully understand. 109 On the left side, the intersection of the inner side of the arch and marble floor tile, visible just barely in fine white grout lines following other perspective lines, recedes almost perpendicularly to the frame, marking it out of line with the perspective of the background. On the right side, the base of the arch seems to shift off the floor tile completely. Following the most common formula, one might expect Niemeck (c. 1517-1562), a town councilor, and his wife Anna 110 to appear on the marble floor in a space demarcated by objects found in a barn as neither of the

108 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Weimar: Böhlau, 1979), 182. The Niemeck family was also know by the name Kelner. 109 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 182. At some point this panel was cut, but the original dimensions were not recorded. It seems likely that the nature of the arch would have been made clearer by showing an end point to the arch on the right side. 110 Anna remarried Lucas Hetzer after Caspar’s death. She also appears in his epitaph, painted in 1575. 56 narrative nor of the church. Instead, the couple is fully in the spiritual realm in their hearts in a manner more reminiscent of pre-Reformation panels. However, several clues mark the painting as certainly Lutheran. Most significantly, the commemorated do not look at or engage with the Nativity narrative. Caspar looks directly at the viewer while

Anna looks into the distance on the left, their hands leading the viewer back to the central scene. In contrast, Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds bow their heads in reverence while looking at the newborn savior. The couple’s contemporary somber black fur-trimmed robes reinforce their distinction from the biblical figures dressed in brighter colors and united in red garments. Furthermore, as Schade notes, Cranach’s use of perspective in the background makes Caspar and Anna appear detached from the narrative. 111 Following the angle of the sitter’s shoulders, the perspective lines in which they kneel converge on the

Holy Family just above Christ, forming a triangle between the heads of Caspar, Anna, and Joseph, rather than the point in the left background where the architecture lines converge. The effect reinforces the feeling that the background scene represents a separate space appearing outside of the place where the commemorated kneel, while the gaze, clothing, and foreground placement of the sitters align their presence with the congregation.

The earliest example of a Lutheran epitaph adjusts the progression of spaces completely. Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher (c. 1525) [Figure 14] commemorates Lintacher

(d. 1525), who was a Leipzig councilman and draper.112 In his epitaph, the councilman

111 Schade, “Die Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranachs d.J .,” 73. 112 Cornelius Gurlitt, Stadt Leipzig , (Dresden: C.C. Meinhold, 1896), 20- 34. The Nikolaikirche was home to many epitaphs for local religious, educational, and religious leaders from both before and after the Reformation. Ulrike Dura, “Verklärung Christi auf dem Berge Tabor,” Stadtgeschichtliches Museum 57 kneels, his coat of arms at his knee, with his family in a draped space set below a depiction of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. 113 The entire group is clearly detached from the religious narrative by their placement in a room with draped walls that has no connection to the outdoor setting of Mount Tabor. Rather, the room takes on the appearance of the space in the church. The gaze of the commemorated is flipped as well.

The family looks upward toward the Transfiguration above them unlike later epitaphs which appeal to the viewer’s space.

This early construction seems to emerge more directly as a counter to the pre-

Reformation formats that will be discussed in detail in Chapter Four. The family here is clearly shown to be planted in the physical realm, traditionally indicated to be below a

Heaven described as above, as opposed to a vision. Cranach situates the figures at a smaller scale in the terrestrial realm rather than integrated into the religious narrative.

Their contemporary clothing, which would have been echoed in the attire of sixteenth- century viewers, could be understood to further indicate their placement in the physical plane. Their access to the spiritual plane is limited to gaze, which for most family members is directed upward toward the traditional location of the divine. While the

Leipzig , n.d. http://museum.zib.de/cgi-bin/sgml/satz.cgi?Objekt=gm001542. Accessed June 1, 2013. Lintacher is alternatively spelled Lindacker, Lindtacker, or Lintacker. 113 Lintacher is alternatively spelled Lindacker, Lindtacker, or Lintacker. On the right Lintacher’s first wife Veronika née Jechler (d. 1518) and his second wife Brigitta née Wilde (n.d.) appear with white cloths covering their mouths to indicate their sorrow and with their coats of arms placed before them. Brigitta was the daughter of Mayor Johann Wilde. She was alive at the time of Ulrich’s death and remarried soon after. Two married women, indicated by their covered heads, are daughters from the first marriage: Ursula, married to Benedict Meringershain, later mayor of Leipzig, and Anna, married to Moritz Buchner the Younger. The two younger women in red are daughters Elizabeth from his first marriage and an unknown daughter from his second marriage. Ulrich’s two eldest sons from his first marriage, Ulrich and Christopher, kneel behind their father in fur-trimmed coats representing their status as burghers. Wolfgang and John, sons from the second marriage, are positioned behind their half-brothers. The six younger children in red on the left may be grandchildren. Dura, “Verklärung Christi auf dem Berge Tabor.” 58 subterranean, closed, draped room is clearly removed from the religious narrative, it is also removed from the space of the church in which the memorial hung. Rather than implying a continuation of the church flooring or walls, the artist depicts an enclosed, curtained, nondescript room that is neither of the physical church nor of the spiritual realm. Here the family is in a space not of the physical or spiritual realm, but simultaneously in both.

Similarly, Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus Wolkenstein (c. 1569) [Figure 15] shows the sitters in the bottom register of the painting. 114 Vogel (d. 1569), a bookseller, publisher, and Wittenberg councilman, kneels with his family in an empty room removed from the religious narrative by grey brick walls reminiscent of a church interior. 115 Unlike the Lintacher family, Vogel’s family does not tilt their heads upward but rather looks outward into the space of the church. Originally the space over their heads would have been encased in an architectural construction with a now-lost panel depicting the Vision of Ezekiel in the middle, a Christ Triumphant at the top, and the family coat of arms in the corners. 116 The emphatically divided construction stacks the realms and relies on the background setting and gazes to indicate an overlapping realm where the more common format creates a more continuous horizontal composition. While the family reverts to a less commonly used format to depict their placement in both realms, this later epitaph

114 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 183-4. 115 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 531. Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 56. Vogel was born in Wolkenstein, but his birth date is unknown. The family consists of Vogel’s first wife, Margarethe, who is set slightly apart from the rest of the group with a white cloth of mourning covering her mouth, his second wife Barbara Stele, and four surviving girls from Vogel’s second marriage. A fifth child, Bartholomäus, died early and is interred in a grave near his parents. Vogel’s first marriage produced seven daughters, but none survived into adulthood. One of Vogel’s daughters was named Veronika and was married in 1540. 116 Ibid., 531. Zerbe’s source does not indicate whether the corner is in the frame or in the image. 59 adopts the gaze seen in other later Cranach workshop epitaphs drawing an unquestionable connection to other Lutheran epitaphs. Their eyes stare unfocused outward into the space of the church not toward the religious imagery. By painting the family to appear in a space neither fully of the church nor of the narrative, with gazes looking into the church space, Cranach retains some emphasis on the physicality on the painting and participation in the activities of the church as prompting the appearance of the spiritual realm in the heart of the commemorated.

Similarly, the Weimar Altarpiece (1555) [Figures 16], painted just three years after Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann [Figure 3] broke ground with the common format, adapts the format seen in Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14], with the family appearing in a curtained space to the left and right of the religious imagery rather than below it. In these wings, the recently deceased John Frederick (1503-1554), former

Saxon Elector (r. 1532-1547), protector of Luther, and patron of Lucas Cranach the

Elder, kneels with his family. These five figures are not the only contemporary people in the Weimar Altarpiece : they are joined by the men they patronized. Following the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547, John Frederick was taken prisoner and ultimately lost his electoral title and some of his lands to his cousin Maurice.

After his release in 1552, the former elector moved his new seat of power to Weimar, bringing Cranach the Elder with him. 117 Both Luther and Cranach stand prominently in central panel of the Weimar Altarpiece , opening the possibility that the panel is both an epitaph for the Elector’s contributions to the Lutheran cause as well as a memorial to

117 The Wittenberg workshop remained under the control of Lucas Cranach the Younger. 60

Luther’s reforms and Cranach the Elder’s artistic accomplishments [Figure 17]. 118 The fact that the Weimar Altarpiece is the only triptych epitaph from the Cranach workshop supports this possibility. Adapting the form from a single panel to a tripartite format facilitates a multilayered memorial commemorating John Frederick as a Lutheran leader in addition to commemorating the contributions of those he supported, namely Luther and Cranach.

Commission records establish that the Weimar Altarpiece certainly commemorated the displaced Elector. His sons commissioned the artwork as, in the words of an accompanying inscription, a “monument out of gratitude” dedicated to their parents, John Frederick and Sibylle of Cleves (1512-1554), who have “confessed, through savage war, a faith that acts in unwavering piety.” In other words, the triptych served as a memorial to the couple’s support of Lutheranism in the temporal realm as well as their membership among the Lutheran faithful. 119 Husband and wife kneel in the left panel behind prie-dieux decorated with their coats of arms and set before a golden brocade curtain. Sons John Frederick II, John William, and John Frederick III kneel behind a single prie-dieu on the right with their coat of arms displayed on the front and

118 See, for example, Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 154. 119 Ibid., 142 and 154-56. English translation of the inscription provided on page 155. The full text is: “To their very greatly missed parents His grace the most distinguished and renowned prince Johan Frederick duke of Saxony, born the elector of the Roman Empire, Landgrave of Thuringen, Margrave of Meißen, etc. and Lady Sibylle, born the princess of Cleves, Jülich, Berg. etc., the grieving sons John Frederick II, John William, and John Frederick III have erected this monument out of gratitude. To their parents, having confessed, through savage war, a faith that acts in unwavering piety, these brothers, with one heart, sons pleasing to the pious, lovers of piety themselves, have erected this panel so that as the years pass by it may be a monument of their confessed faith and a pledge of love. Oh Christ, be present to your people, You Who offer safe shady retreat, so they may overcome even those things which they think are not to be overcome. Give peace and restrain the enemy, protect those who fear the father with you as mediator, Duke Father, with whose wisdom you shine. Be gone, impious wisdom of men; reliance on Christ makes one just before God on his throne.” 61 the same golden curtain arranged in a slightly different way behind them. In an adaption of the format used in Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14], the commemorated family appears in a curtained space to either side of the religious narrative instead of below it, refining the earlier convention to more clearly indicate overlapping rather than stacked realms and opening a space in the center for a second expression of tribute.

In the central panel of the Weimar Altarpiece , Martin Luther and Lucas Cranach the Elder appear on the right side of the panel in sequence followed by John the Baptist.

As in several preceding epitaphs, they are made distinct from the figures in the background by their placement on a small outcropping. However, they are not alone there. They are joined by John the Baptist and the Lamb of God, yet they remain distinguished by their contemporary dress and gazes. Rather than kneeling in prayer, which is often the pose of the foreground figures in the Cranach epitaphs and is the pose of the commemorated family, the three men conspicuously stand almost overlapping each other, implying a close connection. Nonetheless, neither of the contemporary men respond to the scene around them. Luther holds a Bible open in his hands, his gaze unfocused toward the space of the church. Cranach folds his hands in prayer, his gaze focused directly upon the viewer. The Baptist looks at the two men and points upward, following the trajectory of hands from Luther’s pointing finger to Cranach’s folded hands, directing the men and the viewer to the source of salvation, Christ alone.

By including unrelated contemporary figures in the central panel, The Weimar

Altarpiece incorporates more than one layer of reference to human existence in two realms. The initial reference is in the position of the John Frederick and his family in a

62 curtained space neither of the church nor of the narrative. Removed to the wings and in a space that more closely resembles the church, they demonstrate reception of the Word and the appearance of the spiritual realm in their hearts. Luther and Cranach, two figures defended and supported by John Frederick with a bond so close that Cranach the Elder followed the former Elector into exile, appear as part of the spiritual realm in their hearts.

The positioning of Luther, Cranach, and John the Baptist on a small grassy patch of land between the viewer and the narrative symbolizes a second reference to giving and receiving the Word and the appearance of two realms.

Although grouping the figures brings to mind precedents depicting families together, depicting men unrelated by family ties is a marked departure. Placing two contemporary figures with a biblical figure on the distinctive strip of land is even more confounding. Interpreting the composition of the panel in conjunction with Luther’s understanding of the two realms and his directives to leaders offers one explanation for the otherwise strange grouping. Before explaining the connection, it is useful to reiterate that Reformation art often combines multiple levels of meaning. As such, the figural grouping in The Weimar Altarpiece can carry multiple meanings depending on which aspect is under study. This section focuses only on the sitters in terms of commemoration and the two realms. For an educated artist with close ties to Martin Luther, such as Lucas

Cranach the Younger, experimentation with motifs is a strong possibility. As such, the

Baptist may be understood in several ways. Certainly, he appears in the role he played in the Bible---identifying Christ as the savior. In addition to pointing upward to the crucified

Christ, he also gestures downward to the Lamb, indicating Christ is the Lamb of God.

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Living as a contemporary to Christ, the Baptist may also represent a time when the two realms were not yet split. In his commentary on Isaiah 65, Luther indicates that it was the

Resurrection of Christ that brought about the true, invisible, completely spiritual kingdom of Christ, which will remain invisible until the Last Day. 120 As a close friend of Luther, it is reasonable to assume that Cranach was familiar with this idea. According to Luther, prior to Christ’s coming man existed in world comprised of the combined realms. Moses, in the background wearing black and holding the tablets of the Law, also derives from the

‘middle kingdom.’ He is a spiritual as well as temporal leader, dealing with, in Luther’s words, “both laws and men, to rule them both in the body before the world and in the spirit before God.” 121 The repetition of hand gestures and clothing colors between the trio in the foreground and Moses, a practice that finds precedent in previous Cranach epitaphs, implies commonality in the two groups. Moses, dressed in a black tunic and directing a group of men to the Ten Commandments, holds the Tablets of the Law much like Luther holds an open Bible, with each man using his right index figure to draw attention to a portion of the text. A white-bearded man wearing maroon robes points upward, thumb extended. John the Baptist makes the same gesture, a maroon cloth of the same shade as the man in the background draped over his right shoulder. Notably, there is no direct correlation to Cranach. Rather, he and Luther must be understood, shoulder to shoulder dressed in black, as two halves of the sixteenth-century Lutheran world. Luther represents the spiritual realm, perceived through hearing the Word. His unfocused gaze echoes those who internally ‘see’ the spiritual without the help of physical sight. He is

120 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 120. 121 LW 35:237. English quote provided in Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 120. 64 able to perceive this realm through the Word, represented by the Bible. Cranach represents the worldly realm, perceived through sight and touch. 122 He engages directly with the viewer, who is firmly in the physical realm. His sight along with his imagination and hands are the tools of his trade. Through them, representations of the invisible world take shape. His art helped spread Luther’s message to literate and illiterate alike. As such, the trio, who represents overlapping realms, also each directs the viewer to Christ in the way he did during his lifetime: Cranach through his eyes, Luther through his words, and the Baptist through identification.

Comparison to the only other extant epitaph drawing inspiration from the same background subject, Epitaph for Anna Badehorn (1557) [Figure 18], further emphasizes that the Weimar Altarpiece adaptations to the most common form for Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs imply dual commemoration. A 1670 publication documents Epitaph for Anna

Badehorn as a second epitaph commissioned by Meissen native Leonhard Badehorn

(1510-1587), with this latter version dedicated to his first wife Anna née Roth (d.

1547). 123 The first epitaph, Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn [figure 19], also from the

Cranach workshop, was painted in the most common form with the family kneeling on a grassy knoll in the foreground. Revised portraits of the entire family with aged features, including the five deceased children, two sons, five daughters, Badehorn’s first wife, and

122 For perception of the two realms, see Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 120. 123 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 95, catalog # 224. Gurlitt, Stadt Leipzig , 31-2 is the only source to identify this as an epitaph for Badehorn’s first wife. His information is garnered from Salomon Stepner, Inscriptiones Lipsienses Iocorum publicorum academicorum partier ac senatoriorum memorabiles , which was published in the late seventeenth century. The earliest publication date appears to be 1670. The two Badehorn epitaphs seem to be conflated in more contemporary publications. However, this 1670 publication clearly documents two Badehorn epitaphs in the Nikolaikirche and describes the background scenes in a way that matches the identifications I have made above. 65 his second wife, reappear in the latter epitaph. Only the sixth young daughter is a new addition. In the second epitaph, all but one of these figures kneel on a green strip distinguished from the remainder of the painting by a small cliff centered under the cross and a brown strip of earth on the left side. The family is also smaller in scale and dressed in dark clothing in the contemporary style. The space behind the women on the right, occupied by John the Baptist and a figure wrapped only in a loin cloth, is not clearly indicated to be part of the commemorated’s space by virtue of the central elevated ground that is implied to continue behind the female family members. Nor is the space part of the background, but rather it too is distinguished from the remainder of the scene by a small cliff. This small area is similar to the one supporting Cranach, Luther, and the Baptist in

The Weimar Altarpiece . However, in the earlier epitaph the area intersects with the picture frame, leaving no area between the land on which three men appear and the viewer. Unlike the Weimar precedent, the Badehorn family returns to the forward position, indicating singular commemoration.

More similar are the positions of Badehorn’s second son, clad only in a loin cloth and standing next to John the Baptist, and the positions of Cranach and Luther in the

Weimar Altarpiece .124 However, the way in which the son appears clearly indicates that he serves a different purpose in Epitaph for Anna Badehorn [Figure 18]. He holds nothing in his hands, his loin cloth does not indicate he is a contemporary, and his gaze is

124 Jan Nicolaisen, “Lucas Cranach der Jüngere: Allegorie der Erlösung, 1557,” [brochure] (Leipzig: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, 2003). The Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig suggests that the son kneeling behind his father appears twice. However, they had also listed the sinner as unknown. In light of my discovery of the seventeenth-century source identifying the sitter, the second young man almost certainly has to be one of the sons from the previous epitaph. The appearance of the figure in the role of the sinner will be considered more in chapter two in comparison to other depictions of Law and Gospel . 66 unfocused into the church. The only resonance between the son and the background is in the dress of the sinner being chased into Hell. In contrast to the damned figure, the son appears as a sinner saved by virtue of his Lutheran faith. The separation of this son from the rest of his family is striking, suggesting that he, not his mother, may be the impetus for commission. The following inscription accompanying the epitaph supports this claim:

“Leonhard Badehornus J.U.D. lived to see the resurrection of the dead to life in the year of grace 1557.” 125 In light of this passage about resurrection and the fact that Anna died circa 1547, it is possible that Badehorn commissioned the epitaph after the death of one of his sons. The image suggests this person, by virtue of age and appearance in

Badehorn’s 1554 epitaph, must be from the first marriage. Therefore, he would be Anna’s son. 126 The fact that he is undocumented may indicate why his more prominent parents are named. Badehorn drew on his own authority to commemorate his son, portraying his family receiving the Word and the spiritual realm appearing in their hearts.

Epitaph for the Family of Caspar Cruciger (1560) [Figure 20], which originally hung near Cruciger’s grave but is now in the Schloss Gottorf, departs much further from the typical format. 127 In a stark contrast to the other epitaphs in this study, Caspar

Cruciger the Elder (1504-1548) and his family stand, not kneel, fully immersed in the scene. Cruciger himself is identifiable in the left foreground wearing black robes with his

125 Gurlitt, Stadt Leipzig , 31. Translation from Latin is mine. “Leonhardus Badehornus J.U.D. posuit mortuae visurus vivam viviens in resurrectionem Sanctorum Anno Salutis MDLVII” 126 This identification has not yet been confirmed by the Badehorn family records, but it seems the most likely identification based upon comparison with the earlier depiction of the family in Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn and the precedent for placing the recently deceased in the role of the everyman in the Weimar Altarpiece just two years earlier. 127 He died the year the Leipzig Interim was put into effect and was subsequently buried in the Wittenberg City Church. 67 left hand resting on Christ’s right arm and his right hand guiding an unnamed, deceased child dressed in white to Christ. Two other figures match his attire: a woman in profile behind him and a woman in the right background. These two women are most likely first wife Elizabeth von Meseritz (1504-1535) and second wife Apollonia Günterode (1520-

57) respectively. 128 While the figures interact with Christ to a much greater degree than in other Cranach epitaphs, they still retain some similar features. First, their dress is much darker than the other figures. Second, while they are part of the scene and Cruciger touches Christ, they do not seem to take in the scene Christ with physical sight. Cruciger looks past Christ’s shoulder unfocused into the space beyond the panel on the right, his resting hand indicating that he knows Christ is there but that he does not see him.

Elizabeth turns directly toward Christ, but her head does not tilt upward to see his face.

Rather, she too seems to look over his shoulder or possibly at his back with no reaction to the appearance of the divine. Similarly, Apollonia points hands clasped in prayer toward

Christ, but her gaze goes past his face into the space of the church.

Likewise, most of the other adults in the painting do not react to the physical presence of Christ, even while they are presenting their children to him for blessing. Only a group of four men in the left corner, the two closest to the border in particular, crane their heads to get a glimpse of the action. Several children also seem view Christ, their heads tilted up to see his face. The unfocused gaze of the other adults is at odds with their bright red clothing, which denotes figures as part of the background in the other Cranach

128 Ernst Kähler, “Cruciger, Caspar der Ältere,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), 427 f. Accessed online April 15, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118670646.html. Gustav Leopold Plitt, “Cruciger, Kaspar,” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 4 (1876), 621–622. Accessed online April 15, 2013 via Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. URL: http://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=ADB:Cruciger,_Caspar_(der_%C3%84ltere)&oldid=1784597 . 68 epitaphs showing the commemorated in black as demonstrated by Cruciger himself.

While their dress is contemporary, the women in red and the four men in the left corner, closely resemble the figures in a 1537 version of Christ Blessing the Children [Figure 21] now in Cracow. Their poses, attire, and hairstyles are almost identical. With such close ties to another image, the women could simply be fillers for what was a frequently depicted narrative. However, there is enough variation in the facial features of the women, who demonstrate the common gaze, that they could conceivably correspond to

Cruciger’s four daughters. 129 Despite ambiguous nature of the women, Cruciger, his wives, and the child are unquestionable. These figures, even fully immersed in the biblical scene, indicate the characteristic gaze denoting they do not see Christ and the contemporary black clothing distinguishing them from the remainder of the scene which appears in the heart upon hearing the Word.

The question then becomes, why does Cruciger’s epitaph depart so strongly from other examples? A potential answer lies in Cruciger’s biography. Cruciger was part of the inner circle of Wittenberg reformers, serving as a professor of Theology and Philosophy at the University, a preacher at Wittenberg’s Castle Church, and a contributor to many documents including the German vernacular Bible and the Leipzig Interim. 130 Cruciger’s

129 Kähler, “Cruciger, Caspar der Ältere.” Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 117-118, note 426. If the remaining figures are part of Cruciger’s family, they are likely his children, two sons and one daughter from his first marriage and a son and three daughters from his second marriage. Only Elisabeth Cruciger the Younger and Caspar Cruciger the Younger (1525-1597) from the first marriage and Apollonia from the second marriage are recorded by name. It could be that a daughter from the first marriage stands by her mother behind Christ and three daughters from the second marriage present babies on the right. Other children, who Christ blesses, could easily be unnamed grandchildren. The deceased child could be a son from either marriage. 130 Gustav Leopold Plitt, “Cruciger, Kaspar,” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 4 (1876), 621–622. Accessed online April 15, 2013 via Digitale Volltext-Ausgabe in Wikisource. URL: http://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=ADB:Cruciger,_Caspar_(der_%C3%84ltere)&oldid=1784597 . 69 high profile could merit a different interaction with the divine much like Luther and

Cranach in the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 17]. However, Epitaph for Johannes

Bugenhangen (1560) [Figure 22], which is dedicated to Johannes Bugenhagen (1485-

1558), one of the three most visible reformers in Wittenberg City Church alongside

Luther and Melanchthon, shows no such inclination. Bugenhagen and his family appear in the most common way, kneeling on a grassy hill distinguished from the one on which

John the Baptist kneels by a tributary of the river to the left of the Bugenhagen men and by the continued rise of the dark-green hill behind the last Bugenhagen woman. 131 So the closer proximity of the sitter to early reforms can’t be the only reason for the differing format. The inclusion of the deceased child in the absence of a clear indication of

Cruciger’s other children may provide a clue. The subject of Christ Blessing the Children lends to the inclusion of a deceased child. The donor of the epitaph could have drawn on

Cruciger’s status to justify a public epitaph that integrated Cruciger, his wives, and his deceased child to help memorialize a youth, who would not otherwise have had a public monument.

Compare, for example, Cruciger’s epitaph with one of the two epitaphs dedicated to youths: Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes (1555) [Figure 23]. The small size—only

47 by 37 cm— indicates that the panel was almost certainly a private commission. A shift

131 In his epitaph, Bugenhagen appears on the left side in a fur-trimmed coat with four living sons, including Johannes (d. 1598), and a deceased child. On the right kneels his wife Walpurga and four daughters, including Sara, Martha, and Johanna. Walpurga’s maiden name is undocumented. The pair married October 13, 1522. Johannes was Superintendent in Wittenberg in 1575 and Provost in Kemberg in 1582. Steinwachs provides his life span as 1531/2- 1592. Sara Cracov née Bugenhagen is also portrayed in a subsequent Cranach epitaph, Epitaph for Sara Cracov , painted in 1565 to commemorate her and her husband George Cracov. Martha Wolf née Bugenhagen married Dr. jur Andreas Wolf in 1551. Steinwachs, St. Mary’s ,27. Ernst Wolf, “Bugenhagen, Johannes,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 3 (1957), 9f. Accessed online e April 14, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118517287.html. 70 in size and viewership is accompanied by a shift in format. Rather than depicting the deceased child in the foreground before a religious subject, the painting is structured with a single band of grass on which both the child and the base of the cross rest. Christ’s body fills the entire panel and coats of arms appear in all four corners precluding a sense of transition between spaces and framing a more personalized interaction between the child and Christ. Most importantly, the child’s upward gaze toward Christ and his responding head tilt underscore this connection. Their exchange creates a composition that is more internally focused. In contrast, every other Cranach epitaph considered thus far has at least one, if not more, sitters looking into the space of the church or engaging the viewer directly. By comparison, Epitaph for a Child is a self-contained composition without attention from the painted figures into the space beyond the panel.

The other Cranach epitaph for a youth eliminates a portrait of the commemorated completely. Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg (1558) [Figure 24] was commissioned for a student of noble birth, Baron of Lamberg and Lord of Saustein, who enrolled in

Wittenberg University in June 1557 and died shortly afterward. His entry record in the

University register reads only ‘Dominus Gregorius Baro a Lamberg’ and includes the footnote ‘hic pie defunctus est Vitebergae’, which translates as he “died here a pious man.” 132 In comparison to the other Lutheran monuments painted by Cranach, a portrait of the donor is conspicuously absent. While it is possible that the painting was designed in a format that placed portraits in a space below, as seen in Lintacher’s epitaph,

132 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s, 64. Steinwachs provides the translation. 71 contemporary sources indicate that the panel stood alone. 133 Instead, the entire space is filled with a Resurrection of Christ. Such anomaly in Cranach’s epitaph production has prompted Doreen Zerbe, a scholar of the memorials in Wittenberg church, to assign the work to a student or workshop assistant. 134 She further indicates that the work was likely not a commission, but a finished product bought by Gregor von Lamberg’s parents and converted into an epitaph.

Three additional explanations for the remarkable departure from an otherwise standard format may be forwarded. One option is simply that not every Lutheran donor wished to memorialize a sitter by showing continued reception of the Word after death.

The other two options factor Gregor’s young age. First, as a youth, Gregor may have not had the opportunity to have his portrait painted. 135 Second, every other public epitaph in this study commemorates an adult in a position of established authority. 136 While Gregor is a noble and therefore likely carried some authority in sixteenth-century culture, he would have been a very young leader with limited relatability as a role model for adults and no record of support for Lutheranism. Perhaps for this reason his memorial was installed without a portrait. The latter contention is supported by a lack of public epitaphs dedicated to children in the Cranach oeuvre . An accompanying Latin epitaph written by

Viet Winsheim the Elder as if from the mouth of Gregor reinforces the idea that youth was at issue: “While I follow you, Christ, and have only one desire: that your teaching

133 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 502. 134 Ibid., 501. The real view of the city of Rome rather than an idealized version is also cited as an indication that the work is not from Cranach’s hand. I would also add that the pervasive golden light is a little too bright for Cranach’s oeuvre and Christ is more muscled than in other Cranach depictions. 135 My thanks to Dr. Christian Kleinbub for suggesting this reason for the omission of a portrait. 136 One additional epitaph, Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , commemorates a child. However, the small size indicates that this epitaph was a private commission. 72 flows from a louder source is clear to me,/ you follow me too and pull me out of the bloom of youth,/ so I gladly die, your holy will be done:/ May I always be with you, forever to be only yours!" 137 The inscription emphasizes Gregor’s piety and youth, demonstrating his adherence to Christian tenets of faith, but omitting any reference to his worldly achievements perhaps due to his comparatively short time in the physical realm.

Summary

In the second half of the sixteenth-century, a new type of epitaph proliferated from the Cranach workshop. These epitaphs tend to depict an established authority figure with their family members in a space distinguished as neither entirely of the church nor of the painting. The spaces often take on slightly altered attributes derived from the setting of the background to establish an intermediary space. The outward gaze of the donors, sometimes focused on the viewer and sometimes unfocused into the space of the church, indicates that the sitters’ attention is on the congregation and activities of the

Lutheran church. Variations from the most common format show how the driving concept was adapted to different commissions, indicating personalized confessions and the importance of the secular identity of the sitter. Following methods of implicating the real but invisible presence of Christ in the Wittenberg Altarpiece predella [Figure 8], the leaders can also be seen as participating in reception of the Word from the space of the church, which, in turn, lends to the visibility of the spiritual realm in their heart. The appearance of sitters in two realms relates to Luther’s directives to leaders. In the

137 Ibid., 504. “Gregor Baron von Lamberg, im Sterben: / Während ich, Christus, dir folge und nur das eine begehre: Dass deine Lehre mir klar fließe aus lauterem Quell,/ Folgst du auch mir und reißt mich heraus aus der Blüte der Jugend, / Also sterbe ich gern, dein heiliger Wille geschehe:/ Möge ich immer um dich, ewig der deine nur sein!” 73 physical realm, these leaders were charged with upholding true faith in their realms in order to maintain peace. They also served as role models of faith as the foremost members of the church. The next two chapters each provide a more in-depth discussion of how Cranach alludes to the two realms in the epitaphs.

74

Chapter 2: In the Heavenly Kingdom

The arrangement of space in most of the Cranach epitaphs distinguishes the religious subject as in an area distinct from the space of the sitters. Motivation for doing so is most easily understood through the lens of Luther’s two realms. The real, invisible, eternal realm led by Christ alone and equalizing all inhabitants as sinners was a core concept in Luther’s writing and speeches. In the last chapter, the Wittenberg Altarpiece served as an exemplar of Cranach’s translation of this Lutheran concept into paint. The cross is not integrated into the scene; rather it is part of the internal, invisible spiritual ream only made visible to the viewer because the Word was given and received by a community of the faithful. In the case of the Wittenberg Altarpiece , the community depicted resided in a space reminiscent of the Wittenberg City Church, yet distinct from the physical space of the church. By adapting the appearance of the space around the congregation and making the crucifixion appear unconstrained by its surroundings,

Cranach shows that the group of people is in neither the physical church nor sharing space with the Crucified Christ fully, but in both simultaneously. Cranach epitaphs painted after the Wittenberg Altarpiece precedent adapt the construction, maintaining an emphasis on giving and receiving the Word while adapting the appearance of the spiritual realm to individual confessions in the heart. Reviewing the subjects in the background of

75 the Cranach epitaphs in consideration of Lutheran ideology identifies how these themes could be received by a Lutheran audience.

In a space that is neither situated in the church where the painting resides nor in the realm in the background, the commemorated show they receive the Word and bear witness to a religious event depicted as a symbolic representation of Lutheran values. 138

The resulting scene reflects the norming of rites and the integration of Lutheran ideals into local politics in the culture of confessionalization. As Protestant religion became increasingly accepted and rival faiths took root, establishing the outward appearance of

Lutheran faith became a pressing issue. Formalizing the Lutheran religion was integral to defining true faith in contrast to other Protestant denominations and differing interpretations of Lutheranism. Standing before religious imagery, civic leaders make a public statement about their support for tenets of Lutheran faith to be received by the church community, further projecting the Lutheran cause and their hopes for its future.

As magistrates following Lutheran directives, the commemorated also can be read as epitomizing the conduct of the faithful in the spiritual realm. To do so, they needed to follow the example of Christ and act as a humble Christian sinner. The significance of following Christ’s example is particularly salient in contrast to the Catholic Habsburg methods of maintaining peace in their Empire. As noted by Nathan Rein, the Habsburgs understood their Empire to be the result of divine favor that would ultimately result in leadership over all of Christendom. To achieve this lofty goal, Habsburg heirs, particularly Charles V, believed they would need to reform the Church and use military

138 For more information on confessionalization, see footnote 64. 76 force to unify Christian lands. The sentiment of universal rule guided by a single person under the hand of Christ is seen in the work of Erasmus and other reformed humanists of the period. Protestants took an opposite approach, holding up their toils and persecutions in parallel to Christ’s as, in part, an argument for their moral superiority over Catholic rulers and, by extension, fitness to lead. 139 Examination of the types of religious subjects found in the Cranach epitaphs illustrates the integration of Protestant values into memorials to Lutheran leadership, exemplifying Lutheran faith and standardizing

Lutheran rites through the depiction of biblical subjects.

Confessionalization

Visual confessions of faith, such as those seen in the Cranach epitaphs, correspond with developments in text and art beginning in the second quarter of the sixteenth century. These statements of Lutheran belief partake in the culture of confessionalization, or confessing faith in order to more sharply distinguish differing theologies. 140 Such documents sought to clearly delineate the theology and ideology of

139 See for example, Rein, The Chancery of God , 52-58. 140 Scholarship on community building and confessionalization includes: Maurice Halbwachs, “Chapter 6: Religious Collective Memory,” in On Collective Memory , ed. Lewis A Coser (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), 84-119; Joseph Leo Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy,” in Hans Holbein: Paintings, Prints, and Reception , ed. Mark Roskill and John Oliver Hand (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 125-139; Robert Kolb, Luther's Heirs Define His Legacy: Studies on Lutheran Confessionalization , Collected studies CS539 (Brookfield, Vt: Variorum, 1996); Robert Kolb, Robert, Timothy J Wengert, and Charles P Arand, eds. The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000); William E. Thompson, “Interim Theology and Confessional Integrity,” Logia: A Journal of Lutheran Theology 2 (1993): 38-44; Boettcher, “Von der Trägheit der Memoria: Cranachs Lutheraltarbilder im Zusammenhang der Evangelischen Luther-Memoria im Späten 16. Jahrhundert,” 47-69; Peter Burke, “History as Social Memory,” in Memory: History, Culture, and the Mind , ed. Thomas Butler, Wolfson College lectures 1988 (Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell, 1989), 97-114; Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder ; Charles H Parker and Jerry H. Bentley, eds., Between the Middle Ages and Modernity: Individual and Community in the Early Modern World (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007); Rummel, The Confessionalization of Humanism in 77 the Lutheran community, standardizing a set of beliefs for assimilation by the congregation. The first iterations of Lutheran confession arose in prints like Passional

Christ and Antichrist [Figure 1] and another early print Law and Gospel (c. 1529) [Figure

25], which define faith in part through contrast. Subsequent imagery developed a language that would be adapted in the Cranach epitaphs to indicate the spiritual realm in the heart of the sitter, to demonstrate a leader’s adherence to the ‘true’ faith, and, in some cases, normalize rites in Lutheran lands.

The first confessions appeared in earnest with formation of the Schmalkaldic

League in 1530. One of the most famous early Lutheran textual statements of faith, or

Bekenntnisschriften , was the Augsburg Confession, written primarily by Phillip

Melanchthon and presented by the League to Emperor Charles V on June 25, 1530. 141

This document sought to establish Lutheran belief for the Emperor. A second wave on confessions developed in the religious upheavals that followed Luther’s death in 1546.142

During this time, inheritance of the Lutheran flock was contested by rival Lutheran traditions, prompting a resurgence of propaganda and literature. In Wittenberg, the support was for Philippist Lutheranism—an allegiance that makes itself known in several epitaphs. The bulk of Cranach’s epitaphs were commissioned during this latter time frame, when statements of faith from Lutheran leaders could have held sway over the future confession of their territory. Background religious imagery in the Cranach epitaphs

Reformation Germany . For examples of artworks considered in this section, see “Background” pages 13- 18. 141 See the Introduction for more detail. 142 As previously indicated, Charles V made a final push to return the inhabitants of his lands to Catholicism, rival Protestant groups gained followers in Lutheran lands, and there was in-fighting among Lutheran groups. 78 respond to the upheaval, drawing on developing Lutheran tropes appearing in woodcuts, sermons, and publications to create Lutheran statements of faith that reflect the Lutheran concept of the spiritual realm and, at times, touching on the way its outward appearance to the faithful.

At this juncture, reiterating continuities in the type of donor is important.

Lutheran magistrates, those figures assigned the role of exemplars of conduct and foremost members of the church, issue the confessions. Although salvation for any

Lutheran was a private matter between himself and God, civic leaders were legally given a say in determining the faith of their followers and controlling the external ceremonies of the church in their lands, particularly following the 1555 Peace of Augsburg. 143 Thus, the opinion of magistrates in religion was important in terms of adiaphora or practices neither supported nor denied by theology and therefore unessential to salvation. 144 In the

1548 Leipzig Interim, penned largely by Melanchthon, these practices were specifically left to the jurisdiction of local leadership. 145 Nathan Rein explains:

Ritual actions, or good works (the Interim treats the two as interchangeable), are necessary but explicitly not as a consequence of their salvific character. Accordingly, the Interim indirectly raised the possibility that secular governments, rather than ministers, should determine the liturgical structure of

143 Rein, The Chancery of God , 103. 144 Adiaphora, literally translated as “matters of indifference,” consisted of rites and ceremonies that were neither beneficial nor detrimental to salvation. Included under this designation were remnants of the traditional Medieval mass such as vestments, images, canonical prayers, and fasting. 145 The Leipzig Interim was a response to the Augsburg Interim of (1548). See the introduction for the importance of the Interim and chapter four for controversies over adiaphora. In the Book of Concord, Melanchthon says of these matters, in the context of speaking about virginity, that “it is most wicked error to believe that Evangelical perfection may be found in human traditions. For if it were, then even the monks among the Mohammedans could boast that they have attained Evangelical perfection. Nor is it to be found in the observance of other things, which are called ‘adiaphora.’ Because ‘the kingdom of God is righteousness’ [Romans 14:17] and life in the heart, therefore perfection means to grow in the fear of God, in trust in the mercy promised in Christ, and in dedication to one’s calling..” (Kolb et.al., The Book of Concord , 282.) 79

worship; since we are saved by faith and not works, then external Church practices, which have no bearing on salvation, belong in the realm of the secular authority and ‘good order’. 146

The separation of private salvation from public ritual is salient for present discussion.

Rein explains,

The practical consequence for the communities that accepted the Interim was a novel division of religious labour: the ministers of the Church were responsible for the consciences of their parishioners, while the secular authorities, aware of the possibility of increased social control, saw an opportunity to take over supervision of the liturgical and ritual life of the community. 147

Thus, in addition to providing a statement of piety and demonstrating fitness to rule, both churchly and civic leaders depicted in the Cranach epitaphs can be seen as issuing a decree supporting specific practices that would protect Lutheran conscience and define the outward appearance of faith.

Depicting specific individuals, a seemingly unnecessary practice for polemical statements alone, emphasizes the significance of the commemorated person and their influence on the interpretation of Lutheran practice. Pervious scholarship suggests one reason for the continued appearance of donor portraits is the influence of individuals on confessionalization and the social construction of community identity. The contention that donors drew on their status as community leaders to project their desired confession to their followers supports these hypotheses. Cuius regio, eius religio (whose rule, his religion), established in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555, also supports the idea that leaders might expect their statements of faith to be received as a confession of faith for their

146 Rein, The Chancery of God , 103. 147 Ibid., 104. 80 community. 148 Cranach’s oeuvre of Lutheran epitaphs shows that donors used standardized visual language and publicly situated artworks to demonstrate their faith and mark out their intentions for the religious futures of their territories, indicating the integration of Lutheran faith into the political arena and serving to help standardize rites.

Setting the Stage

Precedent for the format preferred in the Cranach epitaphs has been identified in the Wittenberg Altarpiece . A discussion about precedents for the religious subjects chosen to convey Lutheran visual confessions can begin with a brief consideration of the earliest comprehensive statement about Protestant beliefs in paint, The Schneeberg

Altarpiece (1539) [Figures 26-28]. The altarpiece is a particularly good starting point because each of the scenes on the front panels appears in at least one of the memorials.

Furthermore, in consideration of confessionalization, the inclusion of portraits of donors

John Frederick and John the Serious, seen in the wings of the open altarpiece, enhance the conversation about artworks in light of Lutheran ideals regarding leadership and their impact on religious identity of a territory. 149 Although the donors are included in the triptych, it is important to note that the altarpiece is not an epitaph since it has no funerary function. Rather, as will be seen, the altarpiece was commissioned to be a political and religious statement directed toward a congregation in newly-claimed Lutheran lands. As an early Reformation statement of faith, particularly a statement of faith integrating and drawing on the authority of a sitter, the visual language of the altarpiece is part of an

148 See for example Koerner, The Reformation of the Image, 379-401, esp 391-401. 149 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 73. 81 evolving lexicon of subjects and compositions impacting the appearance of the Cranach epitaphs.

The Schneeberg Altarpiece was commissioned by John Frederick, Elector of

Saxony, and his brother John the Serious, Duke of Coburg, after John Frederick seized control of the city of Schneeberg from his Catholic Albertine cousins in 1532. 150 The

Elector immediately claimed his new territory as Lutheran, prompting the removal of

Catholic art from Schneeberg churches, the dismissal of Catholic priests, the installation of Lutheran clergy, and the construction of the Evangelical Church of St. Wolfgang, home of the Schneeberg Altarpiece .151 A portrait of John Frederick features prominently in the lower panel of the left wing when the altarpiece is in an open position. His brother,

John the Serious, is mirrored in an identical prayerful pose in the opposite panel [Figure

27]. The inclusion of the Ernestine brothers’ portraits in such a prominent location, alongside Lutheran imagery, made a strong statement about their new role in the city. As

Bonnie Noble notes, the altarpiece “proclaimed the confessional identity of the donors, of the people who worshipped at the Church of St. Wolfgang, and the city of Schneeberg itself. By commissioning the retable, John Frederick and John the Serious also declared themselves rulers of this newly conquered territory, giving the retable overt political significance. The installation of the retable heralded the establishment of both Lutheran

150 The House of Wettin was divided into Albertine and Ernestine branches. The Albertine branch included George of Meißen (1500-1539), who controlled Schneeberg prior to 1532. The Albertines would pair with Charles V during the Schmalkaldic Wars, facilitating the shift of control of Wittenberg from Ernestine Wetting John Frederick to his Albertine Wettin cousin Maurice of Saxony. See, for example, Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 73 and 90, note 19. 151 St. Wolfgang was completed and consecrated in 1540. See, for example, Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 73. 82 and Ernestine authority in Schneeberg.” 152 Thereby, the altarpiece clearly unites religion and politics in the process of building confessional identity.

The traditional, multi-paneled, multi-subject Catholic triptych format of the

Schneeberg Altarpiece mandates a different type of composition than a single-paneled epitaph. However, like the later epitaphs, the individual panels of the altarpiece draw on a developing Lutheran visual vocabulary to create a cohesive Lutheran statement of faith and devotion. Twelve panels, one now destroyed, displayed in three positions comprise the Schneeberg Altarpiece . The closed, weekday position features a reproduction of Law and Gospel spread over four panels [Figure 26]. On feast days, the inner two panels open to reveal an Agony in the Garden above a portrait of John Frederick on the left panel, a

Resurrection on the right panel above a portrait of John the Serious, and a Crucifixion in the middle panel [Figure 27]. The predella, seen in both the prior positions, features a

Last Supper [Figures 26 and 27]. On the rear of the panels, the viewer finds Noah and the

Flood on the left, Lot and His Daughters on the right, and a Last Judgment in the center

[Figure 28]. The rear panel of the predella originally held a Raising of the Dead , which was destroyed by fire in 1945. 153

Bonnie Noble argues that the arrangement of panels in the Schneeberg Altarpiece serves to designate holy space and teach viewers about the Lutheranism. 154 The viewer is first confronted with Law and Gospel in the closed position, which would mediate an interpretation of the rear panels and the feast day panels. Like the 1529 print, the

152 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 73. 153 Ibid., 68. 154 Ibid., 67-96. 83

Schneeberg Law and Gospel depicts the everyman in each segment, exhibiting the positive and negative consequences of individual action and explicitly delineating a course of action for Lutherans. 155 In Noble’s argument, these consequences develop sequentially in the open and rear panels of the altarpiece. First a congregant would have taken bread to the left of the altar, in front of the Agony in the Garden and a portrait of

John Frederick. Next, they circled behind the altarpiece past the rear panels, offering a chance to ponder the futility of following the law and the results of human sin in Lot and

His Daughters, The Last Judgment, and Noah and the Flood . Finally, as they took wine on the right, they would be confronted with resurrection through Christ alone. 156

Taken in context, the three scenes of the open position embody the Lutheran belief of salvation through grace alone. In the left Agony in the Garden , Christ, kneeling in the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, overcomes his very human inner turmoil over his fate and accepts the sins of man. Through this sacrifice humankind is redeemed. The garden of Gethsemane was a particularly poignant subject for reformers as they identified with Christ’s inner turmoil regarding the acceptance of his sacrifice for faith. 157 Like Christ, they accepted their sacrifice and battled for true faith, demonstrating their humility, their status as sinners, and, through their associations with Christ, their qualifications to rule. Next, the Resurrected Christ triumphs over death in the right panel, foretelling the life to come for his faithful. A large central Crucifixion displays the result of Christ’s acceptance of human sin and the precursor to his resurrection: his persecution

155 Ibid. 156 Ibid., 76. 157 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.”, 43. 84 and death. Set between Christ’s Agony and the Resurrection, the central subject emphasizes that salvation can only be attained through Christ by virtue of his sacrifice.

The entire altarpiece rests quite literally on a predella with a representation of the Last

Supper , underscoring the connection between Christ’s sacrifice and the act of communion as well as his real presence in Eucharist. 158

The organization of the panels foreshadows the future structure of the Lutheran experience in two realms in the Cranach epitaphs. Narratives from Christ’s life appear on the same level throughout, creating a sense of progression in the story. In contrast, the donors remain on a lower level, associating these contemporary figures with the crowd of witnesses in the Crucifixion, drawing a connection between the mourning believers on the left and the new Lutheran leaders. 159 John Frederick and John the Serious earn their placement here not through good works, but by virtue of their faith in Christ alone. 160

Like Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14] the two figures are set in a circumscribed space below the narrative in a space that is neither of the religious imagery nor of the church. The brown curtains, draped from points in the corners of the space, duplicate those seen in the earlier epitaph. Furthermore, the two men gaze into the space of the church, John Frederick turning his head toward the altar and viewer and John the

Constant looking out toward the left side of the panel, in a manner similar to Cranach’s funerary monuments. This painting could be a halfway point between depiction of a

Lutheran leader below a narrative and depiction adjacent to a narrative as the Saxony

158 Ibid., 110. For these reasons, Luther recommended the subject of the Last Supper as a good subject for the decoration of Lutheran altars. Despite his recommendation, the subject continued in its pre-Reformation trajectory as an uncommon subject for altarpieces. 159 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 81. 160 Ibid., 81. 85 nobles are both below Christ but among the community of believers. Chronologically, the next extant epitaph from the Cranach workshop is Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann

[Figure 3], where the sitter appears in front of the narrative representing the inner spiritual realm. From below the narrative, John Frederick and John the Serious show their status as sinners accepting Christ’s sacrifice through their attentive, devout pose while their clothing and outward gaze orients them toward the space of the church. As in the epitaphs, they hold membership in both realms, but occupy neither completely.

The concepts embodied in the Schneeberg Altarpiece can be seen in the Cranach epitaphs. Like the altarpiece, each epitaph purposefully chooses subject matter that, in context, can be understood to convey a Lutheran confession. The confession in turn refers back to the spiritual community of believers in the Heavenly realm, which the donors are granted access to through their faith and their reception of the Word. As a result, the real but invisible realm in the heart is visualized as if in an overlapping plane of existence rather than descending from above. In the case of the Schneeberg Altarpiece , depicting donors in both realms simultaneously imposes new political and religious claims on the city of Schneeberg. Similarly, in the epitaphs, which are funerary monuments tied to legacy, the appearance of the donors in two realms makes a statement about the donor’s

Lutheran confession and their hopes that their domains retain their beliefs after their death.

Core Themes in Lutheran Confession

Before delving into an exploration of the biblical imagery in the background of the Cranach epitaphs, it is useful to review a few core beliefs and practices by which 86 sixteenth-century Lutherans distinguished themselves from other Christians. The Cranach workshop translated these aspects of faith from Luther’s writings and sermons into paint, developing them into the visual language indicative of the outward appearance of the

Lutheran spiritual realm, which will be explored in the subsequent sections. While every aspect does not appear in every epitaph, certain key themes reappear with a frequency that begs explanation. These themes are sola fide , the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, the sacrament of baptism, and paralleling Christ’s struggle. 161 By these external markers, the faithful could more easily identify the ‘true’ faith.

Sola Fide , or justification through faith alone, was the single most defining principle for the Lutheran movement. In contrast to the emphasis on priestly mediation and human works propagated by Catholicism, sola fide grants adherents the forgiveness of sins, salvation, and resurrection through the belief that Christ died for the sins of humanity and faith that deliverance from death and the devil can be found through him.

Nothing else is necessary for Christian redemption: just faith alone. As Luther summarizes in the Schmalkald Articles (1537):

The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-35). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us. 162

161 See for example, Rein, The Chancery of God , 52-58. 162 Martin Luther, "The Smalkald Articles," in Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 289, Part two, Article 1. 87

As the “first and chief article,” sola fide took a starring role in Lutheran confessions of faith and is manifested in the figure of Christ, savior and leader in the Heavenly realm.

Sola fide was the core difference between Catholicism and Protestantism, but it was the interpretation of external practices of the church that served to further distance

Lutheranism from Catholicism as well as other Protestant denominations. By 1539 the

‘signs’ of the church extended beyond the Word and the sacraments. In the words of

Euan Cameron, “there were the office of the keys [discipline], the presence of ministers and offices in the Church, prayer, the public praise of God and the ‘cross’ of temptation and persecution.” 163 The signs did not just indicate the presence of a few Christians, but were representative of the church as a whole. 164 The significance of the sacraments is highlighted in another early painted confession of Lutheran faith: the Wittenberg

Altarpiece (1547) [Figure 7]. 165 Lutheranism’s three core sacraments---baptism, the

Lord’s Supper, and confession---each appear in one of three inner panels of the altarpiece. 166 On the left Philip Melanchthon baptizes a baby. On the right Johannes

Bugenhagen absolves sinners and administers bans. 167 In the center the most important of the Lutheran sacraments, communion, is represented through a recreation of the Last

Supper. Portraits of contemporary pastors and parishioners taking part in the sacraments

163 Cameron, The European Reformation, 174 . 164 Ibid. 165 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , especially 329-339. There are numerous references throughout the text to the relationship of the Wittenberg Altarpiece to confessionalization. The altarpiece was created to replace the former altarpiece, which was destroyed by iconoclasm. 166 On confession in the Lutheran church, see, for example, Cameron, The European Reformation , 132-133. Initially, the reformers sought only to reform private confession: hence the appearance of the sacrament in a 1545 altarpiece. Confession as a sacrament remained a prominent topic in the Book of Concord 1580, appearing, for example in Kolb et. al. edition, on page 44-46, 72-75, and 219. Eventually Lutherans shift to the idea of general confession and public prayers. Cameron, 159. 167 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 329. 88 underscore the importance of external manifestations of faith in the Lutheran church and for the congregation.

Melanchthon’s actions sprinkling water over the head of a baby epitomizes the second most important sacrament in the Lutheran faith, for it is through baptism that the faithful are washed clean of sins, marked for salvation, and become priests in the

Lutheran faith. Luther succinctly summarizes the importance of baptism in the Small

Catechism : “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” 168 While baptism is frequently associated with rebirth, Luther also associated it with death. In The Babylonian

Captivity of the Church , he writes that “Baptism, then, signifies two things—death and resurrection, that is, full and complete justification. When the minister immerses the child in the water it signifies death, and when he draws it forth again it signifies life.” 169

Through baptism, the faithful are born again into the Christian faith, and the promise of resurrection is bestowed upon them.

Luther’s reference to a child’s baptism is noteworthy in light of sixteenth-century debates regarding the timing of baptism among Protestant sects. Luther and his

Wittenberg colleagues believed that infants should be baptized. Their belief stemmed from an interpretation of Mark 10:13-16, which states:

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the

168 Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 158 . Baptism is also dealt with in Article 9 of the Augsburg Confession. Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 118. 169 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 159. 89

kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. 170

The passage explicitly draws a connection between children, Baptism, and the Heavenly realm. In contrast, Anabaptists believed that baptism was not valid until an adult could make a choice for themselves. As the rival group advanced into Lutheran lands, primarily between 1520 and 1540, clearly demarcating the boundaries between Lutherans and

Anabaptists in words as well as images would have been an important undertaking. 171

Lutheran interpretations of the Last Supper also afforded devotees an opportunity to distinguish themselves from other faiths. In artworks, Luther and his followers address three ideas specifically. 172 First, a Last Supper placed over an altar designates the space as a table of the Lord where the faithful can commune, much like the apostles gather around the table at the Last Supper. 173 Second, Christ himself officiates, demonstrating he alone is the path to salvation and that no additional priest is necessary. Frequently, a member of the laity is also involved in distributing the bread or wine, demonstrating the

Lutheran conception of the priesthood of all believers, in which all baptized individuals could act, in theory, as priests. Third, artworks highlight communion in both kinds and

Christ’s real presence in the communion wafer. In contrast to some other Protestant

170 Mark 10 [New International Version]. Luther explicitly makes the connections, quoting Matthew 19:14, Acts 16:15, 1 John 2:12, and Luke 1:41 in defense of baptism. He says, “Christ commands the children to come and to be brought to him… If all these passages do not suffice for the enthusiasts, I shall not be concerned. They are enough for me, to stop the mouth of anyone from saying that child baptism does not mean anything.” Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 136. 171 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 93; Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 115. 172 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany, 150. 173 A quote from Luther’s Commentary on Psalm 111 underscores this point. Luther says “Whoever is inclined to put pictures on the altar ought to have the Lord’s Supper of Christ painted, with these two verses written around it in golden letters: ‘The gracious and merciful Lord has instituted a remembrance of His wonderful works.’ … Since the altar is designated for the administration of the Sacrament, one could not find a better painting for it.” 90 denominations, Luther believed that Christ was spiritually and corporeally present in the

Eucharist. 174 For example, in The Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7], Christ distributes the bread while Martin Luther, in the guise Junker Jörg, receives wine from a cupbearer resembling Lucas Cranach the Younger. His reception of wine, which was withheld from the laity in Catholic masses, underscores the Lutheran belief that communion for the laity should include both bread and wine. 175

Catholics and Anabaptists were only two of the many groups against which

Lutheranism struggled in its early years. For their sacrifices in the name of ‘true faith’ and peace in their lands, Lutheran leaders saw themselves as following and suffering like

Christ. Associating themselves with Christ underscored their piety and fitness to lead.

The extent to which the reformers internalized the Passion of Christ as parallel to their own persecution is seen in polemical prints such as The Difference between the True

Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist (c. 1550) [Figure

29]. The left side of the print represents the Lutheran faith. Individual subjects like the

Crucified Christ, communion in both kinds, infant baptism, and Christ akin to the Lamb of God, appear as signs of true faith in contrast to papal abuses on the right. Standing prominently in front of the Lutheran community, directly below Luther on the pulpit,

John Frederick looks over his shoulder at the viewer [Figure 30]. A cross like the one on which Christ is crucified rests on the now-former elector’s opposite shoulder. What is not

174 Luther says, “The host is namely the body and blood of Christ, which was sacrificed on the cross… there is a single Christ in both places, who then was sacrificed and bleeding and suffering, through which sacrifice he gained the forgiveness of sins and salvation for all believers.” Quoted in Rein, The Chancery of God, 104-105. 175 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 380. In the “Babylonian captivity,” the Pre-Reformation Church refused to provide wine to the laity. Luther coined the term in a 1520 treatise entitled, Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church . 91 visible is a long scar on his left check, hidden by the turn of John Frederick’s head to the right and touching the cross he bears. The scar figured prominently in portraits of the elector dated after 1547. 176 The Elector gained the identifying mark at the Battle of

Mühlberg on April 24, 1547 during the Schmalkaldic War in his defense of Lutheranism.

After losing the battle, John Frederick was taken prisoner by Charles V, ultimately stripped of his title and exiled. Appearing in various prints and portraits, the scar and cross remind the viewer of John Frederick’s ‘passion’ and his sacrifices for ‘true faith.’

Not every leader was quite so blatant in finding parallels with Christ. Rather, as will be indicated in the epitaphs, a leader’s toils in support of Lutheranism, sometimes in contrast to their foes, came to the forefront.

In drawing on and adapting existing ideas and imagery, Cranach the Elder and the Younger helped translate Lutheranism into print and paint, favoring the four aspects of Lutheranism outline above-- sola fide , the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, and the struggle to defend faith. One reason for the preference has already been suggested: these aspects served to designate Lutheranism in contrast to rival Christian groups, imagining a specifically Lutheran spiritual realm. They are noteworthy for a second reason as well.

As sacraments, Baptism and the Last Supper in particular were external manifestations of the church that, in Luther’s mind, made the invisible visible along with the spoken Word and the scriptures themselves. 177 While several aspects frequently appear in various combinations in the epitaphs, one focus is typically most prominent. The epitaphs can be organized into five topics based on primary focus to facilitate easier consumption for the

176 The Weimar Altarpiece clearly shows John Frederick’s scar as will be discussed later in the chapter. 177 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 115. 92 reader: “In the Heart,” “Revelation,” “External Signs,” “Following Christ,” and “The

True Worshippers.”

These topics will now be explored starting first with these most popular subjects and organizing their appearance around the most prevalent themes. The Crucifixion is the most common subject, finding representation in four epitaphs, three as Christ on the

Cross and one as a Crucifixion group. These subjects along with the Resurrection, represented in three epitaphs, and the Entombment, represented once, comprise the section “In the Heart.” Next, “Revelation” deals specifically with the idea that the spiritual realm is recognizable to the faithful. Subjects included here are the

Transfiguration, the Raising of Lazarus, the Nativity, the Vision of Ezekiel, and the

Blinding of Saul. Three epitaphs depicting the Agony in the Garden, a theme adapted to represent the Lutheran struggle, are in the section “Following Christ.” Those subjects identifying the rites of the Lutheran church, including Christ Blessing the Children, the

Baptism of Christ, and the Last Supper, are under the heading “External Signs.” Finally,

“The True Worshippers” discusses epitaphs defining the proper interpretation of

Lutheranism in contrast to other traditions. These five topics find common threads in the emphasis on the Lutheran concept of sola fide as well as the external appearance of

Lutheranism, qualifications of Lutheran leaders, and the correct path to salvation, contributing to the connection between politics and religion and the norming the outward appearance of faith in the process of confessionalization.

93

In the Heart

As seen in the Wittenberg Altarpiece , Reformation artworks could reflect the idea that the Heavenly spiritual realm is made visible in the heart of believers when the Word is given and received. The most common symbol of the spiritual community for all

Christians is the Crucified Christ. Reference to the exact instant when Christ died, thereby forgiving the sins of humanity, is arguably the most crucial event in biblical history. For Lutherans, this moment reinforces the concept of sola fide , the belief that salvation is through Christ alone. In addition to communicating a core Lutheran idea, the theme of the crucified Christ also was singled out by Luther as being proper church imagery and the natural result of hearing God’s Word. He says,

I know for certain that God desires that one should hear and read his work, and especially the passion of Christ. But if I am to hear and think, then it is impossible for me not to make images of this within my heart, for whether I want to or not, when I hear the word Christ, there delineates itself in my heart the picture of a man who hangs on the cross, just as my face naturally delineates itself in water, when I look into it. If it is not a sin, but a good thing, that I have Christ’s image in my heart, why then should it be sinful to have it before my eyes? 178

Thus, the “image of a man hanging on a cross” in the Cranach epitaphs explicitly connects what is before the eyes with what is in the heart upon hearing the Word of God and reflecting on Christ’s passion. It is this very image that becomes visible but not physically present when the Word is given and received in the predella of the Wittenberg

Altarpiece [Figure 8]. 179

178 Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets in Werke.Kritische Gesammtausgabe (Weimar, 1883-), Volume xviii, 83. Translated and quoted in Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 160. 179 See chapter one for details and references to Koerner, The Reformation of the Image . 94

In consideration of the Cranach epitaphs, the designation of the image as one from the heart, thereby an interior image, is significant. As Luther emphasized in On the

Freedom of the Christian Man (1520), the spiritual realm referred to the inner man, his soul, and his spirit in contrast to the worldly, outward, carnal part of humans. 180 In at least one Cranach altarpiece, the Colditz Altarpiece (1584) [Figure 12], the artist quite literally placed representations of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, and Resurrection on the inner panels of a triptych in contrast to the outer, worldly scenes of Adam and Eve and the

Annunciation on the panels in the closed position. 181 The entire altarpiece is heart-shaped, putting form to the Lutheran concept that Lutheran appear in the heart.

Elector Augustus of Saxony, commissioner of the Colditz Altarpiece , must have had an affinity for the use of a heart shape to indicate the spiritual realm in the heart. 182

Koerner observes that Augustus’ epitaph in Augustusburg Castle [Figure 10] also features Christ on the Cross with the borders of the image darkened to create the illusion of a heart shape. 183 The Elector and his family stand in the darkened edges, not fully in the spiritual realm nor the physical realm of the church. The appearance of an Agony in the Garden and a Resurrection in the distance on the left and right respectively enhance a connection to Luther’s language as two stories from Christ’s Passion that are commonly

180 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms, 118. 181 The outer scenes, Adam and Eve and the Annunciation, reference the reason salvation is needed and the inception of the savior. With the coming of Christ, the previously mentioned ‘mixed kingdom’ ended and the kingdom of God became a separate, inner realm. See Wright, 120. The significance of the Last Supper and the Resurrection will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. Koerner speaks to the outer to inner transition of the altarpiece. However, he discusses the relationship between Luther’s image theory as it related to Cranach’s use of the triptych form and the “paradox of the evangelical interiority, where inwardness was publically required” rather than the impact theology may have had on the shape of the altarpiece. Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 214-219. 182 For the commission, see Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 452, notes 528-532 and 538- 539. 183 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 219. 95 depicted in Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs. The stories are also adjacent to one another in the interior of the Schneeburg Altarpiece [Figure 27], further developing the altarpiece’s

Lutheran statement. 184 By accepting the sacrifice laid upon him in the Garden of

Gethsemane and fulfilling the commitment with his death on the cross, Christ secures salvation and resurrection from the death for the faithful.

Between the clear emphasis on sola fide and explicit approval of the subject by

Luther, the Crucified Christ was one of the most popular themes in Lutheran art.

Numerous free-standing panels depicting Christ on the Cross can be identified from the

Cranach workshop in both paint and print. Precedent for the later compositional arrangement in panels depicting Christ on the Cross is found even in one of Cranach the

Elder’s memorial sketches from early years of reform [Figure 31], drawn after Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14] but before the Schneeberg Altarpiece [Figure 26-28].185

Cranach the Younger’s broadsheet Luther and the Elector before Christ [Figure 32], which was found in the 1546 edition of Luther’s New Testament , also speaks to the use of

Christ on the Cross in public confessions. 186 Cranach the Younger’s printed impression of

Luther and John Frederick kneeling in the space between the viewer and the Crucified

Christ is particularly reminiscent of portraits in epitaphs. Their reverent poses and unfocused eyes indicate that Christ, who is at a significantly smaller scale, is before them

184 These two themes will be examined later in this chapter. 185 Koepplin and Falk, Lukas Cranach , 494. It is difficult to speak to the division of space and gaze of the donors in the sketchily outlined draft, nor can we say this was made for a specific donor. Without any additional detail, we could simply guess that Cranach was working on translating the idea of the Catholic epitaph into Lutheran visual language. What can be said is that a space is reserved for coats of arms and that the donors are in the foreground space where they will later be found in most of the Cranach epitaphs. 186 Schade hypothesizes the placement of the donor may have been inspired by the Centurion under the cross, who recognizes that “Surely this was the Son of God.” Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 11. However, the Centurion looks at Christ and sees him physically and spiritually. The donors clearly do not see Christ physically. 96 internally, in their heart rather than physically. Notably, Luther and John Frederick are on the same ground as Christ and facing one another. Their position, like the positions of

Luther and the congregation in the Wittenberg Altarpiece , eliminates the idea of being in an intermediate space in the spiritual realm as indicated by the cross and physical realm as indicated by acknowledgment of the viewer’s presence. They turn more toward each other than toward the viewer, indicating Christ’s visibility is a result of their interplay, not an exchange before the donor and audience—a factor that will be shown as important in Chapter Three. 187 In these various iterations, Cranach’s methods for depicting Christ on the Cross as a Lutheran image that appears internally upon hearing God’s Word develops into a confessional image that will be used in the later Lutheran epitaphs.

Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes [Figure 23] exemplifies the type of figure found in many of the painted versions of Christ on the Cross, indicating the type of Christ favored by the Cranach workshop. The cross supports are round and slender, almost disappearing behind Christ’s body. A square plaque containing the acronym INRI 188 appears at the top of the main support. Turbulent, dark clouds fill the sky above a low horizon. 189 In each version, the main focus of the work is a portrayal of Christ on the cross, evoking Christ’s passion, sacrifice, and role as redeemer. His elongated, frontally lit body dominates the picture plane, his billowing loin cloth the only movement in an otherwise still scene. In the case of Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , Christ’s eyes are half open, perhaps looking sidelong at the child. Due to the head tilt and heavy lids,

187 The importance of this orientation will be explained in more detail in chapter 3. 188 The acronym INRI is short for the Latin phrase I ēsus Nazar ēnus, R ēx I ūdae ōrum, translated as ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’ in English. 189 The background varied by version. 97

Christ does not appear to look at the viewer. The half open eyes create a different dynamic in the small, private epitaph than in the larger public epitaphs, allowing more intimacy between the child and Christ. In contrast, a similar-looking Christ appears with eyes closed on a cross set just behind the sitters in Epitaph for Agnes von Anhalt [Figure

33]. The sitters’ foreground placement both demonstrates their adherence to sola fide as well as implicates that Christ is in their hearts upon hearing God’s Word coming from the space of the church. Mourners and onlookers, often included in versions of the

Crucifixion, are omitted; only the family bears witness to the event. From this position they witness Christ’s sacrifice, showing that they recognize Christ as the son of God. The placement of the Crucified Christ in a grouping of believers with his loin cloth billowing in an otherwise still landscape echoes the appearance of Christ in the Wittenberg predella.

Here Christ is visible as the Word is given and received.

Of the four crucifixion epitaphs, only Epitaph for Sara Cracov [Figure 9] depicts a full crucifixion group. Christ hangs on the central cross, eyes closed, his body, pose, and flowing loin cloth identifiable as the same type used in other Lutheran Cranach artworks. The good thief on Christ’s right looks at his savior, recognizing his divinity. In the background behind him is a depiction of the rams separating from the sheep drawing on Matthew 25:32, which was understood as a reference to the conversion of the Good

Thief. 190 The action is shown to bring peace to the man, as his body is relaxed. In contrast, the bad thief on Christ’s left, twists under a dark cloud, his gaze turned outward,

190 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 517. Matthew 25:32 reads “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. NIV. 98 his toes curled in agony, and a large fly referencing his sinful nature resting on his leg. 191

In terms of the two realms and the placement of the sitters, the gazes of the two figures are particularly telling. The good thief recognizes the spiritual realm by recognizing

Christ as his savior. The bad thief turns outward, to the space indicated to be of the church based on the position of the sitters, finding no relief in rejecting Christ.

Interestingly, the base of his cross seems untethered to the ground, with even the composition of the land that would serve as the base being unclear. The effect, in consideration of emphasis on the ground as defining physical nature in other Cranach artworks, is to remove the bad thief’s cross from the rest of the group. In contrast, the intersection of Christ’s cross with the ground is clearly indicated, and the Good Thief’s cross is implied to continue a few inches to meet the ground behind a deceased child. As witnesses to the moment of Christ’s death, the family numbers among those sheep dividing from the rams and recognizing Christ’s sacrifice as the source of their salvation.

The image of a Crucified Christ is specifically linked with Christ’s passion in

Luther’s quote above. As a scene commonly appearing in sixteenth-century Passion

Series, the subject of the Entombment also harkens to Christ’s sacrifice as well as the eternal life to come. Since the subject speaks to the impermanence of death for the faithful it is particularly well-suited for an epitaph such as Epitaph for Georg Niemeck

[Figure 2]. 192 In addition, as will be indicated more fully in the “External Signs” section,

191 Ibid. 192 For example, the idea is reiterated in two Ecumenical Creeds: the Nicene Creed and Apostle’s Creed. The three Ecumenical Creeds appear at least once in each of the documents in the Book of Concord. The Reformers knew and used these creeds in part as ties to the ancient church. Kolb et. al., Book of Concord , 19. Both Creeds underscore that Christ was crucified under Pontius Pilate, died, was buried, rose again and ascended into Heaven. 99

Luther linked death and Baptism, for it is through Baptism that the faithful are brought new life. Precedents for the subject have a long history predating the Reformation, including examples found in the work of Cranach the Elder. One of these works,

Entombment [Figure 34] from Cranach the Elder’s 1509 Large Passion Series, served as the inspiration for Epitaph for Georg Niemeck .193 Both artworks depict Christ lying parallel to the picture plane in a tomb that spans the width of the composition. The savior is positioned in a nearly identical manner, his knees held up by a man on the right, his head elevated by a bearded man on the left, and his entire body presented on a lightly- colored cloth.

The scene surrounding Christ is similar in both works, but certain changes separate Lutheran approaches to artworks from pre-Reformation devotion in the print.

Mourners crowd around Christ in both print and paint. Cranach the Elder’s pre-

Reformation group approaches from the front and back of the tomb while Cranach the

Younger relegates the same group to the background, allowing the donor family to occupy the foreground alone. The grotto enclosing the print group is an elaborately- detailed rocky cave with roots from an overhead tree infringing on the space below. The

Wettin coat of arms and the crossed sword insignia hang from branches on the left, identifying Frederick the Wise as the likely donor. Niemeck’s grotto focuses less on detail and dramatic shadows in favor of a didactic composition. A simple stone arch serves to indicate that the donors are with Christ in a cave while focusing the viewer’s gaze on the Crucifixion in the distance-- a reminder of Christ’s sacrifice for humanity’s

193 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 44-45. 100 salvation. The less-detailed painted scene requires less interaction with the image, relying on instruction as a means of religious education rather than engagement as a means to a visionary experience: an important shift that will be expounded upon in Chapter Four.

This focus on Christ’s death, on his acceptance of the sins of humanity as a precursor to salvation, upholds the ideals of sola fide and its promise of resurrection, using a biblical narrative to symbolize the heavenly realm led by God alone and emphasizing the importance of a Lutheran confession issued from a Lutheran civic leader.

Christ’s resurrection, another commonly found Passion subject that foreshadows the resurrection of the Lutheran faithful, is the central theme of three epitaphs: Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn [Figure 19], Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg [Figure 24], and

Epitaph for Michael Teuber [Figure 6]. Each epitaph depicts a few common elements, building a narrative that can be identified as a Lutheran confession of belief in salvation through Christ alone. Attention focuses on the resurrected Christ standing atop his tomb in a red cloak. The savior’s appearance conforms to the favored Cranach type: his body is elongated and his clothes billow in an otherwise still landscape. Unlike the Crucified

Christ with closed eyes, the resurrected Christ engages directly with the viewer, raising his right hand in a sign of blessing. A halo of light surrounds his head and his left hand holds a banner signifying his victory over death and the devil. In terms of Luther’s two realms, Christ’s direct engagement from atop his tomb is striking since, according to

Luther’s commentary on Isaiah 65, it is at this moment that the “true, completely spiritual

(and invisible until the Last Day) kingdom of Christ” came into being. 194 Thus the

194 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms , 120. 101 background narrative visualizes both the promise of salvation to come through faith in

Christ alone as well as the inception of the spiritual community over which he rules.

While the emphasis on and depiction of Christ is paramount in each of the three

Cranach epitaphs, the compositions of the paintings vary. Epitaph for Michael Teuber

[Figure 6] and Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn [Figure 19] are analogous, including a tomb that is placed parallel to the picture plane and surrounded by soldiers either sleeping or reacting in surprise. Hilly landscapes stretch into the background. The city of

Jerusalem appears behind the Teuber family, perhaps alluding to Michael Teuber’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land 195 while concurrently symbolizing the Heavenly Jerusalem of the spiritual realm. Beyond the Badehorn family in the right distance stands Golgotha and three empty crucifixes, alluding to Christ’s sacrifice. In the far distance, a gate is half opened, perhaps in reference to a passage in Matthew 7:13-23. In this passage, the faithful are advised to go through the small gate along the “narrow road that leads to life” which will distinguish the true and false disciples, indicating that not everyone “will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” 196 As wakeful witnesses to the event in contrast to sleeping soldiers the donor families profess their belief in the resurrection and claim their place as true believers who enter the by following the narrow path to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like the first two epitaphs discussed, Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg [Figure

24] shows Christ standing atop his tomb surrounded by wakeful and sleeping soldiers and holding accoutrements that signify his victory over death and the devil. A city is visible

195 Koepplin and Falk, Lukas Cranach , 456. 196 Matthew 7:13. 102 in the far distance. While these core elements are the same, the format of the picture is significantly altered. Not only does this epitaph omit a portrait of the commemorated, but

Christ’s tomb also rests perpendicular to the picture plane instead of parallel. In contrast to the darker colors of the two other Resurrection epitaphs, the entire scene is bathed in a golden light. The rotated placement of the tomb clearly finds precedent in Dürer’s 1510

Resurrection woodcut from a Large Passion Series [Figure 35]. 197 In both print and paint, a foreshortened closed tomb with a diamond detail serves as a pedestal for the newly- risen, triumphant Christ. The drape of his robes falls similarly around his shoulders, billowing to a marked point on the right in the painting and on the left in the print.

Soldiers around the tomb variously sleep or react in surprise, their postures mirrored and, in the case of the two foreground soldiers, their dress is nearly identical. Furthermore, both print and paint omit a portrait of a donor. Cranach may have opted for the altered arrangement for von Lamberg’s epitaph because there is not portrait and therefore there was no need to create an intermediate space in both realms.

While united in one aspect, Dürer’s print has a much different effect. Here, Christ stands triumphant surrounded by clouds and putti. Inside the cloud bank, the sky is lightened while the area below remains dark. Rays of light evoking the shape of the cross appear around Christ’s head as the source of illumination. Christ’s placement in the clouds and his upward gaze indicates he is in the process of ascending. The dramatic lighting and triumphal forms are muted in Cranach’s more mundane version. Light shines

197 My thanks to Dr. Barbara Haeger for drawing my attention to the woodcut rather than the engraved version of Dürer’s Resurrection print. The former is much more closely related to the Cranach epitaph than the latter. 103 from a halo around Christ’s head and a sun rises in the distance, grounding the

Resurrection in the physical world and paralleling the rising sun to the risen son. In contrast to Dürer’s Christ, who stands on clouds, Cranach’s Christ stands directly on the tomb. The more subdued interpretation again emphasizes an instructional nature rather than veneration or contemplation. The viewer is presented with an image to be read, rather than one to be meditated upon. However, the golden light surrounding Christ is important. In the next section, it will be shown that the locus of this light is the spiritual realm. The comparatively richer golds in von Lamberg’s epitaph combined with the omission of the donor thereby indicates that the entire scene is an image in the heart despite the lack of donor. Instead of the donor bearing witness to the event, the viewer is invited to experience the miracle through reception of the Word in contrast to the sleeping soldiers, finding solace in Christ alone and the promise of the eternal kingdom of God.

The image of Christ is tied to Luther’s thoughts regarding the image in the heart, formed upon hearing the Word of God. This internal image is made visible in paint, as it is in the heart, through participation with the spiritual community of true believers. Issued mostly from leaders in the church, the image projects a Lutheran emphasis on sola fide and indicates that membership in the spiritual community requires only belief.

Revelation

Luther indicates the image in the heart forms upon hearing the Word of God. The ability to know the invisible requires only reception of the wisdom of the Bible and faith in Christ alone. Revelation of the invisible realm, recognizing and witnessing the glory of 104

God particularly in contrast to those who do not, is the focus of six epitaphs: Epitaph for

Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14], Epitaph for Michael Meienburg [Figure 36], Epitaph for

Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13], Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus Wolkenstein [Figure

15], and Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40]. In these epitaphs, the sitters establish their participation in the spiritual realm by demonstrating their recognition of the divine, exemplifying the faith needed for their subjects to cultivate their own knowledge of the spiritual realm and encouraging viewers to adopt the Lutheran confession deemed necessary for salvation.

The Transfiguration depicted in the background of Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher

[Figure 14] uses a biblical subject to indicate that the commemorated, unlike the sleeping apostles, recognize Christ in his divinity. Drawing on the descriptions in Matthew, Mark and Luke, the background scene depicts Christ’s visit to Mount Tabor with Peter, John, and James. 198 While there, Christ’s robes became a brilliant white, his face shone, and

Moses and Elijah conversed with Jesus. Then the sky grew cloudy and the voice of God said “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 199 There is some variation in the texts regarding what happened to the apostles. Matthew says they were terrified and fell to the ground while Mark 9:2-13 simply says they were terrified. In contrast, Luke 9:28-36 says they grew sleepy and fell asleep. When awoke, they saw

Jesus, Moses and Elijah. This latter gospel emphasizes seeing Christ in his divinity in contrast to the other two, which emphasize fear.

198 Dura,“Verklärung Christi auf dem Berge Tabor.” Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; and Luke 9: 28-36. 199 Quote taken from Matthew 17:5. 105

Lintacher’s epitaph picks up on the idea of sight, adapting it to the visual language used to symbolize two realms. Carefully placed clouds create buffered spaces for the sleeping apostles, Christ, and God. In consideration of Cranach’s preference for using elements inherent to the setting to define spaces, the epitaph can be seen as the earliest extant artwork, predating even the Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7], to distinguish between realms. In the bottom register, depicted in the same space as a distant lake and grey-blue mountain peaks, the apostles are in the physical realm familiar to humans. God, bathed in golden light and surrounded by putti is fully in a brilliant spiritual realm, which is designated by the pure gold background and omission of any colors or forms from the physical realm. Christ stands next to Moses and Elijah in both worlds simultaneously, with his feet on the green grass of the hill, silhouetted by a brilliant yellow sky like the one behind God. He looks outward, indicating his recognition of the presence of the divine with his surprised hand gesture and a slight turn toward the left, but not seeing God. 200 However, the viewer sees God, separated from the rest of the scene, by virtue of faith in Christ and through reception of the scriptures.

The idea that Lintacher’s epitaph is meant to demonstrate recognition of the

Heavenly realm is supported by two texts. In the Bible, the last line of preceding text to the Transfiguration from each of the three authors concerns entering the Heavenly realm.

For example in Luke, Jesus foretells the events on Mount Tabor saying, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” 201

200 Dura, “Verklärung Christi auf dem Berge Tabor.” Dura notes that Christ looks outward, but ascribes it to the fact that God as the Father does not appear in the narrative 201 Luke 9:27. 106

Here a connection is drawn between seeing the kingdom of God and recognizing Christ as the Son of God on Mount Tabor. A comment made by Friedrich Myconius in 1538 regarding Luther’s Commentary on Galatians reinforces a Lutheran interpretation of the

Transfiguration as a glimpse into the Kingdom of God. As Kolb explains, Myconius said

Luther’s Galatians “placed Christ before the reader’s eyes as clearly as he appeared to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.”202 As Galatians was able to do for

Luther’s reader, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14] places Christ directly before the viewer’s eyes, demonstrating the memorialized’s faith in Christ alone and his dual presence with his family in the spiritual and physical realms in contrast to the sleeping apostles grounded in the physical realm who have not yet witnessed Christ’s transformation.

Rather than witnessing Christ’s divinity, Epitaph for Michael Meienburg [Figure

36] demonstrates witnessing God’s glory through the actions of Christ. The background narrative depicts the Raising of Lazarus, which acts as a New Testament prefiguration of the resurrection of the dead and a demonstration of faith in salvation through Christ’s sacrifice alone. 203 Luther reinforces this connection in a 1539 sermon, underscoring that

Lazarus’ resurrection was due to Christ’s sacrifice and that those who die can expect to life after death.204 The story, deriving from John 11:38-44, recounts how Jesus came,

202 Robert Kolb, “The Influence of Luther’s Galatians Commentary of 1535 on Later Sixteenth-Century Commentaries on Galatians,” in Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte vol. 84 (1993),” 157. 203 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 159-160. Originally there was also a “separate plaque containing a remarkably laudatory and rhetorical Latin inscription.” The composition of the epitaph draws on an engraving of the subject by Viet Stoss as well as an earlier painting from the Cranach workshop. 204 Robert Kolb, Luther and the Stories of God: Biblical Narratives as a Foundation for Christian Living (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 174. 107 spurred by the tears of Lazarus’s sisters Mary and Martha, to Lazarus’s tomb, which is described as in a cave. At the tomb, he commands them to open the grave saying, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 205 When the tomb is opened Lazarus emerges alive. By explicitly connecting belief with seeing the glory of

God in an external manifestation, through the resurrection of Lazarus, the story underscores that the glory of God is witnessed through faith in Christ alone.

In paint, the story centers on Lazarus’s grave, which is in the ground instead of in a cave, the covering slab pushed aside perpendicular to the picture plane. Christ leans over the foot of the grave, one foot atop a tombstone that could have been copied from a

Cranach Resurrection of Christ, his right hand blessing Lazarus, alluding to a connection between Lazarus’s resurrection, Christ’s resurrection, and the resurrection of the dead.

Onlookers crowd the space between the grave and the walls of the cemetery to witness the miracle, with more people streaming in through a narrow cemetery gate, again reminiscent of the gate through which the faithful pass in Cranach’s depiction of Christ’s

Resurrection. Comparison with an earlier Cranach the Younger panel depicting the

Raising of Lazarus [Figure 37] (c. 1535), which lacks the walled courtyard, reinforces the idea that the epitaph alludes to a closed community of believers able to recognize God’s glory through Christ’s actions. Kneeling in the front alongside the believers yet distinct in their clothing, Meienburg and his family number among witnesses the event, professing their belief in Christ alone and his promise of resurrection, demonstrating their awareness

205 John 11:40. 108 of the real but invisible presence of the divine, and implicating their dual membership in the heavenly realm and worldly realms.

Recognition is also at issue in Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13].

Niemeck’s epitaph draws on a subject with a long history in Western Art, the Nativity, favoring the description found in Luke 2: 2-21. Cranach paints Joseph and Mary kneeling before the newborn Christ in a straw-lined trough. Behind them the ox and ass chew hay on the left and three shepherds enter from the right. In the far left distance, an angel announces the birth of Christ to the shepherds. The entire scene is well-lit, allowing the viewer to observe all elements of the story clearly without dramatic flair. The subdued nature of the scene is highlighted by a comparison to an earlier Nativity by Cranach the

Elder in Dresden [Figure 38]. Here, the darkened scene is lit only by a supernatural light emanating from the baby’s body, illuminating Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, a group of angels, and an ox, who traditionally indicates recognition of Christ as the savior. 206 Thus a group recognizing Christ’s divinity surrounds the new baby. However, in this earlier work, highlighting Christ’s divinity at birth through the supernatural light and surrounding angels is paramount to religious instruction regarding the recognition of

Christ. Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck adapts the composition to emphasize family, the birth, and the shepherds’ recognition of the power of the Word, tying more closely to the biblical narrative than playing on emotion. The importance of the Word is reinforced by

206 The iconography of the ox and ass derive from Isaiah 1:3: “The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” The ox alludes to those who recognize Christ as the savior and master. 109 the dual placement of the Shepherds in the background, hearing the angel, and at the door of the manager, witnessing Christ by virtue of the belief in the angel’s words.

The theme of recognition and the power of the Word is reinforced by one of

Martin Luther’s Postils on the Nativity. He says,

The angel [delivering the news of Christ’s birth to the shepherds] here was in the place of all the preachers of the Gospel, and the shepherds in the place of all the hearers, as we shall see. For this reason the Gospel can tolerate no other teaching besides its own; for the teaching of men is earthly light and human glory; it exalts the honor and praise of men, and makes souls to glory in their own works; while the Gospel glories in Christ, in God’s grace and goodness, and teaches us to boast of and confide in Christ. 207

As witnesses to the birth, the commemorated show that they, like the shepherds, hear and believe the Word of God. In doing so, they glorify and confide in Christ and his realm rather than relying on the ‘teaching of men’ and taking glory in their own works.

The theme of the Nativity also emphasizes Christ’s humanity, a necessary precursor to his sacrifice. Christ’s red swaddling cloth stands in contrast to the brown straw and is picked up in Mary’s and Joseph’s cloaks. The brilliant red alludes to Christ’s future passion and the cloak he wears in Cranach’s Resurrections, drawing a connection between his sacrifice through which the sins of man are forgiven and salvation is attained, once again returning to the idea of sola fide . These themes are picked up in the three signs carried by the putti above: “Ehre sei Got in der Höhe,” “Und Fride auff erden,” and “und den Menschen ein Wolgefalen.” The English translation, taken from

Luke 2:14, is “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Upon receiving the Word, the internal, spiritual realm appears in the

207 The Complete Works of Martin Luther, Volume 1: Sermons 1-12. “Of the birth of Jesus, and of the Angel Song of Praise at His Birth, point 38. 142 110 heart of these true believers, simultaneously indicating their hope for peace by adoption of a Lutheran confession and, as a result, God’s favor.

Unfortunately not much can be said about the Vision of Ezekiel that at one time accompanied Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus Wolkenstein [Figure 15]. The top register of the epitaph containing the narrative is now lost and records documenting the appearance of the subject have not been located. The image, which also found precedent in Western Art, would likely have depicted some aspect of Ezekiel’s visions of God as described in Ezekiel 1. According to Luther in “A New Preface to the Prophet Ezekiel”

(1541), this vision “is nothing else than a revelation of the kingdom of Christ in faith here upon earth… To put it briefly: this vision is the spiritual chariot of Christ in which he rides here in the world, meaning thereby his entire holy church.” 208 What is noteworthy and likely, given the trajectory of Lutheran epitaphs, is that there was an emphasis on recognition of God as the head of the spiritual realm. Based upon the appearance of other epitaphs, it is seems likely that Cranach used natural elements inherent to the theme to distinguish God as a real but invisible presence and the commemorated as members of the community who recognize their salvation lies in Christ alone.

Recognition of Christ’s role as the Good Shepherd is the emphasis in Epitaph for

Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt [Figure 39]. The moniker ‘the Good Shepherd’ was inspired by a parable in John 10: 1-21 in which Christ says that “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I

208 LW 35: 284-290. 111 know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” 209 The meaning of this sacrifice is elucidated earlier in the same book. Christ says, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…whoever enters through me will be saved.”210 Standing in the center of the panel, Christ with a sheep held across his shoulders serves as the visual entry point into the middle of an otherwise serene hilly landscape, perhaps referencing the gateway through which his sheep can be saved. Significantly in terms of the narrative, Christ looks down at Friedrich Drachstedt, who would have been conceived of as the head of his family. In turn, Drachstedt looks up toward Christ but not directly at him, demonstrating knowledge of his presence but not seeing the invisible. This simple exchange indicates that just as Drachstedt recognizes Christ as his savior, Christ recognizes Drachstedt as one of his sheep per the narrative for whom he has laid down his life.

Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40] also shows the sitters’ recognition of God’s this time in contrast to Saul’s symbolic blindness. 211 The narrative of the Blinding of Saul, recounts how Saul, who had been persecuting followers of Christ, is struck by a flash of light. He then hears a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” 212 In Viet

Örtel’s epitaph, this passage translates as a flash of lightening emerging from a circular bank of clouds in which God appears. The physical form of God is included despite reference to only a voice in the narrative. However, the space surrounding God is carefully indicated to be fully in the spiritual realm in a similar manner to Epitaph for

Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14]. A startled Saul is almost knocked off his horse by the

209 John 10: 14-15 [New International Version]. 210 John 10: 7-9 [New International Version]. 211 A paper in the forthcoming Lucas Cranach der Jüngere und die Reformation der Bilder will address the topic as well. 212 Acts 9:1-9 [New International Version]. 112 sudden disturbance, but caught by one of his companions. In a second, lower portion of the painting, the now physically blind Saul is led by his travelling companions to

Damascus where he will be told to meet with a disciple named Ananias. At this juncture in the story, Saul’s physical blindness alludes to his spiritual blindness as well. In

Damascus, Ananias will impart physical and spiritual sight by placing his hands on Saul.

With clear senses, Saul becomes Paul the apostle who preaches to the Gentiles that Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah. 213 However, in the painting, Saul has just been blinded and is still without any sight as indicated by his closed eyes. In direct contrast, the family that stands to either side of him, visually connected to him in their dark clothing, stands with eyes open. They, like Saul, are unworthy sinners in need of redemption through

Christ alone, but they are not in need of a spiritual awakening. Rather, they already stand in witness to the invisible presence of Christ’s kingdom, which appears through the giving and receiving of the Word. Thus, in choosing The Blinding of Saul as a background theme for an epitaph, Örtel demonstrates his own belief in Christ and his recognition of the community of Lutheran faithful led by God and their membership in both the physical realm of sin and the heavenly realm of redemption.

In consideration of Luther’s emphasis on the invisible community populating the spiritual realm, the emphasis on recognition in these epitaphs is noteworthy. The sitters with their eyes wide open ‘see’ the spiritual realm internally, indicating their membership. They demonstrate for the viewer that humbling themselves as sinners and acknowledging Christ alone as master through true faith and reception of the Word

213 Acts 9: 19-22 [New International Version]. 113 makes the invisible visible. In turn, the commemorated project this Lutheran confession for the church audience to receive and internalize.

Following Christ

One of the more popular Lutheran narratives, the Agony in the Garden seen in three Cranach epitaphs, adopts a fairly consistent format for demonstrating a leader’s affiliations with Christ’s sacrifice. The biblical narrative describes Christ’s experience in the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. 214 After the

Last Supper, Jesus walks with Peter, John and James to the Mount of Olives to pray.

Once they reach their destination, Christ leaves his followers to pray alone. He fervently beseeches God to take the cup of sorrow from him, but finally concedes to God’s will after an intense human struggle. In this way, Christ accepts the sins of man and, through this sacrifice, becomes mankind’s redeemer. Christ’s struggle in accepting his fate, during which he seriously considered not undertaking his enormous burden, resounded with the reformers, who, like John Frederick in The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist [Figure 29], saw themselves as accepting human sacrifice to protect Lutheranism. 215 Epitaph for Georg of

Anhalt [Figure 41], Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer [Figure 11], and Epitaph for

Otto von Pogk [Figure 4] choose to emphasize this sacrifice, visualizing participation in the spiritual realm through association with Christ’s struggle.

Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt sets the standard as the earliest of the three epitaphs depicting the Agony in the Garden. Comparing this composition with an earlier Agony in

214 Matthew 26: 36-46; Luke 22: 39-46; Mark 14: 32-42 [New International Version]. 215 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 43. 114 the Garden (c. 1520) [Figure 42], now in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, shows how the format changed to relate Christ’s struggle to the commemorated. Both the

1520 panel and the epitaph include key features of the story. An angel carrying a cross appears to Christ in a golden light. The surrounding rocky landscape provides a natural elevation for Christ above John and James in red and Peter in white with a sword in hand, sleeping peaceful in semi-upright positions in the lower left corner. While the basic elements of the composition are the same, four conspicuous changes are made in the epitaph. First and most obviously is the inclusion of the sitter with a flowering plant blooming behind his left shoulder. Second is the persecuting crowd of guards and priests led by Judas marching down a path on their way to arrest Jesus in the left background at a much lower elevation. Third is the angel in a halo of light connected directly to Christ’s eyes rather than surrounded by putti and clouds as if descended from Heaven. Unifying

Christ’s eyes and the angel in a golden light indicates that the divine presence is recognized by Christ. A reflection of this glow is picked up in Georg’s face, underscoring that his place in the spiritual realm is mediated by his presence in the physical realm concurrently. Fourth is the addition of the cup of sorrow in the angel’s right hand, while the cross remains in the left. The angel’s dual implements reinforce components of the

Lutheran mass; namely, the connection between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion, the administration of both the body/bread and wine/blood to the laity, and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Finally, the introduction of the persecuting crowd and the cup of sorrow along with the cross and the light on Georg’s face allude to his own persecutions in defense of the Lutheran faith.

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While Georg is not fully integrated into the narrative, his appearance resonates with Christ, kneeling on an outcropping, in dark brown clothing, and, most interestingly for this argument, gazing into the distance. As Georg does not look at Christ or the apostles, Christ does not directly look at the angel. Rather, his eyes are turned toward the right outer edge of the painting while his body responds to the invisible presence with raised hands. The emphatic separation of Christ and his followers by a small cliff underscores, like in Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14], that Christ is neither fully in the physical realm with the apostles nor in the spiritual realm with the angel, but in partially in both. As Christ struggles with his own dualistic nature as man and God, he is separated from the sleeping apostles in the physical realm but cannot see the invisible spiritual realm with his eyes. Instead, he receives the angel’s message in the form of a golden light, indicating which parts of the painting belong wholly to the spiritual realm.

Cranach’s choice to arrange these pieces in such a way that the physical and spiritual realms are more clearly delineated allows for a particularly Lutheran interpretation regarding the overlapping nature of the two realms of existence. Similar placement of

Georg and Christ underscore that Georg too is a participant in both realms.

The composition of the other two epitaphs depicting the Agony in the Garden

[Figure 4 and Figure 11] is similar, although the placement of the figures is altered to accommodate more family members. Donors are pushed to either side of the panels, with the sleeping apostles nestled on a separate tract of land in the middle of the image. Christ remains on the highest part of the hill facing a cavern from which an angel emerges. The angel now only carries the cup of sorrow, still retaining a reference to the cup in

116 communion but lacking a connection to the crucifixion and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The careful use of objects underscoring real presence in communion in

Epitaph for Georg von Anhalt , particularly those objects that are absent in other versions, could indicate that the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was a personal interest for

Georg III. In contrast, the latter two epitaphs for Otto von Pogk and Anna Niemeck emphasize their sacrifices in defense of Lutheranism, obliquely referencing their prescribed role as Lutheran leaders. The explicit commemoration of certain individuals is reinforced by the placement of the cup over the head of individual named in the epitaph.

External Signs

In the process of confessionalization, identifying the external signs of the church helped distinguish Lutherans from other confessions. Symbolically portraying the sacraments in epitaphs indicated support of the outward appearance of Lutheran faith and projected the sitter’s desire for their followers to adopt the portrayed confession. Three of the Cranach epitaphs reference the two most important Lutheran rites, the Eucharist and

Baptism. Epitaph for the Family of Caspar Cruciger [Figure 20] and Epitaph for

Johannes Bugenhagen [Figure 22] symbolize the Lutheran interpretation of Baptism as distinct from rival confessions. Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5] most noticeably illustrates Lutheran communion through a representation of the Last Supper, but also indicates the Lutheran rites of Baptism and Confession concurrently. Defining these rites would have carried particular weight coming from leadership figures during a period of rivalry among Protestant groups.

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The subject Christ Blessing the Children, as seen in Epitaph for the Family of

Caspar Cruciger , gained popularity in Lutheran circles during the Reformation, reaching its height by the late 1530s. 216 The basis for the imagery can be found, as previous state, in Mark 10:13-16, which documents Christ’s command to “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 217 According to Werner Schade, the prominence of the subject “undoubtedly connected with the defeat of the Anabaptists after tenacious resistance.” 218 Luther himself drew the connection between the story and the practice of infant baptism, stating that

“Christ commands the children to come and to be brought to him, and, in Matthew 19 says that theirs is the kingdom of God… if all these passages do not suffice for the enthusiasts, I shall not be concerned. They are enough for me, to stop the mouth of anyone from saying that a child baptism does not mean anything.” 219 While the appearance of the subject initially served as a polemic, Christensen argues that the popularity could not continue to be in contrast to Anabaptist theology after the threat had been lost. Instead he says later iterations might have been painted to serve as a good theme for children’s epitaphs or perhaps that “from the very beginning, the intention had been as much to portray a good example of simple, childlike trust in God implied in

216 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 134. 217 Mark 10:14-15. [New International Version]. The story is found in Luke 18:15-17, Matthew 19:13-15, and Mark 10:13-16. 218 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 93; Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 115. The battle against the Anabaptists was waged primarily in the 1520s- 1540s. John Frederick, following in the measures of his father, John the Constant, took a hard line against Anabaptists, resulting in three executions in January 1536. Executions continued into the 1540s. The movement declined from mid-century on. 219 Quoted and translated in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 136. 118

Luther’s doctrine of salvation by faith alone as it had been to support or defend the reformer’s position with respect to infant baptism.” 220 Most likely, like other Reformation subjects, Christ Blessing the Children could serve multiple functions as an example of faith that also served to define an external practice of the Lutheran church which acted as a polemic during periods of upheaval.

All three possibilities—a polemic against Anabaptists, justification for infant baptism, or child-like trust in God—are plausible interpretations for Cruciger’s epitaph.

Drawing on the characteristic representation of the subject like the Christ Blessing the

Children in Wawel Castle, Cracow [Figure 21] (1537), Cranach depicts the donors among a dense crowd of men, women and children surrounding Christ. As is seen in both versions of the subject, a group of men stand in the left corner, women bring babies to

Christ, and Christ in turns shows affection and blessing to the children. 221 By having himself depicted in the narrative, Cruciger shows his support of infant baptism. The prominent placement of a deceased child in white in the foreground, a child that looks up toward Christ, may indicate that the theme was chosen in part to commemorate a child who died in his youth. However, the panel also shows that Cruciger and his family, like children, trust in God’s promise of entry into the kingdom of God based solely on ‘true’ belief. However, as an adult, Cruciger is not able to physically see the realm like the children who look at Christ directly. He and the adult members of his family look past

Christ, aware of the invisible presence but looking outward, demonstrating their adherence to the external practices of the church.

220 Ibid. 221 Ibid. 119

As a subject in Lutheran art, the Baptism of Christ seen in Epitaph for Johannes

Bugenhagen [Figure 22], like Christ Blessing the Children, most readily addresses the sacrament of baptism. In addition, the subject was used by Luther to demonstrate the

Lutheran belief in the Trinity in contrast to Anabaptist tradition. Comparing the panel to precedent reveals how the story could have been received by a Lutheran audience. One of the first Lutheran depictions of Christ’s Baptism is a woodcut from the Cranach workshop that also portrays John Frederick and Martin Luther kneeling in the foreground

[Figure 43]. In both epitaph and print, Christ stands in the River Jordan, water surrounding his legs. Above Christ’s head, in vertical alignment, the cupped hand of John the Baptist pours water. The alignment is continued with the dove of the Holy Spirit and

God at the apex, gesturing downward and proclaiming “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” 222 The appearance of John the Baptist slightly behind Christ to the right, on a comparatively lighter green peninsula in the epitaph and in the water in the print, completes the biblical narrative. In baptizing Christ, John set the standard for all future baptisms to wash away sin and make way for reception of God’s grace. As attendants at the Baptism of Christ, John Frederick, Luther, Bugenhagen, and his family do not simply proclaim their belief in the promise of salvation brought to the faithful through baptism; they also witness Christ’s entry into the river Jordan, where God claims

222 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 492-3. The Latin words read “hic est filius meus dilec[tus] in quo mihi benè co[nplac]uit” following Matthew 3:17. 120

Jesus as his son. 223 Thus, the depicted proclaim their belief in Christ as the redeemer, indicating their membership in the community of the righteous.

Cranach’s interpretation of the Baptism in both versions ties closely to a 1537 sermon preached by Luther in Wittenberg City Church, linking the narrative as it appears in Bugenhagen’s epitaph to a particularly Lutheran interpretation. 224 Luther begins with a description of the Baptism, specifying elements that appear in Cranach’s version of the subject. He says,

But now behold how glorious a thing Baptism is, also how sublime a spectacle Christ’s Baptism presented. The heavens opened, the Father’s voice was heard, and the Holy Spirit descended, not as a phantom but in the form and figure of a natural dove. Nor was the Father’s voice an illusion when He pronounced these words from heaven: ‘This is my beloved Son; with Him I am well pleased.’ 225

The sermon continues, connecting Cranach’s visuals to ideological points. Luther says:

All this was done in honor and praise of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism; for this is not a human institution but something sublime and holy.

One must be on one’s guard against the Anabaptists and the schismatic spirits, who speak sneeringly of Baptism and aver that it is mere water and of benefit to no one. They gaze at this sacred act as a cow stares at a new door… They are befuddled. Consequently they blaspheme about Baptism.

But it is recorded here that all three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, together with all the elect angels, were present at Christ’s Baptism.

223 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 48. 224 Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 116-119. Christensen identifies the link between subject and sermon as well as precedent for this version of the Baptism in Cranach prints and paintings. 225 Luther’s Works , 22, 173-74. Reprinted in Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 116. 121

Since Baptism is a divine act in which God Himself participates and since it is attended by the three exalted Persons of the Godhead, it must be prized and honored. 226

Luther’s point that baptism must be prized and honored underscores the theological significance of Christ’s baptism for all Lutheran baptisms. Not only does the Baptism of

Christ therefore represent the spiritual realm, where all must come, like Christ, without wealth or power or authority and submit to the supremacy of the Father in Heaven, but the Baptism also stands as a Lutheran confessional claim by which the faith is distinguished from heretical groups who distort the theology of the trinity and turn away from the doctrine of baptism.

Similarly, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5], presents the subject of the

Last Supper as the epitome of the essential Lutheran sacrament of the Eucharist. Koerner details Cranach’s methods for creating an explicitly Lutheran interpretation of the Lord’s

Supper in this epitaph. 227 A layperson, namely Cranach the Younger, hands a chalice to a man on the right side of a long bench, underscoring the belief that the Eucharist should be administered in both kinds. The absence of a priest further suggests that the priesthood of all believers negated the need for priestly intervention. 228 On the opposite side of the bench, Christ feeds a piece of bread to Judas, demonstrating the belief that Christ is always present in the Eucharist regardless of the spiritual state of the giver or receiver. 229

Administration of the sacrament to an individual in a state of sin was meant to allay fears

226 Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 116. 227 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , especially 379-381. 228 Ibid., 380. In the “Babylonian captivity,” the Pre-Reformation Church refused to provide wine to the laity. Luther coined the term in a 1520 treatise entitled, Prelude on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church . 229 Ibid., 372. 122 about reception of communion from sinful priests. However, a sinful individual like

Judas only actually received Christ corporeally, not spiritually. 230 Showing proper administration and reception of the sacrament reinforced the outward appearance of the rite to the viewing congregation. Proper administration of Lutheranism’s most important sacrament, the Eucharist, is, quite literally, of central importance.

In addition, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt addresses the other two external practices symbolizing God’s kingdom. A print clarifies how the visual language in

Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt could allude to the rites of communion and confession.

Martin Luther and Jan Hus [Figure 44], an unsigned woodcut attributed to Jacob Lucius

(c. 1556), illustrates Elector John Frederick and his family practicing ‘true’ faith. 231 Like the Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7], the print illustrates the three core Lutheran sacraments as they were understood by Luther. In the foreground, figures labeled Luther and Hus administer the wine and bread to John the Constant and Frederick the Wise respectively. The altar behind the group indicates that the source of the wine is the blood of Christ. Blood flows from the side of a Crucifix atop the fountain into two successive

230 Ibid. In addition to citations in Georg’s sermons, Judas’s reception was also important in easing contemporary fears regarding reception of sacraments from sinful priests. “What Judas did within his office was properly done, but where he was a thief, there he sinned. Therefore one must separate his person from the office, for Christ did not order him to steal but to execute his office’” (quoted from Luther’s Table Talks in Koerner, 372). Thereby, patrons were urged not to dwell on the spiritual state of those who provided communion, as (in Luther’s words), “It remains nevertheless always the same sacrament and testament, which works his work in the believer (i.e. salvation) and works the alien work (i.e., damnation) in the unbeliever.” (quoted in Koerner, 372) 231 Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 119. Robert W. Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk: Popular Propaganda for the German Reformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981) , 206-207. Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , page 431. Most scholars date this print from the second quarter of the sixteenth century. However, the presence of John Frederick’s trademark scar dates the print after 1547. If the attribution to Jacob Lucius is accepted, then the date is further refined. Lucius worked in Wittenberg from about 1556. He left for Rostock in 1564. The woodcut was likely produced during this eight year span. John Frederick died in 1554. The print was most likely created while the former elector was in exile or directly after his death. Thus, a date of 1556 can be forwarded. 123 bowls decorated with vines and grapes, reinforcing concept of transfiguration from blood to wine. In addition to representing communal wine from Christ’s blood, the fountain itself is reminiscent of the font of Christ’s blood in which the faithful are washed clean of sin by Baptism. As Kolb and Arand note, “Luther bound both Christ’s death and his resurrection to the Christian through baptism. God gives his children this bath of new life, in which we are washed with the blood of the innocent Lamb, who paid for sin and strangled death, who poured out his blood and conquered death.” 232 John Frederick and his family surround this font while waiting for the Eucharist, indicating their support of and participation in these Lutheran rites. A second portrait of John Frederick appears in a room adjacent to the sanctuary in the background. In a private room the elector sits enthroned before a curtain displaying his coat of arms and speaking to Luther, referencing the Lutheran concept of private confession between the confessor and a pastor or fellow Christian. Although the idea of private confession would eventually morph into public prayer, private absolution was still commonly under debate in the mid- sixteenth century. 233 Numerous surviving examples of the print indicate that it was widely-circulated and influential in the sixteenth century. 234

Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5] similarly uses visual language to reference theological concepts: particularly the three Lutheran sacraments. However,

232 Robert Kolb and Charles P. Arand, The Genius of Luther’s Theology: a Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 194. 233 Cameron, The European Reformation , 155 identifies the end point for confession in modern Lutheran churches, but does not indicate exactly when the change occurred. Based upon discussion about private absolution, for example and argument that it should continue in Kolb et. al., The Book of Concord , 44-46, the matter was subject to debate. This print and Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt both indicate that Saxony and Anhalt-Dessau supported the continuation of private confession. 234 Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 119. 124 instead of portraying the sacraments in the context of church practice, the panel draws on the language and construction of previous prints to conceive a more secular manifestation of the sacraments within the Last Supper recreation. As previously stated, the gathering of men around a table set with a sacrificial lamb is representative of the sacrament of communion. The wine, which turns into the blood of Christ, can reference the redeeming blood that is turned to wine as well as the blood by which Lutheran are washed clean of sin. As such, the large tub decorated with twirling, vine-like tendrils and holding a jug of wine in the foreground could be seen as evoking the baptismal font. Similarly, confession is normalized into sixteenth-century action in the background. Underneath the arched doorway, a pair of figures converse through a window, evoking the adjacent yet removed construction indicative of private confession in the print. The construction of the archway and window in this context immediately brings to mind the closed confessionals found in

Catholic churches. However, here the window is open so the two men can be seen conversing, using the window of an opening into another space to reference a liturgical action. Five contemporary princes stand against the back wall, an otherwise strange placement, waiting their turn to confess their sins. 235 These symbols of the three external practices of the church are in a setting evocative of the dining hall in the prince’s residence adjacent to St. Mary in Dessau. 236 This depiction--a dwelling with the invisible

235 Interestingly, the layout of the three sacraments could reflect their placement within a Lutheran church. In Wittenberg’s St. Mary at least, the baptismal font is set before the altar and the confessional booths are behind the altar. I am unsure about the original plan of St. Mary’s in Dessau, which was gutted by fire during World War II and research into archives for the plan is beyond the scope of this project. A future line of study may be exploring the correlation between practices depicted in certain epitaphs and their appearance within original churches. 236 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 385. Koerner notes that the architecture of the hall corresponds to plans for the prince’s residence. 125 spiritual kingdom represented in the middle and the external practices of the church referenced in a secularized way on a panel that was then hung in a church--is a particularly interesting way of layering meaning to nestle the spiritual world and the secular world together in a symbiotic manner complimentary to the idea that the two realms were both distinct and inseparable. 237

In confessing a specific set of practices, the leaders shown in the Cranach epitaphs contribute to the confessional identity of their territory. The external practices that define the Lutheran church also, in a nice twist, help make the practices of church visible to the viewer. Yet it is only through the commemorated’s witness to and participation in true faith that their internal conception of the invisible spiritual community appears in their hearts, making their confession of faith visible to the congregation through the hand of the artist.

The True Worshippers

Defining the nature of the Lutheran church has been at issue with the preceding epitaphs. In a culture concerned with the influx of rival Christian traditions, identifying

237 Ibid., 432-440, notes a similar phenomenon in the predella of a triptych altarpiece by Heinrich Göding the Elder, Mühlberg Altarpiece , 1568. The composition of the predella is similar to the tripartite division of Weimar Altarpiece , although the sides are certainly not movable, in that the donors are removed to the edge and set before a drape. The interior scene is of the donors receiving communion before an altar that is backed by their epitaph. So the image repeats into the background at an increasingly smaller size. Koerner first identifies pre-Reformation precedents referencing the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament. He then offers the idea that Luther found Christ to be “’ubiquitous,’ both everywhere and specifically in the bread and wine. Infinite regress might have been this artist’s way of visualizing a ‘here’ that is simultaneously also elsewhere.” (436) I would concur that it is meant to represent the here and elsewhere, but as the interplay between two distinct but overlapping realms, one of which manifests through the proper administration and congregation of adherents. Koerner goes on to contrast the Mühlberg Altarpiece with Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt by saying all signs of divinity are erased in the former artwork while the gathering of reformers around Christ at the table indicates divinity. I would disagree, suggesting instead that Göding has harnessed the visual language of the Cranach workshop, in which he likely trained (Koerner, 430), creatively referencing both realms through the administration of the sacraments. 126 proper conduct in the Lutheran church was a particularly salient issue. The final grouping of epitaphs takes this process one step further, using a comparative format to define

Lutheranism both in positive terms as well as negative terms. In the following four epitaphs, Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann [Figure 3], The Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16],

Epitaph for Anna Badehorn [Figure 18], and Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46], the sitters identify with the ‘true’ church and its form as it appears in their heart upon hearing the Word.

Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann uses the story of Elijah and the Baal Priests 238 to make a statement about ‘true’ faith. The story recounts the persecution of the prophet

Elijah by King Ahab. Elijah commands Ahab to summon the priests of Baal so that he may demonstrate that his Lord is the true God. Elijah and the Baal priests each create an altar, sacrifice a bull, and prepare to implore to their god to set fire to the bull. First the

Baal priests try to light their fire unsuccessfully. Then, Elijah calls to onlookers to fill four large jugs with water and pour them on his sacrifice three times. After they have done so, Elijah calls to God the Father, who fires the sacrifice as well as the wood, stones, soil and trench of water surrounding the altar, establishing Elijah as a follower of the true God. For their false confession, Ahab allows the massacre of all the Baal priests.

Lutherans saw the battle between Elijah and the Baal priests as analogous to the conflict between Luther and the Catholic Church. Luther’s Commentary on Psalm 82

(1530) explicitly correlates Catholic priests to Baal priests, following up with a comparison between Catholic princes and the supporters of Baal. Like Baal’s supporters,

238 The biblical basis is from 1 Kings 18: 16-45 [New International Version]. 127 the Catholic nobility drove God’s true prophets out of their lands. 239 Luther again argues his case in a Table Talk, in which he discusses a version of Elijah and the Baal Priests

(1545) [Figure 45] painted by Cranach the Younger. Referencing this specific artwork in the “verus Cultus et invocation Eliae et falsus baalistarum cultus et clamor” Luther identifies Elijah as a true worshipper while the Baal priests, synonymous with Catholics, were false worshippers. 240

In Cranach’s painting, Baal priests dance around their altar on the right in an effort to summon their god; yet, their sacrifice lies untouched. On the left, fire streams down from a dark cloud, engulfing Elijah’s altar in an orange glow and setting the surrounding water alight. Elijah stands calmly to the right of his altar as God answers his prayers. King Ahab, whose visage is a portrait of the contemporary Saxon elector John

Frederick, oversees the competition in the center, indicating the contemporary prince’s recognition of Elijah and his counterpart Luther as a professor of true faith. 241 On the far left, artist Lucas Cranach the Elder holds one of the jugs, supporting the prophet and aiding in his demonstration of faith. An accompanying inscription underscores that it is through a direct connection with God, unmediated by priests and without accoutrements, that Elijah, who is identified with Lutherans, is saved: “It [Lutheranism] requires no chrism, banners, nor incense, no candles nor holy water; the word of God and his prayers together with belief substantiate.” 242

239 Estes, Peace, Order and the Glory of God , 184. 240 Dura, “Das Opfer des Elias.” 241 Ibid. 242 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 30. “Kein cresam, fahnen noch weihrauch, dein Kertz noch Weihwasser er (L.) braucht, das gottlich wordt und sein gebet sampt der gleubigen dartzu thet.” 128

Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann adapts the theme of Elijah and the Baal priests in order to clearly place the donors on the side of ‘true’ faith. The Baal priests, formerly in the right foreground of the painting with Elijah in order to create a clear comparative comparison, now are pushed to the far right side trailing away into the distance. Elijah and his altar are placed slightly left of center, allowing the family to surround Elijah’s altar and thereby number among his followers. A more fiery pyrotechnic display erupts on the altar behind them, confirming Elijah’s God as the ‘true’ God and emphasizing that prayers alone redeem Elijah. Once again, Cranach the Elder carries a jug of water as a witness to the event and an aid in the dissemination of true faith. Another jug rests on the ground between the last two Hofmann boys on the left, implicating their role propagators of ‘true’ faith. In placing themselves with Elijah, the donors align themselves with the followers of the true God and, surrounding the altar, mark themselves among the community of Lutheran believers who publically confess the Word.

Similarly, the next two epitaphs, The Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16] and Epitaph for Anna Badehorn [Figure 18], use comparison to implicate the path to salvation by adapting the well-known and widely disseminated print Law and Gospel [Figure 25] to an epitaph format. As a particularly well-known Reformation subject that appeared in several different versions, a great deal of literature has already been dedicated to understanding the subject. Covering every aspect of the composition is beyond the scope of this dissertation. 243 However, a discussion and analysis of the most common printed

243 To my mind, two of the most interesting aspects discussed in this literature are the derivation of the subject from the subject of Hercules at the crossroads and the search for the first iterations of the work as Law and Gospel. For Hercules at the Crossroads, see Erwin Panofsky, Herkules am Scheidwege und andere antike Bildstoffe in der neueren Kunst (Leipzig-Berlin, 1930), 39-42. For the first iterations, proposed to be 129 version [Figure 25] is valuable, concentrating on how it would have likely been received by a Lutheran audience, how the composition is adapted to an epitaph format, and the relevance of the theme to Luther’s conception of the two realms. Doing so leads most directly to a translation of the visual language of the print into epitaph form.

Luther’s own words from 1522 describe Law and Gospel in terms of Lutheran faith:

The Law is the Word in which God teaches and tells us what we are to do and not to do, as in the Ten Commandments. Now wherever human nature is alone, without the grace of God, the Law cannot be kept, because since Adam’s fall in Paradise man is corrupt and has nothing but a wicked desire to sin… The other Word of God is not Law or commandment, nor does it require anything of us; but after the first Word, that of the Law, has done this work and distressful misery and poverty have been produced in the heart, God comes and offers His lovely, living Word, and promises, pledges, and obligates Himself to give grace and help, that we may get out of this misery and that all sins not only be forgiven but also blotted out… See this divine promise of His grace and of the forgiveness of sin is properly called Gospel. 244

The two interdependent concepts are inextricably intertwined so much so that they were routinely used side by side. 245 As Robert Kolb explains, “Luther used the concept of being at the same time totally righteous and totally sinful to assure the troubled conscience that its experience of its own sinfulness cannot deny the reality pronounced by God’s Word of forgiveness and new life.” 246 In Luther’s Small Catechism , the reformer reinforces the connection between the pull of sin and the certainty of salvation

in the work of Hans Holbein the Younger from his work with Erasmus, see Dieter Koepplin, “On Holbein’s Painting of the Pauline Creed of Law and Grace” in Hans Holbein the Younger: The Basel Years 1515- 1532 , edited by Christian Muller, Stephan Kemperdick, and Maryan W. Ainsworth, (Basel: Prestel Verlag GmbH & Company KG, 2006) 79-96. 244 Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 126. 245 Melanchthon, Loci , 4.47. Reproduced in Koepplin, “On Holbein’s Painting of the Pauline Creed of Law and Grace,” 82. 246 Robert Kolb, “The Influence of Luther’s Galatians Commentary of 1535 on Later Sixteenth-Century Commentaries on Galatians,” 176. 130 in faith, affirming his belief that Jesus Christ “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature [by the law], delivered me and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with silver and gold but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death.” 247 Christ alone fulfills the demands of the law in his passion, death, and total obedience to God, promising salvation to all those who believe in him. 248

In Reformation artworks, the dichotomy is pictured on two sides of a bisected composition. On the left side, the side of law, a man is driven into Hell spurred by demons and death. Moses oversees the flight, while pointing to tablets containing the Ten

Commandments. Adam and Eve stand at the apple tree behind him. These scenes symbolize the inception of human sin and the inability of humans to satisfy the law, resulting only in damnation. Christ sits overhead in halo of clouds, completely disconnected from the people below. Conversely, the right side of the image features

John the Baptist guiding the gaze of the everyman, representing humanity, to a crucified

Christ on the hillside. In return, Christ’s redeeming blood strikes the figure of the everyman, marking him for salvation and picturing the direct connection between Christ and his followers imagined by Luther. To the right of John and the everyman, Christ resurrects from his tomb holding his banner of victory, reminding the viewer that through his sacrifice they will live again. A centrally-located Tree of Hope marks the boundary between the two sides, reflecting how the message would have been received by a

247 Luther, Small Catechism . Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 157. 248 Kolb, “The Influence of Luther’s Galatians Commentary of 1535 on Later Sixteenth-Century Commentaries on Galatians,” 163. 131

Lutheran audience. Leaves wither and die on the law side, showing the futility of following the law. Having produced despair, the Law’s work is done, the soul is prepared, and God’s promise produces healthy blooms that flourish under the influence of gospel, promising the salvation to come.

The language used to describe Law and Gospel is strikingly similar to Luther’s discussion of the two realms. An example is seen in Luther’s description of the two realms in On Temporal Authority (1523):

For this reason one must carefully distinguish between these two governments. Both must be permitted to remain; the one to produce righteousness, the other to bring about external peace and prevent evil deeds. Neither one is sufficient in the world without the other. No one can become righteous in the sight of God by means of the temporal government, without Christ’s spiritual government. Christ’s government does not extend over all men; rather, Christians are always a minority in the midst of non-Christians. Now where temporal government or law alone prevails, there sheer hypocrisy is inevitable, even though the commandments be God’s very own. For without the Holy Spirit in the heart no one becomes truly righteous, no matter how fine the works he does. On the other hand, where the spiritual government alone prevails over land and people, there wickedness is given free rein and the door is open for all manner of rascality, for the world as a whole cannot receive or comprehend it. 249

Luther’s commentary on Genesis echoes the same sentiment.

The doctrine of the Law should be retained because it is necessary for the preservation of discipline. Therefore the Law should be kept very rigidly, just as Abraham upholds Ishmael, Joseph upholds Manasseh, etc. For the Law must not be cast aside because of the promise of grace, but it must be taught in order that discipline and the doctrine concerning good works may be retained, and in order that we may be instructed to know and humble ourselves after we have sinned. This is the true and necessary use of the Law. For in this life we need government and parents, who uphold discipline by means of rewards and punishments and who keep the Law and govern and direct their conduct in a godly and prudent manner according to the norm of the Law. 250

249 LW 45:92. Quoted and translated in Whitford, ““ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis,” 45, note 13. 250 On Genesis 48:16-17, LW 8:170, WA 44: 703. Quoted and translated in Whitford, ““ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis,” 50-51. 132

These admittedly rather lengthy quotes can be more simply boiled down to this: in

Luther’s mind, there were connections between the law-driven, external, physical realm lead by magistrates and the internal, spiritual, Gospel-driven realm. 251 In terms of the individual, the Law teaches that while the sins of Adam and Eve have doomed humanity for failure, these sins are also the base needed to prepare an individual for salvation from the Gospel. On a community scale, the Law serves to protect the worldly peace but is dissociated from God. Despite reliance on God for salvation, law is still necessary to find peace.

The implications for Luther’s association can be seen in revisions to the structure of the typical Law and Gospel from print into paint in the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16] and Epitaph for Anna Badehorn [Figure 18]. Instead of ordering compositional elements into the traditional left/law and right/gospel format, a format which would result in the placement of the male sitters on the side of damnation, the Cranach epitaphs shift the pieces around. As Bonnie Noble notes of the Weimar Altarpiece , “Biblical events in the background and contemporary sixteenth-century events and figures in the foreground, including Luther and Cranach, appear on an axis that intersects with the left and right lines of Law and Gospel: The axis of biblical past and sixteenth–century present intersects with the axis of gospel and law.” 252 In her reading, the donor in the place of the everyman-- Cranach in the Weimar Altarpiece and the son in a loin cloth 253 in Epitaph for

251 Wright notes this connection clearly on pages 13-14 and 114-115. 252 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 147. 253 A comparison of these two epitaphs makes the supposition that the Badehorn son was already deceased more likely since not only was Luther deceased at the time of the Weimar Altarpiece painting but also Cranach the Elder died if not before completion, then soon after. 133

Anna Badehorn -- exist with the resurrected Christ and the Crucified Christ before what can still read as a left and right division of the 1529 Law and Gospel print with death and the devil chasing the everyman into hell as indicated by a small fire at the base of the mountain and, in Epitaph for Anna Badehorn , Adam and Eve in the background. On the right side, Moses, holding the Tablets of the Law, and the prophets stand in the middle ground, while the background is dominated by Israelite tents surrounding the brazen serpent. 254 In the far distance, in the center of the image, an angel announces the birth of

Christ to the Shepherds, predicting the salvation to come.

Noble’s suggestion that the Weimar Altarpiece appears on an axis makes sense in terms of the epitaph composition and previous manifestations of the spiritual realm. The

Crucified Christ and Resurrected Christ appear close to the foreground in larger scale in order to indicate they are symbols of the spiritual realm becoming visible amidst a community of believers. What Noble does not address is why the subject of Law and

Gospel is in the background and what implications the construction has for an epitaph.

Surely Cranach is the everyman, and it can be said that it was through his partnership with Luther that the subject of Law and Gospel first arose, justifying the inclusion of the narrative in the background. This does not deal with why the Badehorn family felt comfortable choosing it as a background narrative. Rather than answering with a reason, another question best leads to potential motivating factors: why does the resurrected

Christ stand on the left and Moses on the right? Wouldn’t the image be better read as a

254 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 128-129. The brazen serpent was an Old Testament prototype for the Crucifixion, and as such it could be and was sometimes located on the law side. The story also serves as an example of sola fide because the Israelites were saved when they listened to and had faith in Moses, following his directions and elevating the serpent. Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 38. 134 contemporary versus biblical if Moses stood in his traditional place on the left near the sinner being driven into hell? By asking these questions, another dimension of the painting comes into view-- one that has been partially drawn out by Koerner. He argues that Moses is intended to be read as Luther’s antitype in part due to similarities in their pose. 255 While this observation works for the Weimar Altarpiece , it does not work for

Epitaph for Anna Badehorn . Rather, the dark diagonal of trees running into the distance falls in line with the diagonal of Cranach and Luther, placing them in line with the worldly, law-governed scenes yet in the presence of divine Christ and, in Cranach’s case certainly, saved by redeeming blood. The arrangement is slightly altered in Epitaph for

Anna Badehorn , with the axis more closely following the frame with only a slight diagonal than from corner to corner in order to accommodate the large Badehorn family.

Therefore, it seems best to argue that in both epitaphs, Cranach harnessed the theology and visual language to demonstrate that the commemorated individuals reside in both realms simultaneously, pointing to their sinful nature as well as their belief in redemption through Christ alone. This redemption is not only witnessed but achieved for Cranach, who is struck on the head with a spurt of blood. 256 Thus his sinful nature is confessed, but, unlike the Everyman being driven into hell, Cranach, along with Luther, open to the grace of God and true faith to find salvation.

255 Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art , 407. It should be noted here that Luther points to the following scriptures in his open book according to Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 239, note 133. 1 John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”; Hebrews 4:16: “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”; and John 3:14-15: “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” 256 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 179. 135

The next epitaph, Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46], uses the subject of the

Vineyard of the Lord to demonstrate the Lutheran reformers as heirs to the kingdom of

God. The theme of the Vineyard of the Lord is adapted from a biblical passage about a landowner hiring workers. 257 The landowner pays the same amount to the worker who has agreed to work all day and to the worker who was hired late in the day. The workers who came early are upset, but the landowner is adamant. “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 258 Similarly, Catholics protested Lutheran reforms, but the reformers, like the latecomers, are equally entitled to be heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven as those who have been there longer.

Precedent for the subject of God’s Vineyard in Epitaph for Paul Eber , is found in

Erhard Schön’s God’s Lament for the Fate of his Vineyard (1532) [Figure 47]. 259 The print depicts entry into the vineyard through a narrow gate, evoking the idea of true believers entering through the gate into the spiritual realm. On the other side, to the furthest left, stands an evangelical preacher who says “Blessed are those who hear the

Word of God, and keep it, and act according to it.”260 He directs the audience to a

Crucified Christ, who is surrounded by healthy vines filled with grapes representative of redeeming blood. At the base of the cross, a well of water, presumably fed by Christ, flows into a stream, representative of baptism, which in turn waters new growth in the vineyard. 261 Angels tend to the new shoots under the supervision of God the Father, who helps others clear away dead growth. The source of decay is identified as Catholic priests

257 The passage is from Matthew 20: 1-16 [New International Version]. 258 Matthew 20: 16 [New International Version]. 259 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 67. 260 Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , 190. 261 Ibid. 136 on the right led by the Pope. The vines they foster hold neither Christ nor newly sprouting grapes, but objects of veneration disavowed by Lutherans: rosaries, reliquaries, monstrances, images, indulgences, bells, vestments, and holy water, among others. 262 The troublemakers flee from the new cultivators under the fence, making room for new growth to flourish in the garden.

Eber’s epitaph alters the imagery of the print, retaining the format of a divided vineyard accessible only through a narrow gate. An earthen wall bisects the mountain into two halves, placing sixteenth-century Lutheran reformers, including Luther,

Melanchthon, and Eber, rather than generic figures, in a flourishing vineyard on the right side. In contrast, the papists on the left destroy their portion of the vineyard. Priests dressed according to their varying ranks pull out healthy growth and dump rocks into the well. Their leader, the Pope, ignores the destruction and leaves the hillside through the narrow gate, representative of the entry into the kingdom of God in previous panels, to the left. There he meets Christ, who he greets by reaching his hand for the bag of coins

Christ is carrying as payment. An inscription on the frame below the panel illuminates the comparison between reformers and papists:

Feel wonder o meek reader, /For what it was of a rare picture./ As does stand in this city,/ And many have come forward in./ So diligently know and notice it./ What interpretation has the two groups./ The hill represents the Christian church,/ Therein are unholy and pious people./ On one side are Papists,/ Who are godless, unholy and insolent./ The split of God’s Vineyard,/ That he had smoothly built through./ The fountain of life they also fill/ Through their work, surrounded by God’s grace;/ God’s word eclipsed also,/ Which clearly illuminated in all places./ In contrast on the other side,/ Stands many steam(?) loud people,/ With their tools all,/ That one should have in the Vineyard./ They move, cut, bundle, chop,/ The hill of God they again build,/ They erase all the false teaching,/ God does

262 Ibid. 137

advocate felicitously,/ The fountain of life also runs clear,/ Again it is nicely clear./ And again makes evident/ God’s grace, which was eclipsed before./ The right side O pious Christian,/ Of this is skillful painting./ Whole thanks to God for his grace,/ Which he has again given to us in his word. 263

In their attentiveness to tending the vineyard, the Lutherans show themselves to be the protectors of the Gospel and substantiate the claim that they follow the true faith despite their newcomer status.

The problem seen in using a comparative biblical narrative in Law and Gospel is solved in this epitaph by crowding Eber and his family on a mound on the right side of the panel rather than equally on both sides in the foreground. In doing so, the artist visually aligns them with the men working on the right side of the mountain. This alignment is reinforced by the complimentary black clothes of the sitters and the gardeners. In contrast, Catholic followers appear in various warm colors, reinforcing the division between left and right. The vineyard the papal party exits is almost barren. A large section of empty land stretches from the top of the hill to the bottom along the diving line, making the message clear. The pope and his followers have destroyed God’s vineyard with their actions while the reformers tend to the Gospel and the Christian flock

263 The text below each side reinforces the idea that the left side is filled with greedy people who destroy what has been built on God’s word, filling the well of life and hiding God’s grace. In contrast, the right side is filled with “brave scholarly people” working to keep the vineyard clear and the well of life available. Original text reproduced in Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 53. The translation is mine. “Wundern magst dich o leser mildt,/ Was das sey fur ein seltzam Bildt./ So stehenn thutt ann diser stadt, / und viell gemeldes inn sich hatt. / So wiss und mercke vleissigk drauff. / Was deutung hann die zwene hauff. / Der Bergk die christlich Kirche bedeutt, / darin sinds böss und frumme Leuhtt. / Auff einer seitt Papistenn sinndt, / Ein gottloss, boss und frech gesinndt./ Die reissenn gottes Weinberg einn, / So er gebawtt durchs wortte feinn. / Den Brunn dess Lebens sie auch füln / Durch Ihre Werk, gotts gnad zuhüln; / Verfinstern also gottes Wortt, /Das leüchtet klar an allem Ortt./ Dagegenn auff der ander seitt, / Stehenn viell dapffer gelarter Leuhtt, / Mit ihrenn Instrumentenn all, /So mann Im Weinnberg haben soll. / Die reümen, schneiden, binden, hawenn,, /Den Bergk gottes sie wieder bawenn,/ Sie tilgen aus all falschen lehr, /Thun trewlich fördern gottes her, / Den Brunn des lebens auch gar rein,/ Sie wider thun aufreumen feinn. /Unnd machenn wieder offennbar / Gottes Gnad, so vor verfinstert war. / Die Recht meinung O frommer Christ, / Dieses kunstreichenn Bildes ist. /Drumb danck du got für seine gnadt, / Das er sein Wortt uns wieder geben hatt.” 138 with great care, standing as the new inheritors of the kingdom of God. Paul Eber aligns with these men, demonstrating his support for Luther and Melanchthon, projecting a

Lutheran confession in contrast to Catholicism, contributing to the confessional identity of the Wittenberg City Church, and demonstrating his qualifications to lead.

Summary

A few themes can be developed from analysis of each epitaph. First, representations of core Lutheran doctrine, many of which first appeared in the

Schneeberg Altarpiece , evolve through repetition to establish a language for Lutheran statements of faith. Their reappearance over time evidences the Schneeberg subjects as timeless in the minds of sixteenth-century Lutherans. Similarly, themes underscoring the sitters’ recognition of the invisible spiritual realm reappear throughout the century beginning with the first extant epitaph, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14] and continuing through the last epitaph to be labeled as from the hand of Cranach the

Younger, Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40]. Donors show a continued interest in demonstrating their ability to recognize that to which others have been blind. In contrast, subjects dedicated to specific practices of the church appear with less frequency and are more confined to a specific period.

These observations dovetail with an observation by Robert Scribner regarding the development of Reformation prints. Beginning with Kempf’s The Difference between the

True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist (c. 1550)

[Figure 29], prints work to distinguish what constitutes the Lutheran Church from other

139

Christians. 264 Scribner sees the depiction of sacraments in this print as a new stage of development, as “ritual ceremonies, that, more than any other, single out not just a set of doctrines or belief but identify a Church as a community of acting believers. The propaganda thus takes its readers along the road to the institutionalization of the new movement.” 265 It is important to note the historical context in conjunction with these changes. In the early 1550s the shift toward religious tolerance had already started, culminating with the 1555 Peace of Augsburg and the shift of official responsibility for determining the faith of an area turning toward individuals rather than empire. Thus the confessions and practices portrayed in Cranach’s epitaphs were particularly important in determining the appearance of religion during these crucial early years of hardening lines of reform in the temporal realm. The next chapter considers the influence of that realm, including the personal lives of the commemorated, on the content of their confessions.

264 Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , 205. 265 Ibid.

140

Chapter 3: In the Temporal World

Lutheran identity was closely tied to, if not inseparable from political loyalties, national and regional allegiances, social identity, and religious beliefs. 266 For Lutheran leaders, those charged with the care of the external church and the faith for their subjects, these ties were particularly salient. Twenty-three of the twenty-four panels memorialize nobility or secular magistrates: their identity crafted through an intricate interplay between faith and leadership. By commissioning one of these panels, an individual documented their desire to construct an image of strong Lutheran leadership, present their support of Lutheran belief, and project their hope that their territories maintain a Lutheran confession of faith after their death. A source of motivation for these commissions can be found in an attempt to fulfill the governance role bestowed upon them by God, including promoting true faith in an effort to preserve peace in their jurisdiction.

In the Cranach epitaphs, references to social status or political power are limited to only a few markers. To some degree dress, accoutrements, and crests develop a sense of wealth and social stratification while helping to establish the identity of the sitter.

However, status and lineage are secondary to subjugation before Christ as an unworthy sinner. Limited reference to worldly identity adheres to the description of the spiritual

266 Rein, The Chancery of God , xiv. Of the sixteenth-century city of Magdeburg in particular, Rein says “civic culture was dominated by a strong identification with city and locale, a powerful commitment to both Protestantism and local autonomy, and stalwart egalitarianism coupled with a commoner’s prudent suspicion of the motivations of great lords.” Rein, 13. 141 realm. Here, humanity is equal and God alone rules. It is in the physical realm that the commemorated would demonstrate their God-given leadership roles. Indeed, the careful placement of the donors on a defined segment of land in the foreground as well as the direction of the sitters’ gazes into the space of the church appeal to the space beyond the painting. As will be shown, public display of the epitaphs in the physical church, representative of the temporal realm of man, supports the hypothesis that the commemorated appear as participants in the liturgical activities of the church based upon their God-given social roles in the secular realm. This identity is subtly reinforced in the choice of background subject, which often alludes to actions in support of Lutheranism.

A brief review of the Lutheran conception of social stratification is useful before commencing with analysis of the artworks. David Whitford has provided an especially clear description of the hierarchy. He notes first that Luther used two different terms when describing the two realms. The first term, Zwei Reiche Lehre , refers to the two spheres of humanity’s existence, one coram deo (before God) in the geistliche Reich

(spiritual realm) and one coram hominibus (before humanity) in the weltiche Reich

(worldly realm). 267 Whitford explains that “the spiritual realm is not governed hierarchically. In this realm all Christians are equal. Whereas the spiritual realm is eternal and proleptic, the secular is finite and fleeting. Here law and convention instead of

267 David M. Whitford, “ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis,” 44. It should be noted that Whitford divides government in the temporal realm into two regiments: “The first ( das geistliche Regiment ) is the spiritual government of the church exercised through the proclamation of the Word of God and proper administration of the sacraments. The second ( das weltliche Regiment ) is the worldly government of emperors, rulers, and ruled, which is governed by law and enforced by coercion.” For the purposes of this study, the division is only important as it pertains to personal confessions of faith, for, as Luther notes, “Neither one is sufficient in the world without the other.” (LW 45:92) Quoted and translated in Whitford, 45. 142 service are definitive; it is the realm of reason and unbelief.” 268 In the worldly realm,

Lutherans were expected to act to the best of their abilities in the office bestowed upon them by God, honoring their Lord by honoring his will for them. Commissioning a memorial could demonstrate adherence to Lutheran faith. Bearing witness to the truths of the Bible and maintaining participation in the temporal church even after death, the leaders demonstrate the support of Lutheranism deemed necessary for Lutheran leaders.

The location of the epitaphs within the church space reinforces the strength of their claim by referencing where the sitters fell on the social hierarchy.

In the Church Community

Scholars have noted how epitaphs dominated the visual landscape of Early

Modern Lutheran churches. Maria Deiters’ research in particular deals with this issue, describing how “the proliferation of memorials for individuals and families shaped the

Lutheran church space decisively. For anyone entering the church, this visual aspect instantly distinguished it both from Reformed and post-Reformation Catholic church interiors.” 269 In her study on the arrangement of epitaphs in the Lutheran St. Nikolai church in Berlin, Deiters also argues that the placement of epitaphs for high-ranking

Lutherans in proximity to the altar and pulpit placed them in the everlasting communion sanctorum , allowing the commemorated to continue “through their likeness” to be active participants in the church community after death. 270 In contrast to Catholic epitaphs,

268 Whitford, ““ Cura Religionis or Two Kingdoms: The Late Luther on Religion and the State in the Lectures on Genesis,” 44. 269 Deiters, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space: Post-Reformation Furnishings in the Parish Churches of St. Nikolai and St. Marien in Berlin.,” 95. 270 Ibid., 76-77. 143 which may or may not be found in a high traffic area of the church, Lutheran epitaphs were publically placed near liturgical centers, reinforcing their position as active congregants in the spiritual realm as well as secular leaders in the temporal realm.

Available information about the display of the Cranach epitaphs reinforces

Deiters’ findings. As has been noted in Chapter One, the portraits of most individuals or families lie directly between the viewer and religious imagery. Moreover, the sitters do not indicate that they physically see the subject in the background. Rather, they direct their attention, indicated by the turn of their bodies and their gaze, back into the church.

While often unfocused, the gaze is not always directionless. Sitters’ eyes turn toward the altar, font, and pulpit--the liturgical centers of the church. The direction of their gaze heightens the illusion that the sitters continue to hold their place in the community of faithful hearing the Word of God and witnessing the visible external signs of the church.

In churches built to be Lutheran, as opposed to those converted from pre-Reformation structures, an open floor plan promoting community and the ability to hear and see the

Word preached would also have allowed a more direct sight line between portraits of the commemorated and church activities. 271 Epitaphs for higher-ranking individuals held space on the walls closer to the centers of the church-- the altar, the pulpit, and the baptismal font-- demonstrating that secular authority influenced the placement of the epitaph in the church and underscoring the influence of an individual’s work in the temporal realm on their epitaph commissions. Displayed prominently in the church, the sitters oversee the liturgical activates of the church, forwarding a confession of faith with

271 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 402. 144 the authority of their temporal position to encourage the congregation to maintain their

Lutheran faith despite religious upheavals.

Display of the Cranach Epitaphs in Wittenberg City Church

Information regarding the original placement of the Cranach epitaphs in the church space is limited. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the largest grouping of extant Cranach epitaphs and the most complete records reside in the Wittenberg City Church, the community in which Cranach the Elder and Cranach the Younger were themselves active participants and the home church of Martin Luther. Twelve of the epitaphs in this study were hung in and around the City Church. St. Nikolai in Leipzig is also well-represented with four extant epitaphs from the Cranach workshop, but the epitaphs are now dispersed to various Leipzig city collections and original records have not been located. Two epitaphs decorated the now destroyed St. Mary in Dessau, their original location uncertain. Of the remaining six epitaphs, two served as altarpieces, one is now in a private collection with the original location unknown, and the other three were simply the only epitaphs from the Cranach workshop in the commissioners’ home churches.

With the highest concentration of epitaphs and the most complete records for original placement, the Wittenberg City Church provides more information on the display of epitaphs in a single location than the other churches holding Cranach epitaphs. 272

Twentieth-century visitors to the church can still find numerous sculpted and painted memorials filling the walls and floors inside and outside of the church, eight of them

272 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , contains meticulous research on all the epitaphs in Wittenberg. As such this section relies heavily on her work. 145 from the workshop of Lucas Cranach the Younger [Appendix D]. 273 Most of the remaining panels now surround the choir, but originally they were much more evenly dispersed throughout the interior of the church [Appendix E]. 274 Doreen Zerbe’s extensive research on all of the Reformation epitaphs in Wittenberg City Church offers a useful way to categorize the epitaphs using four primary social groups from which they were commissioned: nobility, clerics, city officials, and university members. 275 This arrangement by vocation corresponds to what Zerbe calls the three spheres of influence in

Wittenberg: the princely residence, the city officials in the church and town hall, and the university. 276 Zerbe notes that these “ Eliten Wittenbergs ” were closely tied to the fate of the city. 277 Their elevated status is reflected in the distribution of epitaphs in the church.

A description of the arrangement of epitaphs by vocation clearly indicates that secular station influenced how epitaphs were displayed. Only one memorial commissioned by a noble family was painted by the Cranach workshop. Epitaph for

Gregor Lamberg [Figure 24] originally hung in the choir on the second pillar from the east facing the back wall. 278 Lamberg’s epitaph was in good company there. The majority of the nine noble memorials documented in the church in 1604, with only Lamberg’s from the Cranach workshop, hung in the choir, indicating that their high status earned them a privileged spot around the altar. From his epitaph inscription, we know that

273 The current locations are also documented in the Wittenberg Stadt- und Pfarrkirche information guide [unpublished], pages 3 and 4. 274 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 467-470 contains maps of the historically documented locations of all the City Church epitaphs. 275 Ibid. 276 Ibid., 57-58. 277 Ibid., 58. 278 Ibid., 467. 146

Gregor was a Baron of Lamberg and Lord of Saustein, Haugsdorf, and Manpreiss. 279

School records document his sudden death in 1558 during his first year at the University of Wittenberg. His entry record in the University register reads only ‘Dominus Gregorius

Baro a Lamberg’ and includes the footnote ‘hic pie defunctus est Vitebergae’, which translates as he “died here a pious man.” 280 Unlike the other Cranach epitaphs, a portrait of the donor is conspicuously absent. Instead, the entire panel is filled with a Resurrection of Christ. In consideration of the importance of civic leadership in Lutheran ideology and the lack of examples of epitaphs for younger Lutherans, the omission of a portrait of a youth who has not had the opportunity to fully develop his authority is not surprising, even if that individual was a member of the nobility. It could be that Gregor’s limited time in the temporal realm prevented him from acquiring authority as it was defined by

Luther’s directives. This contention is supported by the use of stock Reformation imagery in the background, which lacks references to specific actions found in other epitaphs.

279 Ibid., 503-504, translated from Latin into German, written by his house father at the university, Viet Winsheim Örtel the Elder. The surname Lamberg is alternatively spelled Lambergk. “Epitaph für den edlen Herrn Gregor, Baron von Lambergk und Herrn von Saustein, Haugsdorf und Manpreiss, verfaßt von seinem Verwandten, Herrn Heinrich, Herrn von Starenberg und Wildberg. Wen du noch heut in der Blüte siehst, morgen schon ist er ein Toter:/ Was sind wir Elenden doch- Schatten nur sind wir und Staub!/ Schatten nur sind wir und Staub, zum Ende, dem einen, wir jagen./ Wer zu sterben versteht, dem wird Erlösung zuteil. So hat auch unseren Gregor, den Spross Lambergischen Blutes, / Plötzlich verlassen das Licht, dem er sein Leben gedankt./ Aber sein Geist, er lebt, ging ein zur himmlischen Veste. / Hier im Grabe ruht sanft nur sein totes Gebein. Gregor Baron von Lamberg, im Sterben: / Während ich, Christus, dir folge und nur das eine begehre: Dass deine Lehre mir klar fließe aus lauterem Quell,/ Folgst du auch mir und reißt mich heraus aus der Blüte der Jugend, / Also sterbe ich gern, dein heiliger Wille geschehe:/ Möge ich immer um dich, ewig der deine nur sein! Viet Winsheim Senior. Distichon zum Gedenken des Hingangs: Hinter mir hab ich gelassen das Tal des Lebens am ersten Tag im August: erlöst durch den lebendigen Gott. 280 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 502; Steinwachs and Pietsch, Evangelische Stadt- Und Pfarrkirche St. Marien Lutherstadt Wittenberg (Spröda: Edition Akanthus, 2000), 64. 147

In contrast, the two clerics commemorated in epitaphs in the choir, Epitaph for

Johannes Bugenhagen [Figure 22] and Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46], have established authority that is reinforced through their inclusion in more than one artwork.

Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen originally resided on the east wall of the choir on the southern half of the wall. 281 The panel commemorates the legacy of Bugenhagen’s faith and service as one of Wittenberg’s most prominent theologians. 282 His accomplishments include appointments as the first Lutheran pastor of Wittenberg City Church beginning in

1523, 283 the first Lutheran Superintendent-General beginning in 1532, 284 and a theologian on the Wittenberg University faculty beginning in 1535. His Superintendent-General position, which he held for thirty-five years until his death in 1558, was created to be specific to the Electoral Saxon provinces. This official was charged with inspection of parish offices to insure that pastors, among other things, "fulfilled their official duties, delivered good sermons, administered the sacraments properly, used the catechism to instruct children and youngsters, and provided pastoral care. The inspectors would also look into the parish finances, the livelihood of parsons, teachers' pay, and old-age pensions for widows." 285 In short, Bugenhagen oversaw many of the external manifestations of the Saxon Lutheran church. Furthermore, he served as the personal confessor to Martin Luther and was the writer of orders for newly converted Lutheran

281 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 468. 282 Wolf, “Bugenhagen, Johannes.” 283 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 23. Bugenhagen began his career as a student of humanism while studying in Greifswald in 1502/04, moving to Wittenberg in 1521 under the influence of Luther’s Babylonian Captivity of the Church and gaining favor with key reformers. He succeeded Simon Heinsius (d. 1522) as the first Protestant pastor on Michaelmas Day (September 29), 1523. Bugenhagen lived 1485-1558. 284 Bugenhagen held the position of Superintendent-General for thirty-five years from 1532 until his death in 1558. 285 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 107. 148 churches during the early years of reform. Originally, the epitaph would have appeared in a now-lost frame that included the Bugenhagen coat of arms and an inscription, making the identification unquestionable. 286

Bugenhagen’s role as a Lutheran secular leader, that is a leader maintaining peace through the promotion of Lutheranism in the temporal realm, is reinforced by his appearance in two additional portraits in the space surrounding the altar. 287 The most visible of these portraits is in the right wing of the Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7].

Here, Bugenhagen, wearing the same fur-trimmed coat seen in his epitaph, acts as a confessor to Wittenberg parishioners. With one of St. Peter’s keys in each hand,

Bugenhagen demonstrates the power to loose and to bind by forgiving the sins of a kneeling parishioner while a second man walks away with his hands still bound. 288

Bugenhagen’s placement next to Luther disguised as Junker Jörg in the center and

Philipp Melanchthon baptizing an infant in the left wing establishes him as one of the three major figureheads of the Lutheran church. His authority and place among the

Wittenberg theologians, particularly Philippist Lutherans, is reiterated in Epitaph for Paul

Eber [Figure 46].289 In the background of Eber’s epitaph, Bugenhagen works with other early reformers, including Luther and Melanchthon, to tend to the thriving vineyard of

286 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 182; Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 492. Bugenhagen’s tombstone inscription, which was originally near the panel, has been preserved. It reads “Epitaph des ehrwürdigen Herrn Johannes Bugenhagen aus Pommern, Doktors der Theologie und Pastors an der Wittenberger Kirche, gestorben den 20. April 1558, im 73. Jahr seinse Lebens. Hier unterm Steine begraben ruhn Doktor” Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 497-98. 287 The circulation of portrait prints of famous men, Bugenhagen included, also played a role in the construction of authority and the recognition of Bugenhagen’s secular achievements. 288 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 329. 289 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 26. In Paul Eber’s epitaph, Bugenhagen wears the coat of a superintendent- general. 149

Lord on the right side of the painting. Each figure performs a function relating to their part in maintaining Lutheran reforms. Bugenhagen, wearing his superintendent-general’s coat, tidies the garden in reference to his organizational role writing new orders for individual towns whose leaders were adopting Lutheran reforms. 290 Bugenhagen’s inclusion in these two nearby artworks reinforces his temporal authority by referencing his actions as a leader in the Lutheran church and placing the pastor among other prominent reformers, creating a space in which he could remain as an ongoing influence overseeing and encouraging Lutheran parishioners and leaders alike.

The nearby Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46], which originally hung on the middle of the north wall above the entrance to the sacristy, commemorates the second

Wittenberg City Church Superintendent-General. In addition to his Superintendent-

General duties, Paul Eber aus Kitzingen/Franken (1511-1569) Eber, served as provost at the Schlosskirche since 1558 and as a professor of theology at the University. 291 He was close with the inner circle of Wittenberg reformers, forming a life-time bond with Philip

Melanchthon when he moved to Wittenberg in 1532 and accompanying Melanchthon to the Colloquy of Worms 292 in 1557 at the request of the elector. 293 Eber also was known as

290 Ibid., 51-52. 291 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 468. Eber is joined with his wife Helena Kuffner (d. 1569) and their fourteen children in prayer on a small hill distinct from an earthen road directly behind him in the foreground of the image. While fourteen children are depicted, only thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters, are documented on Helena Kuffner’s now-missing gravestone. Ten sons and four daughters are depicted here. The oldest daughter is probably Helena, who married Johann Leupold of Zwickau in 1566. Other known children include daughter Theodora and daughter-in-law Mary, both of whom were recently deceased. Mary, who was a daughter of Georg Major, was married to Eber’s son Paul (d. 1572), a mathematician. We also know the names of Timotheus (d. 1564 as a child), Martin, and Johannes (d. 1581), a teacher in Schulpforta and later a deacon in his father’s hometown of Kitzingen. 292 The Colloquy of Worms was an imperially-sanctioned discussion about controversial religious issues between Catholics and Protestants. 150 a hymn writer. His combined accomplishments would have made him a very visible member of the congregation.

Just as Bugenhagen’s authority is reinforced by his placement alongside

Wittenberg’s most prominent theologians in the Wittenberg Altarpiece , Eber’s authority is supplemented by his depiction among some of the most well-known early reformers working on the right side of the hill behind him. There, each individual performs a task complimentary to their work in defense of the Lutheran reforms. 294 In addition to

Bugenhagen, Luther removes ‘Roman weeds’ and Melanchthon draws water from the well in an allusion to his desire to go back to the sources ( ad fontes ). 295 Eber prunes vines and cuts back rank growth. Georg Major ties vines to stakes. Caspar Cruciger, who introduced the Reformation in Leipzig and aided in translating the Bible into the vernacular, is seen driving in stakes. Justus Jonas, who brought the Reformation to Halle and accompanied Luther to the Diet of Worms, digs the soil. 296 Georg Rörer,

Bugenhagen’s brother-in-law, a City Church deacon and a Lutheran tradent, 297 is picking

293 Robert Stupperich, “Eber, Paul,” in Neue Deutsche Biographie 4 (1959), 225. Accessed online April 14, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd118681524.html. In 1541, Eber joined the Wittenberg faculty as a professor of Latin Languages and later as a theology professor. 294 Albert Steinwachs, The Vineyard of the Lord: Epitaph for Paul Eber by Lucas Cranach “the Younger,” 1569 at St. Mary’s, the Parish Church in Wittenberg Town of Luther , (Spröda: Edition Akanthus, 2001), 18-21; Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 546-559. 295 Carlos Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin (Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 29. Ad fontes is in reference to the desire of scholars to return to the original biblical languages, in this case Greek, for in the words of Erasmus, “we have in Latin only a few small streams and muddy puddles, while they have pure springs and rivers flowing in gold.” 296 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 51-52. Matthias Flavius Illyricus, a vociferous Gnesio-Lutheran opponent of Philippists, appears on the Reformer side, throwing rocks on a dump outside the vineyard. The laborer spreading dung could be Georg Spalatin, secretary to the elector and liaison between Luther and his prince. 297 According to the Oxford Biblical Studies Online , a tradent is “One who is responsible for preserving and handing on the oral tradition, such as a teacher or preacher or missionary, in the form of apothegms or similar pericopae.” Accessed November 27, 2014. URL: http://www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com/article/opr/t94/e1941?_hi=0&_pos=8293. 151 up stones. Sebastian Fröschel, wearing a scholar’s coat with fur trim, throws them over the fence. Notably, the individuals working on the hill wear clothing indicative of their office to more clearly specify their contributions to the spread of ‘true faith.’ Working together, the reformers tend to a thriving vineyard, demonstrating proper conduct in the spiritual realm. Confessing his allegiance to their cause in a portrait in the foreground,

Eber exemplifies Melanchthon’s description in the Scholia of those people who have found the kingdom of Christ by showing, not earning, “their faith in good works and on account of God’s glory do all good to all, so that they invite many to knowledge of the gospel,” and by holding “public offices (if such are entrusted to them) with vigilance and courage.” 298 The placement of Eber’s epitaph near Bugenhagen’s in the choir strengthens the authority of Eber’s confession of faith and allows him to continue to supervise the actions of the church from beyond the grave.

As opposed to the nearby placement of the two clerics, the four city magistrate epitaphs are dispersed throughout the nave, surrounded by other city magistrates, rather than in the auspicious choir. 299 Epitaph for Georg Niemeck [Figure 2] was on the east side of the third northern column from the west, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13] was on the south-west side of the second northern column from the west, Epitaph for

Anna Niemeck neè Hetzer [Figure 11] was on the west side of the fourth southern column from the west, and Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus Wolkenstein [Figure 15] was on the south wall. 300 Grouping city officials in a specific area of the church refers to their

298 Quoted and translated from Melanchthon’s Scholia (1528) in Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms , 89-90. 299 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 469. 300 Ibid., 469. 152 civic status and the relative importance of the individual’s confession for the future of the city. A few words about each individual will clarify their authority, justifying the placement of their epitaphs in the church and establishing the credentials backing their confession of faith.

The men in the first three epitaphs were all brothers. Georg Niemeck (d. 1571) is identified in his German epitaph inscription to be a “respectable and wise” town magistrate ( Stadtrichter ). 301 Caspar Niemeck’s epitaph inscription simply says he is a citizen of Wittenberg, leaving some ambiguity as to his position, 302 although Bellmann identifies him as a city councilman. 303 In one place Zerbe says he held no city position, but was allowed an epitaph among other city magistrates by virtue of his family ties. 304 In another place, she indicates he was a Ratsverwandter (council member). 305 The latter classification is supported by his placement in the nave with other magistrates, although it may have been that he was a councilman for a guild rather than a city councilman—a position that would still have wielded authority. Caspar’s and Georg’s brother, also Anna

301 Ibid., 510. The first part of the inscription is: “Anno 1561. Den 22. Julii am Tage Mariae Magdalena ist der Erbar unnd Wolweise Herr Georg Niemeck sonst Kelner genant, Stadtrichter alhier in Gott selig entschlaffen.” The poem portion will be provided later in the chapter. 302 Ibid., 514. The full German text is: Vierzeiliges Chronogramm, Caspar streift ab die Fessel des Leibs, wie den Gürtel Orion/ Taucht in die wogende flut stets bei Anbruch des Tags./ Seine Gemahlin, wie einst ihm verbunden, sie hat unter Tränen/ Ihrem verstorbnen Gemahl dieses Denkmal gesetzt.” “Anno Domini M.D. LXII. Sonnabend nach aller Heiligen/ welcher war der siebende tag Novembris/ ist Caspar Niemeck genandt Kelner/ Bürger alhier zu Wittenbergk/ seines alters im fünff und viertzigsten Jahr/ in Gott vorschieden/ dem wolle Gott der Allmechtige eine seelige fröliche Aufferstehung bescheren/ Amen. “Michaes am V./ Und du Bethlehem Ephrata/ die du klein bist/ unter den Tausenten in Juda/ auß dir sol mir der kommen/ der in Israel Herr sey/ welches Außgang von Anfang und Ewig her gewest ist.” “Unnd der Engel sprach zu den Hirten/ Fürchtet euch nicht/ Sihe ich verkündige euch grosse Frewde die allem Volck widerfahren wirdt/ denn euch ist heute der Heyland geborn/ welcher ist Christus der Herr in der Stadt Dauid/ und das habt zum zeichen/ Ihr werdet finden das Kind in Windelein gewickelt/ und in einer Krippen liegen/ etc.” 303 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 182. 304 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 107. 305 Ibid., 461. 153

(d. 1573)’s husband, Christoph Niemeck (d. 1564) was certainly a magistrate as he is labeled in his epitaph as a judicious councilman ( verständigen Ratsherrn ).306 Similarly

Bartholomäus Vogel’s Latin inscription mentions his “honest and judicious manner,” his ties to the city, his work as a bookseller publishing Luther’s works, and his service on the town council. 307 Vogel’s epitaph closing underscores the perceived importance of these

306 Ibid., 576-80. The first part of the inscription is: “Diese Grabmal ließen der ehrbaren Frau Anna Hetzer aus Torgau, Gattin des verständigen Ratsherrn Christoph Niemeck, fromm verschieden am 18. Mai 1573, ihre Verwandten setzen.” “Auf der Suche nach Erz, verborgen im Innern der Erde, War ins Pannonische Land Christopher Niemeck gereist./ Fern der Leukoreischen Stadt und der teuren Gefährtin,/ Legte er endlich den Leib ab in der Fremde zuletzt./ Hätt’ er doch Ämter bekleidet, solide Geschäfte betrieben,/ Seinem Stande gemäß! Glücklich gewesen er wär! Wusste er ja gerechte Satzung den Bürgern zu geben,/ Und auf jegliche Art hielt er Grenze und Maß./ Doch jeder irrt eben so, wie er ist; wir verlassen zuweilen/ Unser sicherstes Gut, falschem Gewinn auf der Spur./ Anna indessen, sie mehrte daheim ihres Mannes Vermögen;/ Dies und ihr Glaube dazu halfen ihr gut durch die Zeit./ Und ihr gläubiger Geist, ein Hort des lebendigen Gottes,/ Blieb beharrlich und fest in der verordneten Pflicht./ Denn es entzündet fromme Gefühle der heilige Anhauch,/ Der von Vater und Sohn ausgeht und wirket im Wort./ Und wie nach der Vernunft sie die Bahn ihres Lebens beschritten- / Was ihr gesichert den Ruhm, treffliche Gattin zu sein-,/ So beschloss sie dieselbe, vertrauend auf Christi Verdienste,/ Gab dem Himmel den Geist wieder, der Erde den Leib./ Doch ihrer Asche sind bleibend verbunden Anstand und Keuschheit./ Und was Menschen und Gott liebend verbindet, der Glaub:/ Hier der gemeinsamen Rückkehr ins Licht des Lebens sie harren,/ Wenn die Leiber dereinst wieder der Himmel vereint.” The struggles faced in the secular world by a woman in fulfillment of her Lutheran duty are foregrounded in Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer [Figure 11]. Unusually, Anna’s epitaph inscription is critical of her husband’s choice to search for gold in Pannonia (Hungry), a decision that resulted in his death. Rather the text claims he would have been better off serving his office. In contrast, Anna is praised for staying home and being a good wife. ‘Her devout spirit, a stronghold for the living God, remained persistently and firmly in the prescribed duties.” Behind Anna stand three adults: one woman and two men. The identity of these figures is unknown, as Christoph and Anna were childless. An accompanying inscription offers some indication of their identity. The first line reads: “This grave left for the respectable Frau Anna Hetzer from Torgau, wife of the agreeable Council Christoph Niemeck, piously deceased on May 18, 1573, placed by her relatives.” Reproduced and translated from Latin to German in Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 579. “Diese Grabmal ließen der ehrbaren Frau Anna Hetzer aus Torgau, Gattin des verständigen Ratsherrn Christoph Niemeck, fromm verschieden am 18. Mai 1573, ihre Verwandten setzen.” The emphasis placed on her birth place and relatives has led Doreen Zerbe to the conclusion that the three figures are Anna’s family. It seems likely that Anna’s family did indeed commission the epitaph and had their portraits included behind her. However, there is not enough information to conclusively determine their identity. Steinwachs identifies the sitters as Lucas Niemeck and Anna Hetzer. He says Anna also appears in Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck with a first husband. However, Zerbe uses the inscriptions associated with the panels, documented in Balthasar Mentz, Syntagma Epitaphiorum. Uae in inclyta septemviratus saxonici metropolis Witeberga, diversis in locis splendidè honorificeque erecta conspiciuntur (Magdeburg: Ambrosius Kirchner, 1604) to demonstrate that the sitters are actually Christoph and Anna. (Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 57.) Steinwachs also spells Anna’s last name Hetzner rather than Hetzer. 307 Ibid., 535. Vogel’s publishing house was the first to publish a complete edition of Luther’s bible in 1534. As translated into English from Zerbe’s German translation. The full translation into German is: “Epitaph des ehrenwerten und verständigen Mannes Herrn Bartholomäus Vogel, Buchhändlers und 154 virtues recording that “Fifteen years as a worthy councilor has he worked here/ took care of legislation and laws, faith and moral prudency/ but after he completed thirteen lustrums [five year periods] of life/ he departed from here at last to his master and

God.” 308 For their service to the town of Wittenberg, these men earned the right to hang epitaphs in the nave of Wittenberg City Church.

Before moving on to epitaphs for university members, the importance of accompanying inscriptions should be reiterated. While Vogel’s inscription was in Latin, the Niemeck inscriptions are in German. All of the inscriptions specifically reference qualities complimentary to those listed in Melanchthon’s Scholia .309 Clearly the epitaphs proclaim the sitters’ belief in the truth of the gospel and Christ’s sacrifice. However, civic affiliation and the care and wisdom with which they fulfill their duties in public office are also emphasized, presumably to demonstrate how the individual, in Melanchthon’s words, “defends public peace with the authority of magistrates, with laws, judgments, punishments and war.” 310 The emphasis placed on secular identity, documented clearly in

Ratsherrn zu Wittenberg, der im Jahr des Herrn 1569, am 13. April, dem Mittwoch nach Ostern, fromm dahingegangen ist. Dargestellt findest du hier auf dem Bilde den Bartholomäus/ Vogel samt seiner Frau und der Nachkommenschaft./ Wolkenstein war der Geburtsort, die erste Heimat des Sprösslings,/ Doch zum Studium dann zog’s ihn nach Wittenberg fort./ Aber den Lauf seiner Studien hemmte die ärmliche Lage- / Änderte so seinen Stand: Bücher verkaufte er nun./ Und als erster gab er die lutherschen Schriften, des großen/ Mannes Vermächtnis, in Druck dank des erworbenen Gelds./ Siebenmal schenkte ihm Margar, die erste Gattin, ein Kindlein, / Doch der gierige Tod raffte sie allehinweg./ Barbara war, des Doktor Stelius Tochter, die zweite/ Ehefrau, die ihm geschenkt fünffache Frucht ihrer Lieb’. / Fünfzehn Jahre als würdiger Ratsherr hat er gewirkt hier,/ Hütete Recht und Geset, Glaube und sittliche Scham./ Aber nachdem er dreizehn Lustren des Lebens vollendet,/ Schied er von hinnen zuletzt in seinem Herren und Gott. Ihrem Gemahl hat dies Denkmal gesetzt seine treueste Gattin/ Samt der Nachkommenschaft aus dem Vogelschen Haus.” 308 Ibid., 535. “Fünfzehn Jahre als würdiger Ratsherr hat er gewirkt hier,/ Hütete Recht und Geset, Glaube und sittliche Scham./ Aber nachdem er dreizehn Lustren des Lebens vollendet,/ Schied er von hinnen zuletzt in seinem Herren und Gott.” 309 Wright, Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms , 89-90. Referenced previously on page 192 and 202. 310 Ibid. Although presumably war is not an issue in these particular epitaphs. 155 inscriptions, reinforces the contention that proper conduct in both realms was an important aspect of identity for Lutheran leaders.

The five epitaphs dedicated to university members similarly include inscriptions that emphasize the sitter’s call to public duty, their qualities as a Lutheran model of faith, as well as their familial ties and friendship affiliations with well-known reformers, bolstering claims to authority and strengthening their confession of faith from their epitaph to the church audience. Hung in places throughout the entirety of the church, 311 the placement of university epitaphs indicates a great deal of variation in perception of their authority. Epitaph for the Family of Caspar Cruciger [Figure 20] and Epitaph for

Sara Cracov [Figure 9] were on the east wall of the choir near Bugenhagen’s epitaph. 312

Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40] was on the south side of the first column from the east in the choir. Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt [Figure 39] was on the west side of the second column from the west in the nave. 313 Epitaph for Michael Teuber

[Figure 6] was outside the church walls in the adjacent grave yard in a small shelter built by Teuber. 314 Closer placement to the choir or other liturgical centers of the church seems to have lent to the perception of importance in the community.

Before identifying who these five individuals were in the Wittenberg University community, the importance of the placement of their epitaphs surrounding the choir should be addressed. Originally six of the twelve Cranach epitaphs in the City Church hung in the choir surrounding the famous Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 7] and the altar,

311 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 470. 312 Ibid. 313 Ibid. 314 Ibid., 349-350. 156 making their placement most significant for the Lord’s Supper. Communion in

Wittenberg City Church, like in St. Nikolai in Berlin, began with reception of the bread on the left side of the altar. Congregants then proceeded around the back of the altar to receive the wine on the right. 315 Parishioners of the church may have caught a glimpse of the Wittenberg epitaphs during reception of the Word, but the multitude of epitaphs in the nave area would have been more visible. The most intimate exchange with the choir epitaphs would likely have occurred during the Eucharist. As they were taking bread and walking past Melanchthon baptizing a baby in the altarpiece on the left, parishioners would have passed Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46] , commemorating a Saxon superintendent, on their left. As they progressed around the altarpiece, congregants would pass the Cracov, Cruciger, and Bugenhagen epitaphs. Rounding the corner before taking wine, Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40] would have been placed on the opposite side of the column, offering lowered visibility, and Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg [Figure

24], commemorating a student from the nobility but omitting a portrait, would have been on their left. In addition to setting apart the sitters portrayed in the epitaphs as members of the priesthood of all believers, the placement of the epitaphs in such a highly visible place around the altar reinforces the authority of their position. This location would have been particularly evocative in the case of Bugenhagen and Eber, who likely appeared at the front of the church in their roles as Superintendent General of the Saxon electorate.

315 For the rite of communion in Lutheran service generally, see Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 76. For the rite of communion in St. Nikolai in Berlin, see Deiters, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space: Post- Reformation Furnishings in the Parish Churches of St. Nikolai and St. Marien in Berlin.,” 79. 157

Placement of epitaphs in the highly visible choir, accessible during the rite of communion, implies a higher ranking in the Wittenberg community. These epitaphs would have been set between Paul Eber, the second Saxon Superintendent, and Johannes

Bugenhagen, the first Superintendent, who were both associated with the Luther’s initial group of reformers. While three epitaphs hang in the sacred space—Epitaph for the

Family of Caspar Cruciger [Figure 20], Epitaph for Sara Cracov [Figure 9], Epitaph for

Viet Örtel [Figure 40] — only two of the epitaphs face the altar and baptismal font, allowing the viewer to engage with the paintings during communion and baptism, the most important external manifestations of the church. These two epitaphs commemorate university figures Caspar Cruciger the Elder and Sara Cracov née Bugenhagen with her husband Georg Cracov.

Of these two university epitaphs, Cruciger had a higher profile. Although his ties to the Saxon intellectual community began during his doctoral studies at the University, it was his work as a professor of Theology after 1528 and his tenure as a preacher at

Wittenberg’s Castle Church beginning in 1536 that solidified his ties to key reformers. 316

As part of this community, Cruciger helped translate the Bible into the German vernacular, stenographed and edited Luther’s sermons, introduced reforms in Leipzig in

1539, served as a secretary at Hagenau, Worms, and Regensburg, edited the Wittenberg edition of Luther’s Works , and helped to draft the Leipzig Interim. One of his most prominent roles as guardian of peace through supporting true faith occurred during the

316 Plitt, “Cruciger, Kaspar.” Cruciger began his studies in Leipzig in 1516. George Helt, Kaspar Börner, Richard Croke, and Pete Mosellanus were all influential tutors during Cruciger’s early years. He left the city during a plague outbreak in 1521, heading to Wittenberg and ultimately earning his doctorate from the University in 1533. He was in 1525 the Rector at Magdeburg’s Johannisschule, but by 1528 he was back in Wittenberg working as a professor of theology at the University. 158

Schmalkaldic War, when he led the University as Rector, holding the institution together amidst the misery of warfare. 317 He died the year the Leipzig Interim was put into effect and was subsequently buried in the Wittenberg City Church. An epitaph commissioned to commemorate an individual integral in the early years of the reformation, an individual who also appeared in Eber’s epitaph as a key reformer, would have harkened to the history of the movement, providing a sense of continuity and support for more contemporary Wittenberg leaders.

While Sara and Georg Cracov were less well-known than Cruciger, they still carried authority--Sara by virtue of her birth, referenced clearly in the Bugenhagen coat of arms at her feet, and Georg by his career. 318 Georg Cracov moved to Wittenberg in

1548 as Philip Melanchthon and other reformers were drafting the Leipzig Interim, becoming close friends with Melanchthon. In 1554, Cracov obtained a juris utriusque

(Doctor of Civil and Canon Law), soon after becoming a councilor to the Saxon

Electorate in 1557. His position as councilor allowed him to establish close connections with Elector Augustus and the Dresden court, resulting in service as a representative for the court at various diets between 1559 and 1564. Concurrently, Cracov also held the position of Rector of the University in winter semester 1561. He initially maintained a close relationship with Elector Augustus, calling himself the fabricator ( Fabrikator ) of the Augustan Constitution of 1572. 319 In 1565, when the epitaph was completed, Cracov

317 Ibid. 318 Kretzschmar, “Cracov, Georg.” Cracov was a graduate of Rostock and Wittenberg Universities. He began his vocation with a professorship in Greifswald. 319 Ibid. Cracov’s position in the court ultimately fell sharply following the Grumbach Feuds. During this time, Cracov aligned himself with the Wittenberg Philippists, who were accused of being Crypto-Calvinist. Augustus was adamantly opposed to Crypto-Calvinism. Cracov’s political and religious beliefs, particularly 159 was near the height of his career as an associate of the Wittenberg Philippists and Elector

Augustus.

Sara Cracov, as the daughter of one of Wittenberg’s most visible reformers and the wife of a local magistrate, would have been an excellent exemplar of Lutheran femininity. Her Latin tombstone, situated on the east side of the church, offers a glimpse of the ideal Lutheran woman dedicated to her family and God:

Here rests Sara next to her beloved father, who bore the famous name of Bugenhagen. Outside on the church wall is my image, chiseled from stone, and the number of the years of my life. The few words which follow bear witness to my manner of life and death: for 15 years I was bound by true, intimate (sincere) love to Dr. Cracov. I adorned the name of ‘wife’ through spirit and chastity, and the husband was well-pleased at my whole appearance. I bore him four sons and three daughters. But Death called me away the seventh time, and in faith I ended my earthly race. The husband, bound to me in unfeigned love, had this monument of his mourning erected. But you, who walk by here and think about my life, say: ‘Nothing is constant and lasting.’ 320

The memorial begins with a reference to Sara’s legacy of authority through her father and her husband. Her piety is alluded to in her ‘spirit and chastity’ as wife. The final comment reiterates the idea of piety in reference to vanitas , common in contemporary

Northern European artworks, which reminds the view of the transient nature of earthly pursuits and the need to care for their Christian soul. 321 Thus what is referenced in the

his fierce opposition to religious orthodoxy in the court, his position on the question of legal reform, and influential rivals in the court made him vulnerable to political attacks. Hans Jenitz and Lorenz Lindemann are listed as two particularly formidable rivals. Following the Grumbach Feuds, Cracov fell from power. At the time of his death, which was likely a suicide, he was in a dungeon in Leipzig. However, in 1565 when the epitaph was completed, these future troubles were yet unforeseeable. 320 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 50. Translated from Latin into English by Steinwachs. 321 For the connection of vanitas to death, see, for example, Kathleen Cohen, Metamorphosis of a Death Symbol: The Transi Tomb in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973). 160 panel, the eternal spiritual realm glimpsed in the heart of believers upon hearing the

Word and the expected actions of Lutheran leaders in the temporal realm, are reiterated in a more concrete way in the inscriptions.

Sara’s tombstone highlights a connection that would likely have been apparent to the Wittenberg congregation. By drawing on the authority of the Bugenhagen name as well as the authority cultivated by both Sara and Georg in their lifetimes, this epitaph may be placed in succession, both literally on the wall next to Cruciger, Eber, and

Bugenhagen, as well as figuratively by social ties. During a decade when Wittenberg theologians, largely the followers of Philip Melanchthon or Philippists, were in the midst of controversy with Gnesio-Lutherans over the Leipzig Interim, and only five years after the commission of epitaphs for two early reformers who were also Interim supporters

(Cruciger and Bugenhagen), her epitaph demonstrated community participation and urged parishioners to honor the Lutheran inheritance, defend Wittenberg Philippists’ interpretation of Luther’s ideas, serve the role they had been called to by God, and obey the commands of local leaders now and in the future.

In contrast, the other figures depicted in epitaphs in the choir, which has been determined as a site for higher-ranking Lutherans, do not all face the direction of the congregants and altar. Based upon the standards for composition and the importance of confessions from authority figures, this indicates that the sitters’ status did not grant them the most direct oversight and participation in liturgical activities. For example, Epitaph for Viet Örtel [Figure 40] hung in such a way that the sitter was facing the south outer

161 wall of the church rather than the liturgical centers. 322 The epitaph primarily commemorates Viet Örtel the Elder aus Windsheim bei Nürnberg (1501-1570), but is also dedicated by Viet Örtel the Younger to his father’s wives and three of his sisters. 323

The senior Örtel’s biography provides evidence as to why his epitaph may have been placed less favorably in an otherwise auspicious location in the choir. Örtel, shown on the left side of the painting with male family members, is known only to have initiated his

Wittenberg studies in 1523 and to have been awarded a chair in rhetoric, Greek, and medicine at the University in 1550. 324 The Latin inscription with the epitaph expands the biography slightly, indicating he was a doctor and professor of medicine. After mentioning career, the remainder of the inscription talks about his role in his family. 325 In

322 Schade, Cranach: A Master Family of Painters , 98; Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 592. Due to the timing of this epitaph and overall palette, this work could be from the hand of either Cranach the Younger and Augustin Cranach or perhaps from Augustin alone. Augustin took over the workshop from his father in 1586. In Wittenberg, the epitaph was reputed to be the last work from Cranach the Younger. Schade lists it as by Augustin. In my view, both father and son contributed to the painting. 323 Bellmann, Die Denkmale Der Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 185; Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 592-600. Viet Örtel the Younger’s first marriage was childless. The second marriage produced nine children. Six boys survived. Two daughters and a son died early. These deceased children are not depicted despite the designation of the memorial partly in their memory. Euphrosina Brück (n.d.) and Anna Stympfel (d. 1585), stand on the right with Viet Örtel the Elder’s wife, Anna (n.d). On the left, the elder Örtel stands in the foreground with the younger at his side in a long, fur-lined coat followed by the Örtel the Younger’s six surviving sons, Viet, Georg, Johannes, Caspar, Christian, and Paul. The man is the back may be the Younger’s brother. 324 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 60. 325 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 597-98. Zerbe’s German translation of the Latin is: “Dem Gedenken/ an den hochberühmten Herrn Veit Örtel von Winsheim, Doktor und Professor der Medizin, seinen vortrefflichen Vater, und an seine beiden Ehefrauen, die hochedlen und ehrbaren Gattinnen Euphrosine Brück und Anna Stümpfel, sowie an einen seiner Söhne und zwei Töchter, hat Veit Winsheim, Doktor des Rechts, Sohn, Gemahl und Vater, in der Hoffnung auf ihre Auferstehung und zur Linderung seiner Sehnsucht, dieses Deknmal gesetzt, am 1. Juni im Jahre 1586 seit Christi Geburt. Vitus, Vater und Sohn, kannst hier auf der Tafel du sehen/ Und von Stümpfel und Brück beide Töchter dazu./ Vor ihrer Zeit, ohne Hoffnung auf Kinder, ward ihm entrissen,/ Welche als erste das Bett kkeusch mit dem Manne geteilt./ Die ihre Stelle besetzte nach göttlichem Willen, die Anna,/ Mehrte, o Veit, dein Geschlecht durch ihr trächtiges Los./ Sie überleben sechs Kinder- wollt’ Christus, sie leben auch ferner,/ Pflegen des Vaters Beruf, nehmen sich an seiner Kunst./ Dünnerer Faden des Lebens war für zwei Töchter gesponnen:/ Beide, dazu einen Sohn, raffte die Parze hinweg./ Über den Tod der Mutter hilft Anna hinweg ihrem Vater,/ Denn in der Tochter Natur fühlt er die Mutter sich nah./ Tugend der Väter und Muttergebären- die Winsheimer danken/ Beidem Namen und Rf, der auf Erden nicht stribt. 162 comparison to the other figures in the choir who face the congregation, Örtel’s biography is less focused on his propagation of faith perhaps indicating his confession of faith did not carry as much weight.

Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt [Figure 39], which was in the nave area, would have been visible upon entrance into the church. In the foreground,

Friedrich (1529-1600) and Margaretha (c. 1533-1573) Drachstedt kneel on a pebbly stretch of land with their children. 326 Margaretha née Major would have been best known, like Sara Cracov, for her father, reformer Georg Major (1502-1574). 327 Although Major was an ordained court preacher beginning in 1537 and a professor in the theological faculty by 1545, he was most well-known as a proponent of the Leipzig Interim and for his role in the Majoristic Controversy, which is named after him. The controversy arose when Major, as a Philippist Lutheran, postulated that good works were necessary for salvation. Although he later modified his statement, the resulting debate made Major a particularly despised target of Gnesio-Lutherans in Magdeburg. 328 Margaretha’s Latin inscription specifically references these paternal connections as well as the role she played as wife and mother. 329 Georg was known for his position as dean of the

326 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 571. Margaretha is positioned to the right of Christ as the Good Shepherd with three daughters including Margarethe, who married Johannes Bugenhagen the Younger in 1582, and Maria, who died in 1562. Friedrich occupies Christ’s opposite side with five sons. 327 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 58. 328 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 104. 329 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 573. This is Zerbe’s German translation of the original Latin. “Geweiht dem frommen Gedenken/ Margarita Majors, der trefflichen Gattin Drachstedts, ausgestattet mit allen Tugenden einer ehrbaren Hausfrau, die in treuer Eh emit ihrem Manne Friedrich Drachstedt 20 Jahre gelebt hat, usw., als Mutter von acht Kindern, von denen sie vier überlebt haben, und im Alter von 40 Jahren, 7 Monaten, 9 Tagen und 6 Stunden in frommem Glauben verstarb, im Jahre des Herrn 1573, am 30. Januar. Ihr, seiner innig geliebten Frau, die in dieser Kirche begraben ist, hat der ehemann Friedrich Drachstedt in Schmerz und Trauer dieses Denkmal gesetzt.” 163 theological faculty at Wittenberg since 1558 and for holding the rectorate repeatedly.

Their epitaph’s position in the nave, a step down from the most sacred space of the choir but still visibly accessible to the baptismal font, drew on Margaretha’s ties to key reformers and Georg’s rank as a theology professor and preacher, placing them at a slightly lower but still influential rank than the commemorated in the choir.

Unfortunately, little can be said regarding the placement of jurist Michael

Teuber’s epitaph [Figure 6] in the Wittenberg City Church. The inscription has been lost and we know only that the epitaph was in a small house in the church graveyard

(kirchhof ).330 Without knowing where exactly Teuber’s epitaph was placed in the churchyard, the degree of visibility to the public is unknown. Certainly it was more removed from the liturgical centers of the church than the other known Cranach epitaphs.

Personal factors that may have motivated the sitter to commission an epitaph for placement outside of the church walls have also been lost. What can be said is that the placement is unusual and that Teuber’s biography is consistent with the authority figures depicted. 331 He became a professor of the law faculty, holding the dean position in winter

1553/54 and summer 1554, and holding a judgeship in the Wittenberg High Court

(Hofgericht ). Later Teuber served as chancellor to the Bishop of Cammin, as well as an advisor and ambassador to Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Aschersleben.

Upon his 1565 return to Wittenberg, Teuber took the second chair in the law school and

330 Ibid., 349-350. Zerbe only says the epitaph was in the graveyard ( kirchhof ), synonymous with the churchyard, in a “Heußlein.” 331 Ibid., 349. Teuber enrolled in Wittenberg University in summer 1537, receiving his masters in Philosophy in 1544 and his Doctor of Law on January 13, 1550. 164 served another semester as dean in the winter 1565.332 For his service, Elector August of

Saxony awarded him the Hemsendorf Manor ( Rittergut Hemsendorf ). 333 As such, Teuber would be another strong example of the civic leadership, piety, and support of

Lutheranism.

Outside of Teuber’s unusual placement, the epitaphs in the Wittenberg city church show consistency in hierarchical social stratification of the church space around key liturgical centers. These findings correspond to those of Maria Deiters, who notes that the donors in the Berlin churches strove to place their monuments in close proximity to the most sacred parts of the church, with the choir and high altar as paramount and the pulpit as secondary. 334 However, like assignment of pews in the church, the epitaphs display was based on the social rank of the sitters. 335 Deiters claims that in displaying memorials

“at focal points within the church, the donors were able to occupy places befitting their rank within the civic community even in their after-life.” 336 Following the concept of two realms, such prominent placement allows donors to demonstrate their worldly rank in the earthly church space. While civic participation was an important component in the arrangement of epitaphs, Deiters sees more driving the donors to commission memorials.

She also sees the Lutheran idea of an active community, in which the church is defined by a congregation composed of both the living and the dead bound by reception of the

332 “Teuber, Michael,” in Johann Heinrich Zedler: Grosses Vollständiges Universal-Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und Künste Volume 42 (Leipzig, 1744), 1528. Accessed online April 14, 2013. URL: http://www.zedler-lexikon.de/index.html?c=blaettern&bandnummer=42&seitenzahl=777. 333 In 1589, this estate was passed to the electorate councilor Dr. Andreas Rauchbar, who had married Teuber’s daughter Euphrosina on February 15, 1585 in Wittenberg. 334 Deiters, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space,” 68-69. The importance of the altar is reiterated in pages 88-94. 335 Ibid.,” 75. 336 Ibid.. 165

Word and by continued participation in the liturgical rites of the church. 337 The

Wittenberg epitaphs from the Cranach workshop correspond to these ideas. Donors with more political clout had epitaphs closer to the altar, where communion was administered.

Other epitaphs appear in proximity to the pulpit and baptismal font, two additional centers of the church. In the one instance where a donor did not carry a great deal of authority, his portrait was omitted. Only one epitaph, Epitaph for Michael Tueber [Figure

6], strangely stands as an outlier in the church cemetery for an unknown reason. In turn,

Deiters’ findings support the claim that donors are depicted in the two realms simultaneously. They are in the temporal church, demonstrating their continued participation in liturgical rites and their civic influence. Participation in these activities prompts the appearance of spiritual realm in their heart, marking them as members of the community of Lutherans and sinners before God.

Beyond the Walls of Wittenberg City Church

In comparison to the Wittenberg City Church, documents regarding the placement of epitaphs in other churches are incomplete, limiting the ability to analyze the arrangement of epitaphs in the church space. In the case of St. Nikolai Leipzig, the presence of the numerous Catholic epitaphs already decorating the walls of that church prior to its conversion to Lutheranism in 1539 and their unknown fate after conversion make it difficult to really understand what decorated the walls of the church during the mid- to late-sixteenth century. In lieu of exact records, Deiter’s detailed analysis of the

St. Nikolai Church in Berlin in conjunction with the example outlined in the Wittenberg

337 Ibid., 76-77. 166

City Church offer a template with which the placement of the few existing epitaphs can be compared, supporting the hypothesis that St. Nikolai epitaphs would reflect the same arrangement and criteria for sitters. These four extant epitaphs from St. Nikolai in

Leipzig are Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher [Figure 14], Epitaph for Balthasar Hoffmann

[Figure 3], Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn [Figure 19], and Epitaph for Anna Badehorn

[Figure 18].

Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher (c. 1525) [Figure 14] is an isolated example of a

Lutheran epitaph appearing before 1550 at the outset of Lutheran reforms. It was not until after Luther’s death, after Lutheran ideas about art and leadership had been more firmly established and Lutherans faced the threat of opposition from Catholics and rival

Protestants, that epitaphs from the Cranach workshop appear with frequency. However, even at this stage, Luther’s ideas regarding the two realms and his attitudes toward secular authority were clearly established, as seen in the earlier quote from On Secular

Authority (1523). Considering the composition of Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher is aligned with the construction of later Cranach Lutheran epitaphs, it seems likely that this panel is an early example of what would develop into a standard form. What is particularly interesting is that this form appeared before the Reformation was introduced to Leipzig in

1539. 338 Luther’s ideas had made headway with the townspeople long before

Lutheranism was officially endorsed. The Disputation between Luther and Karlstadt against Eck, set in Leipzig from June 27 to July 15, 1519, greatly increased the number of

338 See also, “Nikolaikirche Leipzig [official webpage]: A short architectural history,” Accessed online July 30, 2014. URL: http://www.nikolaikirche-leipzig.de/englisch-topmenu-100/65-a-short-architectural- history/62-a-short-architectural-history . The Nikolaikirche was founded around 1165. 167 adherents. 339 However, the spread of the movement was hindered by Duke George the

Bearded, the territorial ruler, and Lutheranism was only able to take root upon the ruler’s death in 1539.

Judging from the consistency of construction and content with later Lutheran epitaphs from the Cranach workshop, Lintacher was likely among these early converts. If the dating is correct, Cranach completed the epitaph four years before the first printed iteration of Law and Gospel [Figure 25]. That would make the Lintacher epitaph an even earlier, and exciting, example of Lutheran ideas in paint. Or, it could be that the Lintacher children commissioned the epitaph later to honor their father and the circa 1525 date is not correct. Without conclusive dating based on archival research—which hasn’t been found yet— neither can be said with certainty. What is certain is that in addition to commissioning a painting that conformed to Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs, Lintacher also fit the profile of those commemorated. He was a council member in 1515, he was the

Council Architect ( Amt des Ratsbaumeisters ) from 1522 until his death in 1525, and he is identified in the description of his epitaph by the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig as one of the ‘church fathers.’ 340 His important positions place him among other Lutheran leaders depicted in the Cranach epitaphs.

Balthasar Hofmann (d.1552) commissioned his epitaph [Figure 3] for the St.

Nikolai in 1552; more than a decade after the Reformation had been established in

339 Austra Reinis, Reforming the Art of Dying: The ars moriendi in the German Reformation (1519-1528) , (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2007), 144. 340 Dura, “Verklärung Christi auf dem Berge Tabor.” 168

Leipzig and during the period directly following Luther’s death. 341 Hofmann was

Kramermeister or head of the merchant’s guild, which would have been a civic leader position in the trade city of Leipzig. An interesting anecdote surrounding the commission of his epitaphs supports the idea that the panels were not just important in projecting a religious identity to the secular community, but also in projecting social identity to the religious community. The Leipzig Council books document the original commission for

Hofmann’s epitaph as coming from the children of Hofmann’s second wife Magdalena, and thereby only including the portrait of her and her children with her husband. 342

Subsequently, the children from Hofmann’s first marriage filed a grievance with the

Leipzig council resulting in the removal of the painting in 1557 for repainting. Portraits of Hofmann’s first wife Katharina and her children were painted in at the expense of the newly added sitters. Here, Hofmann’s children draw on their father’s status to demonstrate their social ties and status as well as their support of Lutheranism in a time when the religion was under attack from Catholic opponents. At the same time, the epitaph commemorates Hofmann’s role and portrayal as a Christian leader in Leipzig, drawing on his civic authority to indicate that viewers of the epitaph should concede to his desire for Leipzig to remain Lutheran.

Leonhard Badehorn commissioned two epitaphs for St. Nickolai, one for himself

[Figure 19] and one for his wife [Figure 18]. Like other figures, his biography exemplifies the Lutheran concept of fulfilling God-given duties and holding leadership

341 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 32-33; Dura, “Das Opfer des Elias;” Scheidig et. al., Deutsche Cranach-Ehrung 1953: Weimar und Wittenberg, 39, catalog 55. 342 Dura, “Das Opfer des Elias,” and Gurlitt, Stadt Leipzig , 31. 169 roles when called to do so. 343 In Leipzig Badehorn held a number of civic roles, including

Rector of the University, Dean of the Arts faculty, Vice Chancellor, and Senior of the

Law Faculty. 344 In civic affairs, Badehorn served as co-chair ( Beisitzer ) of the

Schöffenstuhls and des Oberhofgericht, Alderman of the council in 1556 and 1559, and

Bürgermeister of Leipzig in 1562, 1565, 1568, and 1571. He also became an envoy for

Duke Maurice with Wolfgang Koller at the Council of Trent in 1552. While he did not publish, his Lutheran views were well-respected and his speeches were frequently quoted; the best-known transcriptions are by Modestinus Pistoris in Illustrium quaestionum juris tùm cumunis tùm Saxonici pars prima-tertia .345 Badehorn was clearly a public figure with a desire to spread and defend the Lutheran message.

Within a three year span, Badehorn commissioned two epitaphs for the St.

Nikolai.346 The appearance of the Badehorn family in two separate epitaphs, particularly epitaphs for the same church, is an anomaly in the extant Cranach workshop epitaphs.

What may have prompted Badehorn to commission the second epitaph in 1554 is unknown. His first wife died seven years earlier in 1547 and there is no record of any of his children dying around that time. The only influential date in his personal history could have been the 1552 voyage to the Council of Trent. Perhaps, as a prominent Leipzig

343 Steffenhagen, “Badehorn, Leonhard” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie 1 (1875), 759. Accessed online April 16, 2013. URL: http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd104080582.html?anchor=adb . After earning his Master of Arts and Philosophy as well as a Doctor of Law from Leipzig University, Badehorn left the city to serve as School Rector in Annaberg im Erzgebirge. He returned to the university city only two years later. In 1539, Badehorn left for five years of study in Padua, which culminated in 1544 in a Doctor iuris utriusque (Doctor of Both Civil and Canonical Law). 344 Ibid. Badehorn served as rector during winter semester 1537/38 and winter 1545/46, Dean of the Arts faculty in summer 1538, Vice Chancellor in 1538/39, and Senior of the Law Faculty beginning in 1552. Academically, he also was affiliated with the Kleine Fürstenkollegium. 345 Sources do not provide the original date for this work. It was published in 1599-1600 by Jacob Schultes. 346 Gurlitt, Stadt Leipzig , 32. 170 citizen holding a doctorate in both civil and canon law and an active participant in the defense of Lutheranism at the Council of Trent, he was inspired to create a personal confession of faith for himself and his family as well as a legacy for the future at a time when Lutheranism had just gained freedom to worship. Interestingly, Badehorn’s civic responsibilities had not yet extended to B ūrgemeister in 1554. The timeframe and obvious interplay between civic authority and religious confession easily lends to speculation that Badehorn’s confessional statement and his demonstration of adherence to

Luther’s directives to Lutheran secular leader was influential in his election to office. Or perhaps, as indicated in Chapter One, the epitaph was meant to commemorate a recently deceased child. Most likely the epitaph served a complex agenda uniting personal, social, religious, and political motivations in the commission. For the purpose of this study, what is most important to emphasize is that the sitter’s secular identity, particularly his support of Lutheranism, was known and that he appears he with his family in two realms simultaneously demonstrating his adherence to Luther’s directives alongside other epitaphs in the Nikolai Church.

The remaining churches only contain one or two Cranach epitaphs. Information about how the epitaphs fit with other artworks in their churches is limited or missing, making it difficult to fully understand the structure of the worship space. Instead, continuities established in the composition, in the Lutheran message, and in the sitters’ secular identity will be shown as complimentary to the other Cranach epitaphs, implying that authority and participation in the community of the faithful are again at issue.

171

Michael Meienburg (1491– 1555), whose epitaph [Figure 36] accompanied a tomb located in St. Blasii in the free imperial city Nordhausen, was a Bürgermeister of

Nordhausen from 1540 until his death in 1555 and was a firm supporter of

Lutheranism. 347 A second Cranach workshop epitaph, an Ecce Homo (1529) painted by

Lucas Cranach the Elder, had already hung in the church since 1529 in commemoration of Meienburg’s first wife, Ursula née Lachenbeck (d. 1529). 348 Unfortunately the two epitaphs cannot be compared as Ursula’s epitaph disappeared during World War II and no copy exists. 349 During Meienburg’s tenure as a civil servant, he represented

Nordhausen at the Diets of Worms (1535), Regensburg (1541), and Speier (1542) and intervened with the Emperor during the Augsburg Interim in an effort to protect the

347 Gustav Kawerau, “Meienburg, Michael,” in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie , edited by the Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Volume 52 (1906), 286-288. Accessed online April 15, 2013. URL: http://de.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=ADB:Meienburg,_Michael&oldid=1684237 . Meienburg began his studies in Erfut from 1506-1509. By 1512, at the age of 18, he was town clerk of Nordhausen. He was promoted to clerk of the Oberstadt in 1523. Meienburg’s epitaph was accompanied by a brief inscription: “Discessit ex hac vite anno MDLV die Novembris XIII, Aetatis suae LXIIII.” Friedrich Buchholz, Protestantismus und Kunst im Sechzehnten Jahrhundert (Leipzig: Haag, 1928), 42. Meienburg is joined by his two wives and several children. 348 Georg Dehio, Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler , Volume 1 (Mitteldeutschland, 1914), 407. Accessed July 12, 2014, on the Gutenberg Project: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19460/19460-h/19460- h.html#toc19 . Dehio indicates Ursula’s epitaph is a painting-epitaph. No additional detail is provided. The painting is implied to be smaller as Dehio follows up this documentation with an entry for Epitaph for Michael Meienburg as a “große bedeutende Arbeit von L. Cranach d.J.” (a large, significant work by Lucas Cranach the Younger). See also Joachim Grabinski, “Kirchengeschichte Nordhausens (Teil 1: Zeittafel).” Accessed July 12, 2014 on Katholische Pfarrei Dom zum Heiligen Kreuz, Nordhausen, http://www.heiligeskreuz-nordhausen.de/Historie-im-Umfeld/KG-Teil-1. Kawerau, “Meienburg, Michael.” In Meienburg’s epitaph, Ursula appears with a white hat covering her head, a cloth of mourning hanging loose near her shoulder, and her coat of arms by her side. She is joined by her daughter Ursula the Younger, who is depicted with an uncovered head, and Meienburg’s second wife, Anna (d. 1535), daughter of Luther’s childhood friend Hüttenmeister Hans Reinecke of Mansfeld, whose crest rests by her side. Two sons from Meienburg’s first marriage, Michael and Christoph, kneel behind their father with their mother’s crest at their side. Three deceased children surround the group and three unidentified men kneel behind Meienburg’s sons. Christoph studied law under the Wittenberg lawyer Schneidewin, then in the Imperial Courts in Speier, then in Padua, and finally under Elector Joachim II in the Brandenburg Council. 349 Epitaph for Michael Meienburg was also lost during World War Two. However, a copy exists and is commonly used for research purposes. See Grabinski, “Kirchengeschichte Nordhausens.” 172

Lutheran faith of his city. He was personally connected with the Wittenberg reformers, particularly Justus Jonas, who was from Nordhausen, Luther since 1527, and

Melanchthon since 1530. The last relationship was so intimate that Melanchthon and his family found refuge in Nordhausen after the onset of the Schmalkaldic War and for a time in the summer of 1548. 350 Meienburg’s relationship to Wittenberg and Melanchthon is attested to by the inclusion of Philippist reformers in the background of his epitaph, indicating Meienburg’s support for Philippist Lutheranism.

Epitaph for Otto von Pogk [Figure 4] is the only Cranach epitaph in the St.

Nicolai Church in Coswig (Anhalt). Here, Pogk, the castellan of Coswig Castle appears in full armor befitting his secular role. A sword rests on his right hip, the angle reinforced by the trajectory of his prayerful hands. Such emphasis on piety and defense again harkens to Luther’s definition of the ideal Lutheran leader. Pogk fulfills his call to civic duty, serving his position with devoutness and promoting faith. In doing so, Pogk’s position of authority serves as an example of Lutheran piety for the congregation to follow.

In contrast to the magistrate memorials, epitaphs for the nobility roughly double in size and are less densely installed in churches, corresponding to the increased importance of princely confessions of faith in the socio-political climate following

350 Kawerau, “Meienburg, Michael.” Melanchthon’s appreciation for Meienburg is testified to in a letters of condolence to his son Michael. Melanchthon writes: “Profuerunt eius labores urbi vestrae, cui magna pericula saepe non solum consilio sed etiam patientia depulit; curavit recte doceri ecclesiam. Fecit igitur praecipua officia boni gubernatoris. Domestica vita ipsius et familia honesta et dulcis fuit ipsi, honestissimae matri et filiis. Haec bona cum ei tribuerit Deus, gratias Deo agamus et retineri apud homines honestos gratam ipsius memoriam gaudeamus.” The household connection is demonstrated by the marriage of Meienburg’s son Michael (1529-1594) to Melanchthon’s granddaughter Katharina, daughter of Anna (Melanchthon) Sabinus and Georg Sabinus. Manlius dedicated the first edition of Melanchthon’s letters, published in 1564, to Michael Meienburg. 173 acceptance of the Augsburg Interim in 1555. The choice of a painted medium is particularly fascinating for princely Reformation epitaphs. Pre-Reformation princely epitaphs tended to be grandiose statements crafted from stone, a more permanent but costly medium, in contrast to the painted wooden panels more often commissioned by the middle class. Not only do the Cranach epitaphs espouse a modest medium, but they also create a more moderate image of princes, at times opting to omit regalia in favor of simple black robes with fur collars. The choice of these garments, which were frequently worn by the upper classes, made leaders more relatable examples of confessional allegiance to Lutheran ideology 351 and lent more toward the reading of sitters as sinners before God on equal standing with other members of the religious community.

The Weimar Altarpiece (1555) [Figure 16] was painted amid the religious upheaval as an epitaph for the recently deceased Saxon Elector John Frederick (1503-

1554, r. 1532-1547). Following the defeat of Schmalkaldic League at the Battle of

Mühlberg in 1547, John Frederick was taken prisoner and ultimately lost his electoral title and some of his lands to his cousin Maurice. After his release in 1552, John

Frederick moved his new seat of power to Weimar, bringing Cranach the Elder with him. 352 The Weimar Altarpiece , backing the altar of the church of St. Peter and Paul, served as both an assertion of power as well as a confession of Lutheran belief. 353 A now-lost Latin inscription elucidates the function of the altarpiece as a memorial:

351 Heiner Borggrefe, “Lucas Cranach vs. Titian. Portraiture and European Politics” in Cranach: A Different Renaissance , edited by Bernard Aikema (Milan: 24 Ore Cultrua srl, 2010), 68. 352 The Wittenberg workshop remained under the control of Lucas Cranach the Younger. 353 See, for example, Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 92. Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 73 makes a similar comment in her discussion of the Schneeberg Altarpiece . She says, “The installation of the retable heralded the establishment of both Lutheran and Ernestine authority in Schneeberg.” 174

To their very greatly missed parents His grace the most distinguished and renowned prince John Frederick duke of Saxony, born the elector of the Roman Empire, Landgrave of Thuringen, Margrave of Meißen, etc. and Lady Sibylle, born the princess of Cleves, Jülich, Berg. etc., the grieving sons John Frederick II, Johann William, and John Frederick III have erected this monument out of gratitude. To their parents, having confessed, through savage war, a faith that acts in unwavering piety, these brothers, with one heart, sons pleasing to the pious, lovers of piety themselves, have erected this panel so that as the years pass by it may be a monument of their confessed faith and a pledge of love. Oh Christ, be present to your people, You Who offer safe shady retreat, so they may overcome even those things which they think are not to be overcome. Give peace and restrain the enemy, protect those who fear the father with you as mediator, Duke Father, with whose wisdom you shine. Be gone, impious wisdom of men; reliance on Christ makes one just before God on his throne. 354

The inscription clearly references that the epitaph honors not only John Frederick and

Sibylle’s confession of faith, but also emphasizes their piety and defense of Lutheranism: two traits indicated by Luther to be qualities of a good Lutheran leader. Furthermore, by denoting a filial relationship, piety, and confessed faith, John Frederick’s sons indicate that they are the rightful inheritors of their father’s rule and demonstrate their fitness to serve as leaders adhering to Lutheran directives. Their domain in the secular sphere as defenders of faith is carefully distinguished from their role in the religious sphere as sinners by the final sentence: the wisdom of man is law, and reliance on Christ is gospel.

The crest before the sitters reinforces the power and lineage of the Elector’s family, with the sons inheriting the combined ancestry of their parents. Interestingly,

John Frederick and Sibylle sit on the left and their children sit on the right instead of the traditional separation of men to the left and women to the right. This separation of senior

354 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 142 and 154-56. English translation of the inscription provided on page 155. 175 and junior ruler as opposed to by separation by gender relates is more closely to memorials claiming princely power and legacy. In consideration of the revised format, the maxim of the Peace of Augsburg, “under his rule, his religion” could be applied to the scene occurring between the parents and sons. 355 Furthermore, as an altarpiece, the sitters in the Weimar Altarpiece have an unobstructed view of the administration of the sacraments, the pulpit, as well as the congregants facing them, placing the faithful directly under their care. Finally, the long scar on John Frederick’s left cheek, won at the

Battle of Mühlberg, underscores his sacrifice of title and imprisonment as defender of the faith. 356 In showing John Frederick as one who accepted loss in defense of true faith, he shows he supports Lutheranism and is therefore a fit leader.

Two princely epitaphs, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt (1553) [Figure 41] and

Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt (1565) [Figure 5] hung in the Church of Saint Mary’s in

Dessau. The first, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt was commission just two years after the

Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16].357 A now-lost inscription documents the donor to be

Joachim of Anhalt, who dedicated the work to his bachelor brother Georg (1507-1553) after his death. 358 While available sources do not document the original location of the epitaph, the hierarchal arrangement of epitaphs in other Lutheran churches implies that the painting would have hung with others of the same status. One such nearby painting

355 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 385. Koerner applies this theory to the epitaph considered here, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , which depicts a recently deceased prince in the foreground and his successors in the background. 356 Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , 204 and Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 273. The scar was commonly used to reference John Frederick’s “passion” or sacrifices for the Lutheran cause in print culture. 357 Sankt Joahnnis Dessau, “Bilder Erleben: Tafelbilder Lucas Cranach Des Älteren Und Des Jüngeren Laden Ein,” [brochure] (Dessau, n.d.), 5; Scheidig, et. al., Deutsche Cranach-Ehrung 1953: Weimar und Wittenberg , 46, catalog 74. 358 Scheidig et. al., Deutsche Cranach-Ehrung 1953: Weimar und Wittenberg, 46. 176 was Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , which probably hung under the prince’s loggia, placed in such a way that the commemorated faced the activities of the church. 359 Like other figures memorialized in the Cranach epitaphs, Georg played an important role in late sixteenth-century Saxony, including service as a Lutheran provost of Magdeburg’s

Cathedral Chapter, Bishop of Merseburg and Thüringen 1544-1548, and a Saxon prince.

In particular, he often sought to mediate battles between Magdeburg Gnesio-Lutherans and their Philippist opponents. In his epitaph, Georg’s dark brown robes make his status as a sinner before God more apparent than his noble lineage. However, a 1553 preparatory sketch shows that a now- lost framework would have made Georg’s princely status clear to the congregation through the inclusion of a large reproduction of the House of Ascania crest set amongst cherubs 360 —a status that would have been reinforced by the epitaph’s presumed prominent placement within church. With his noble status indicated through lineage and his piety made clear, Georg’s memorial, like John Frederick’s, likely appeared in a prominent place in the church as a good Lutheran prince seeking to continue to influence the confession of his territories.

The man who commissioned Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt [Figure 41], Joachim of

Anhalt, is portrayed in Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5]. Koerner has argued that the painting likely hung below the prince’s loggia, alluding to Joachim’s secular power and making a direct connection between the sacrament and the secular leader who protected it. 361 Joachim (1509-1561) appears in the left foreground of the image wearing

359 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 401. 360 Sankt Joahnnis Dessau, “Bilder Erleben: Tafelbilder Lucas Cranach Des Älteren Und Des Jüngeren Laden Ein,” 5. 361 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 401. 177 an opulent robe, jewelry, and his sword denoting his noble status. Unmarried and childless, Joachim is joined in the panel by the successors to his title. In the left background, Joachim Ernst, who commissioned the epitaph for his uncle, appears with four other contemporary Anhalt princes. 362 These portraits identify those responsible for enforcing Joachim’s legacy and, by extension, Joachim’s hopes that the Lutheran confessional identity of Anhalt would continue to be upheld through their leadership. As noted by Koerner, these princes bracket the Last Supper scene, visually manifesting the dictum “under whose rule, his religion” and indicating that Anhalt- Dessau supports the

Lutheran interpretation of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. 363

In turn, Joachim Ernest, appears Epitaph for Agnes of Anhalt [Figure 33], commissioned by Joachim Ernest for his recently deceased wife Agnes, née Countess

Agnes of Barby (1540-1569). 364 The epitaph now hangs on the south wall of the nave of the Klosterkirche Sankt Marien und Sankt Cyprian in Nienburg (Saale) in what likely would have been its original location. In the nave area, the large epitaph would have been

362 Ibid., 385. The Anhalt rulers are listed from left to right Wolfgang, Johann II, Joachim Ernst and Bernhard. Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy,” 130. Joachim was the prince of Anhalt-Dessau, a principality north-west of Wittenberg. Anhalt-Dessau had originally been united with Anhalt- Köthen. The two principalities were separated in the thirteenth century when three heirs inherited lands and titles in Anhalt. Prince Wolfgang of Köthen (shown on the far left in the background) was one of the few to embrace Protestantism early in the century. In 1562, shortly prior to the commission of this painting, the Köthen territory was returned to Anhalt-Dessau. Dessau was brought into the Lutheran fold after the death of Margaret, a cousin of Duke Georg of Saxony, in 1530. Her younger sons, Joachim and Georg were schooled by a Wittenberg-trained tutor Georg Helt, and were personally counseled by Luther. In 1532, Dessau got its first evangelical court preacher and the Lord’s Supper was celebrated in the evangelical style for the first time. Also see Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 379: “From 1530, no territory aside from his own Electoral Saxony received more attention from Luther than did Anhalt-Dessau.” 363 Ibid. 364 Major scholarship on this work includes Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 58-59 and Udo Lorenz, Die Klosterkirche St. Marien und St. Cyprian in Nienburg (Berlin: Dt. Kunstverl. (1993), 17-18. Agnes is joined by four daughters on the right while Joachim Ernst kneels with two sons to the left. 178 visible from anywhere in the small church and would have allowed the sitters the appearance of oversight of the congregants and sacrament. As in Epitaph for Joachim of

Anhalt , also commissioned by Joachim Ernst, the family’s noble status is evident in their ornately-detailed dark robes with fur-trimmed collars. While their dress is rich, they kneel modestly before the crucified Christ, demonstrating their status as sinners in the spiritual realm. Concurrently, they turn their attention outward to face the activities of the church which they oversee.

Interestingly, while the placement of the family adheres to the common format, the appearance of an identifiable river landscape in the background is incongruent with other Cranach epitaphs. Two key towns under the rule of Agnes and Joachim, Nienburg and Bernburg, populate the landscape on either side of the river Saale in the distance.

Nienburg’s Abbey, Castle and the Church of Sankt Marien und Sankt Cyprian appear directly behind Agnes. 365 More in line with a work like the Wittenberg Altarpiece predella [Figure 8], the Crucified Christ appears amid the family as they receive the word. Considered through the lens of ‘under his rule, his religion,’ the couple’s Lutheran support, indicated by their witness to the truth of Christ’s crucifixion, was projected to parishioners and expected to be adopted in the lands under their rule as represented in the background. Making such as statement would be timely. In 1563, as a result of the

Reformation and the German Peasants’ War, the Abbey associated with Saint Mary and

Saint Cyprian was handed over to the Princes of Anhalt and converted into a castle. 366

365 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 59. 366 City of Nienburg, “Die Benediktiner-Abtei Nienburg: Bedeutung.” Accessed online June 1, 2013. URL: http://www.nienburg-saale.de/Historie/Benediktiner-Abtei/Bedeutung/bedeutung.html . 179

Joachim Ernst’s epitaph for his recently deceased wife (d. 1569) offered the opportunity to claim the city as Lutheran and impose his desire for the city to embrace a Lutheran confession in the future. 367 Shown with his wife, the pair participates in and projects their authority over the congregation of the Kolsterkirche, serving as exemplars of Lutheran piety in part by honoring their God-given role as leaders.

The last princely epitaph to come out of the Cranach workshop was the

Augustusburg Altarpiece (1571) [Figure 10], created for the Castle Church of

Augustusburg. The castle was built as a summer residence for Saxon elector Augustus

(1526-1586, r. 1553-1586), successor of Maurice, in 1568. 368 On the west wing of the castle, the small, sixteen-meter-high chapel stands as one of the first Protestant churches in Germany. 369 The Augustusburg Altarpiece ’s ornate frame and large panel dominate the space behind the altar, honoring Augustus and allowing him to maintain participation in the secular Lutheran congregation. Such a conspicuous placement behind the altar is seen only in one other Cranach epitaph: the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16]. A pulpit on the left side of the church decorated with representations of key stories defining Lutheran belief and touching on the external signs of faith—the Annunciation, the Nativity, and

Christ’s Baptism attended by Augustus, the Crucifixion, the Entombment, and the

Resurrection—reinforces the strong statement of support of Lutheranism found in the

367 Noble forwards a similar argument in regards to the Schneeberg Altarpiece . See page 82 for more detail. 368 Companion bust-length portraits, now in a private collection, of the couple were painted in to commemorate their marriage on Oct. 7, 1548. Friedländer and Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach ., 155. Full-length portraits in in the Historisches Museum, Dresden, were painted in 1564. Architect and mayor of Leipzig, Hieronymus Lotter, oversaw the construction of the castle between 1568 and 1572. 369 Augustusburg Schloss, Augustusburg Schloss , [brochure], n.d. 180 chapel. Most of these subjects find precedent in the epitaphs in Wittenberg City Church, making Augustus’ adherence to the Lutheran faith clear, tying his confession to the

Wittenberg reformers, and drawing a connection to the history of the movement.

As with the previous princely epitaphs, circumstances surrounding the commission of the

Augustusburg Altarpiece did not simply correspond to a recent death. Fighting between the Wettin and Albertine branches of the Ernestine family successively passed from John

Frederick and Maurice to John Frederick II and Augustus. The Grumbach Feuds, which had culminated in 1567, left the Albertine John Frederick II imprisoned until his death and Cranach’s brother-in-law Christian Brück dismembered at the hands of Elector

Augustus. The Augustusburg Castle was built as a monument to Augustus’s victory and a testament to his control over Saxony. From his elevated place above the altar, Augustus and his family have a clear view of the congregation, projecting their confession and receiving the Word of God while continuing to oversee activity in the chapel. Drawing on artistic precedent, the memorial also pays tribute to his leadership, showing the elector as a proponent of ‘true’ faith in the secular realm and a penitent sinner before Christ while simultaneously constructing a legacy of Lutheranism for his territories.

Like John Frederick II, the Cranach workshop suffered during the Grumbach

Feuds. While Cranach remained on amicable terms with Elector Augustus even after his brother-in-law was dismembered in 1567, the artist resigned from Wittenberg city life. 370

Shortly after, in 1574, Augustus suppressed Wittenberg Philippists, imprisoning or exiling many humanist scholars and dealing a crushing blow to Wittenberg intellectual

370 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 97. 181 life. 371 The city changes resulted in instability for the Cranach workshop. Without ties to the Saxon courts, reliable income dwindled. The workshop was only able to garner six city magistrate epitaphs between 1571 and 1586 as compared to sixteen epitaphs between

1552 and 1569. Although production slowed, the standardized construction of epitaphs showed consistency in the Cranach approach to Lutheran funerary monuments.

Magistrate and princely epitaphs dominated the decoration of Lutheran churches, with social status impacting proximity to the liturgical centers of the church. From their vantage point, the sitters maintained the appearance of participation in the liturgical activities of the church, prompting the spiritual realm in the heart represented in the background image and projecting a confession of faith as a directive to their territories even after their passage to the spiritual realm.

Personalized Confession of Faith

As touched upon in Epitaph for Agnes of Anhalt [Figure 33], the form of the spiritual realm in the background of the epitaphs varies from sitter to sitter. While there are a few subjects used more than once, many of the backgrounds are only united in common themes. The variation within the background corresponds to the contention that the subjects represent the spiritual realm that appears in the heart of the faithful upon hearing the Word. The form of the spiritual realm then differs by epitaph, indicating a degree of personalization. Indeed, the biographies of certain sitters correspond to an emphasis on subjects relating to the outward appearance of faith, personal life events, confessional loyalties, in addition to Lutheran ideas. Maintaining the chapter focus on the

371 Ibid. 182 impact of activities in the secular realm on the epitaphs, this section will demonstrate that the background subject could be used to allude to individual contributions to the continuation of Lutheran faith and personal legacy. The epitaphs in which there is sufficient information to draw a correlation between the sitter and the scene will be examined, leaving an avenue for future research in the remaining paintings.

The Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16] layers references to the exploits of the three commemorated individuals. On the outer wings, John Frederick and his family bracket a representation of the Lutheran ideology as well as Luther and Cranach, two key figures in the early spread of the faith. In the language developed for epitaphs thus far, his exterior position places him closer to the temporal realm than Luther and Cranach, who stand in the central panel. From this position, Luther more directly mediates the form of the spiritual realm in his heart with the aid of the Word of God from the German-language

Bible in his hands. In this arrangement, one of Luther’s contributions to the Lutheran cause is made visible: his translation of the Bible into the vernacular. Koerner sees Luther as the foregrounded individual, the reformer’s position within the painting taking precedence over Cranach’s. He says “Cranach appears not as unique genius but as

Everyman; his picture is less an advertisement of the artist than of the theologian Luther, who, more than anyone else, is the picture’s hero and designer as well as, ultimately, its curtailment.” 372 It is from Luther that the image came into existence and it is through him, specifically his delivery of the Word of God, that the viewer can glimpse the internal spiritual realm.

372 Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art , 408. 183

While Luther’s contributions to the Reformation are central, Cranach’s role in propagating the Reformation also earns him a prominent place in the epitaph. His depiction in the role of the everyman is altered to celebrate one of his most famous artistic contributions to Lutheranism--the image recreated in the background. Law and

Gospel [Figure 25] versions typically show a stream of blood gushing from Christ’s side and striking the everyman at his heart, also known to Luther as the place where God appears upon hearing the Word. In contrast, in the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16], a spray of blood splashes onto Cranach’s head. As Koerner notes, droplets rebound off

Cranach’s head, curving into a shape reminiscent of the poison snake in the scene of

Moses, the snake that tempted Eve, the brazen serpent, and Cranach’s own insignia. The winged serpent engraved on the cross is also touched by redeeming blood trickling down the base of the cross. 373 Uniting blood and image underscores that the artist specifically is among Christ’s saved. The altered spray of blood indicates his contributions in the secular realm in support of Lutheranism. Through his imagination, his ideas, his collaboration with Luther, the basis of which are found in his head, Law and Gospel emerged as one of the defining visual statements of the Reformation spurring the development of a visual language that would be adapted to convey the Lutheran message to literate and illiterate populations alike. In depicting the stream of blood striking

Cranach the Elder on the head rather than on his heart, Cranach the Younger honors his father’s creativity in the fabrication of Lutheran imagery.

373 Ibid., 408-410. 184

Personal biography can also be identified as an influence on the choice of subject in Epitaph for Michael Meienburg [Figure 36]. The Raising of Lazarus was a unique choice of subject matter within the Cranach oeuvre despite the obvious appeal of a resurrection subject for an epitaph. 374 The narrative visualizes the resurrection of Martha and Mary’s brother Lazarus in John 11:1-46. Moved by the sister’s pleas, Christ raises

Lazarus from the dead. The protagonist in the story shares a name with another figure from Luke 1:19-31. These latter passages recount the life and death of Lazarus and the rich man. While the rich man feasted in life, Lazarus fruitlessly begged for crumbs from the former’s table. The rich man’s punishment for his mistreatment of the poor was reaped in death: the rich man was in anguish in Hades while Lazarus was in comfort with

Abraham. While the resurrected Lazarus and the beggar Lazarus do not share any identifying characteristics, an incident from Meienburg’s life provides insight into why he may have chosen the story of Lazarus. In a letter dated July 23, 1542 from Luther to

Justas Jonas, Jonas writes that Meienburg slighted Johann Crusius, an old and blinded former monk from the Walkenried Cistercian Cloisters. 375 While Meienburg feasted with the abbot of the monastery, Crusius claimed he was left to starve and beg. In his response to Jonas, Luther compared Meienburg to the rich man who feasted while Lazarus suffered. 376 In choosing the subject of Lazarus’s resurrection and identifying himself with prominent Lutheran reformers witnessing the scene, Meienburg reclassifies his role in the incident with the abbot. He distances himself from conflation with the greedy rich man

374 Schade, “Die Altar- Und Epitaphbilder Lucas Cranach d.J.,” 47. 375 Kawerau, “Meienburg, Michael.” Kawerau documents the letter and the topic. 376 Ibid. 185 by his presence at Lazarus’ resurrection, demonstrating his allegiance to the Philippist

Lutheran cause and crafting an image of piety.

Cranach’s depiction of the Baptism of Christ in the background of Epitaph for

Johannes Bugenhagen [Figure 22] also makes use of a shared name to make a statement about personalized faith. Bugenhagen was born on the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist

(June 24) and saw his life work as referring followers to Christ. 377 Melanchthon made this connection explicit in his eulogy for Bugenhagen, noting that “Far to the edge of the world have you steadily spread the pure seed of the word of the Gospel. Like the Baptist was always anxious to present the Lamb, Christ.” 378 Thus by showing a narrative that features John pointing the way to Christ, Cranach references Bugenhagen’s contributions in the secular realm directing the faithful to Jesus. Furthermore, the subject of the

Baptism, in which God’s tripartite nature is made visible, also lends itself to

Bugenhagen’s particular interest in the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. 379 By painting a narrative that held significance to Bugenhagen, Cranach personalizes Bugenhagen’s memorial, documenting his interests in and contributions to the understanding of

Lutheranism.

377 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 21. 378 The eulogy was reproduced in Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 28. Translation is mine. Fern am Rande der Welt hast du zuverlässig verbreitet, / Unverfälscht im Wort des Evangeliums Saat. Wie der Täufer das Lamm zu zeigen immer bestrebt war Wie der Täufer das Lamm zu zeigen immer bestrebt war, / Christus, vom Vater gezeugt als sein ewiger Sohn,/ Lehrtest auch du, daβ man im Glauben, der alle gerecht macht,/ Christus erkennt und empfängt als seines Vaters Geschenk. 379 John Ruccius, John Bugenhagen Pomeranus: A Biographical Sketch (Philadelphia: HardPress Publishing, 2012), 80. While working on the new church orders for Lübeck, Bugenhagen wrote a new edition of Athanasius on the Trinity. At the time, there were a large number of anti-Trinitarians active in Lower Germany. The Baptism of Christ was traditionally an artistic motif illustrative of God’s tripartite nature. See, for example, Christensen, Art and the Reformation , 159. 186

Placing emphasis on the original baptism, setting precedent for all future Lutheran baptisms, also illustrates Bugenhagen’s personal participation in key Lutheran reforms during his lifetime. 380 As mentioned above, the subject of Christ’s Baptism was specifically evoked by Lutherans in contrast to the views of the Anabaptists. The confrontation, which reached its climax between 1520 and 1540, was already in decline in 1560 when Cranach painted Bugenhagen’s epitaph. 381 However, as a pastor, the Saxon superintendent, Luther’s personal confessor, and a Wittenberg University professor during the most heated disputations, Bugenhagen helped shaped the creation, solidification, and defense of Lutheran practices like infant baptism. In particular,

Bugenhagen’s role as superintendent, which required him to write church orders, placed him at the center of debates regarding liturgical rites. The importance of these actions and

Bugenhagen’s character is emphasized in the text accompanying Bugenhagen’s epitaph, written by his son-in-law Georg Cracov. In addition to commending Bugenhagen’s honesty, piety, and faithful desire to seek Christ instead of riches or honor, his epitaph cites defeat over the devil and papists, elimination of error from the church, and restoration of proper worship as accomplishments for which Bugenhagen risked his life. 382 Although he was willing to face peril in defense of Lutheranism, he is also cited as detesting strife and always seeking reconciliation. In other words, he sought to maintain peace in the manner advocated by Luther for Lutheran leaders.

380 Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 159. 381 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 93; Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 115. 382 Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 497-98. 187

Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13] returns to a more oblique personalization of the background narrative. At the time of Caspar’s death, he and his wife Anna were childless. Choosing to commemorate Caspar and Anna with a subject that specifically denotes the Holy Family as a trio could have alluded to the couple’s unfulfilled desire to become a family in the secular realm. Instead, they bear witness to and become members of the eternal spiritual family composed of true believers, honoring the will of God.

Niemeck’s piety and support of Lutheranism, illustrated by his epitaph, was further manifested in his donation of his property to the reformers. 383 Although they were not blessed with children, the couple demonstrates their acceptance of their God-given roles and support of Lutheranism in accordance with the prescribed values for Lutheran leaders.

Koerner has written about several facets of personalization in Epitaph for

Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5]. 384 The epitaph commemorates Joachim Ernst, who was co- ruler of Anhalt with his brother Georg III. Georg, depicted sitting to Christ’s right, was also a priest and penned a sermon that “defends the lay chalice, universal priesthood and real presence at the Mass.” 385 This sermon is alluded to in the actions of a few of the figures at the Last Supper table. A man on the left in yellow garb, identified as Judas by

383 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 47. 384 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 399-400. In 1582, Joachim Ernst ordered an edition of four of his uncle’s sermons on the Last Supper, which had original appeared in 1555, during an intense debate over the future confession of Anhalt-Dessau. (Ultimately, the territory became Calvinist and by 1596 most of the changes had been made). The theological statements in the Epitaph closely follow Georg’s ideas. 385 Ibid., 399. To support his claim, Koerner pulls quotes from Georg’s sermons, which “insists, quite centrally, that in the sacrament, Christ is given both to ‘the worthy and the unworthy’, though the latter ‘eats and drinks his damnation’, as did ‘Judas, the Jews and the pagans who martyred him.’” A basic description of Luther’s stance on the Eucharist is penned in Erwin Weber, From Luther to 1580 A Pictorial Account: Places, Persons, and Events Leading to the Book of Concord , 1 st edition (Concordia Pub House), 130. Luther believed that after ascending into Heaven that Christ took on the property of ubique , meaning he could be everywhere, including in the bread and wine, at the same time. 188 the bag of coins and dagger at his back, receives a morsel of bread from Christ. A bearded man in a black overcoat sits on the opposite side of the bench receiving wine from the cupbearer. Together the pair represents the reception of communion in both kinds, the real presence of Christ in the sacrament, and the idea that each individual was responsible for reception of the sacraments 386 following Georg’s writings.

Georg’s support for the Leipzig Interim is also embedded in Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt . Written primarily by Philipp Melanchthon with help from Georg, the Interim sought to bring peace to Lutheran lands but instead resulted in continued conflict with some Lutherans factions. In particular, the Gnesio-Lutherans, stationed in Magdeburg, were angered by Interim concessions to Lutheran theology. The group of men around the

Last Supper table demonstrates support for the Leipzig Interim and the Wittenberg-based

Philippists while denigrating Gnesio-Lutheran beliefs. As the authors of the Interim,

Melanchthon and Georg of Anhalt sit to Christ’s left and right respectively at the table.

Matthias Flacius Illyricus, a vocal Gnesio-Lutheran and opponent of the Leipzig Interim sits on the bench in the foreground in the guise of Judas. 387 Dr. Johannes Scheyring, a

Magdeburg patrician and Philippist supporter, sits opposite him on the right.388 To create

386 Ibid., 303. 387 Debate over the identity of this sitter has appeared in scholarship. I follow the convincing argument made by Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy”, page 126 and Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 382-399. Koerner’s identification is supported in works by historians such as Oliver K. Olson, Matthias Flacius and the Survival of Luther’s Reform (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002), 190-194. 388 Anastasia Nurre, “The Identification and Inclusion of a Magdeburg Patrician in Lucas Cranach the Younger’s Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt ,” unpublished paper. This identification is supported by Scheyring’s relationship with the Lutheran reformers, his role as a Magdeburg patrician, and his physical characteristics. Scheyring’s facial features form the most compelling evidence for his identification. The Magdeburg patrician had been portrayed in three other portraits by the time Cranach the Younger painted the Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt and, like many of the other reformers depicted, Scheyring’s distinctive features were copied from Cranach workshop woodcuts and paintings [Figure 5]. The physical features of 189 the contrast, Cranach emphasizes Scheyring’s civic affiliation with Magdeburg, otherwise known as “the Burg of Maidens,” by the inclusion of two fair maidens framing the archway above Scheyring’s head. 389 This municipal affiliation is also made in citations referring to the Gnesio-Lutherans, including Flacius. Comparing two high- profile individuals with civic ties to Magdeburg highlights the memorialized prince’s desire for his principality to remain faithful to Philippist Lutheranism rather than Gnesio-

Lutheranism. Joachim of Anhalt’s personal support of Philippist Lutheranism is further demonstrated by the choice of reformers around the table. 390 The inclusion of Georg

Major and Johann Pfeffinger, both appearing on the right closest to the viewer and the third man from the viewer respectively, supports the contention that this epitaph responds to the Gnesio-Lutheran/ Philippist dispute as these two reformers were particularly targeted by Gnesio-Lutherans. 391 In highlighting Joachim of Anhalt’s individual contributions to the defense of Lutheranism and specific ties to reformers, his epitaph makes a personal statement about his work as a Lutheran leader in the secular realm.

the man in the Epitaph are most easily identified by this 1537 woodcut print by Lucas Cranach the Younger. In both the 1537 woodcut and the Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt, Scheyring is depicted with a distinctive triangular-shaped beard, mustache, widow’s peak, high forehead, long, straight nose and even slight bags under his eyes. Despite the uncomfortably turned head in the 1565 painting, the physical characteristics of the sitter are clearly identifiable as those of Scheyring. 389 I thank Dr. Barbara Haeger for alerting me to the link between the female statues above Scheyring’s head and title the “Burg of Maidens”. 390 From left to right, Kasper Cruciger, Johannes Bugenhagen, Justus Jonas, Martin Luther, Prince Georg III of Anhalt; and Philippist supporters to the right of Christ, Philipp Melanchthon, Berthold Bernardi, Johann Pfeffinger, Johann Forster and Georg Major respectively. This information is cited from Thulin in Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 381, note 11. 391 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation”, 97-104. These two individuals were involved in disputes between Gnesio- Lutherans and Philippists. Pfeffinger authored several publications that took aim against Nikolaus von Amsdorf (another prominent Gnesio-Lutheran leader) and Flacius. Georg Major was involved in the Majoristic Controversy. The Majoristic controversy arose due to Major’s support of Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession. Due to his support, local clergy opposed Major’s assumption of the Eisleben superintendency. 190

Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46] returns to referencing a specific event in the life of the commemorated to make a statement about individual contributions to

Lutheranism in the secular realm. On June 15, 1520, Pope Leo X issued a papal bull against Paul Eber stating: “A boar ( Eber in German) from the woods wishes to spoil this vineyard, and an extremely wild animal is stripping it bare…” 392 Contrary to the words of the papal bull, Eber’s epitaph shows him and his Lutheran companions doing the opposite of stripping a vineyard bare. They carefully tend to the vines while papal representatives destroy the left side of the hill. As in Bugenhagen’s epitaph, an accompanying German inscription, still in the frame below [Figure 48], highlights Eber’s contributions as a

Lutheran magistrate. His connections to the Reformation, particularly to Luther and

Melanchthon (Phillipus), his dedication to his office, and his “wisdom, virtue, piety, and integrity” demonstrate qualities of a good Lutheran leader. 393 Furthermore, the inscription

392 Quoted in Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 51. 393 Zerbe, 533. The full inscription is: “Der ehrwüdige und hochberühmte Herr Paul Eber, Doktor und Professor der heiligen Theologie, geboren von ehrbaren Eltern in der fränkischen Stadt Kitzingen im Jahr des Herrn 1511 am 8 November, war, seitdem er als Knabe von dreizehn Jahren, im Jahr des Herrn 1524, durch einen unglücklichen Zufall vom Pferd gefallen und von diesem umher geschleift worden war, körperlich entstellt und von schwächlicher Konstitution. Im darauf folgenden Jahr sah er das schmerzliche Unglück seiner Heimat, herbeigeführt durch aufrührerische Tumulte der Bauern, die in ganz Deutschland aufgewiegelt waren. Später in Nürnberg hörte er eine Zeit lang den berühmten Dr. Joachim Camerarius, und nachdem er seine Bildung auf eine solide Grundlage gestellt hatte, dam e rim Jahr des Herrn 1531, im Alter von 21 Jahren, an die hiesige Universität, wo er aufmerksam und beharrlich vierzehn Jahre lang Luther und Philippus hörte. Begabt mit einem wissbegierigen, empfänglichen und zu den höchsten Weihen geschaffenen Geiste, erwarb er sich in jener Zeit gründliche Kenntnisse in allen Teilen der Philosophie und hierdurch eien so überaus glänzenden Ruf, dass e rim Jahre 1544 in den Rat der Professoren gewählt wurde und nach einhelligem Zeugnis sich in der Lehre besonders Lob erwarb. Die Bedrängnis und Befreiung von Universität und Rat der Stadt zum Leiter der Kirche dieser Stadt ernannt und durch maßgebliche Fürsprache Seiner Durchlaucht Herzog August von Sachsen, Angehöriger des Siebenmänner-Kollegiums, als überaus würdig befunden. Er stand dem Amt mit Wachsamkeit, dienstbarem Eifer und höchster Zuverlässigkeit vor, und dies elf Jahre hindurch, unter offenbaren und lichtvollen Beweisen göttlicher Gegenwart und Segnung, hinzugezogen bei Kircheninspektionen in dieser Region, bei Versammlungen und Synoden, in denen seine Klugheit, Tugend, Frömmigkeit und Redlichkeit auffielen und ihn dem Fürsten, der Universität, der Kirche und allen Tüchtigen, wo immer er hinkam, lieb und teuer machte. Schließlich aber ist er, ncht so sehr vom Alter gebeugt, als vielmehr gebrochen vom Schmerz, den er wegen der kirchlichen Streitigkeiten heftig empfand, und durch das häusliche Leid in seinem letzten Lebensjahr- 191 cites lack of peace due to ecclesiastical disputes and deaths in his family as the cause of

Eber’s death. Thus it is not age, but Eber’s aversion to strife and desire to maintain peace in the secular realm that aggrieved the Superintendent General.

The secular achievements of Friedrich Drachstedt may be obliquely referenced in the background narrative in Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt [Figure

39]. Albrecht Steinwachs suggests that, as an arbiter, Drachstedt was charged with judging disputes fairly just like the shepherd who protects the lamb from injustice. 394

While this analogy is not explicitly made in his epitaph, a later gravestone for Friedrich,

Margaretha, and Friedrich’s second wife Maria (d. 1604) née Stettner highlights

Drachstedt’s role as a fair and pacific civic authority in Wittenberg: 395

The famous and highly-educated Dr. / Friedrich Drachstedt, Assessor of the / Electoral Consistory of Wittenberg and at / The same time the Pronatar of the Lay / Assessor’s and highest Court Tribunal for / 48 years, peacefully expired on May 8, / 1600 in his 71 st year of life. / Here you lie, Friedrich, who died in Christ, / Under the tombstone of your ancestors. / You were famous according to your great number of ancestors, / But noble because of your own virtues. / Thus you have served the Saxon princes and the Church / With your excellent, wise counsel. / So that you were named Assessor in the Holy Consistory / Because of your expert and useful counsel. / So that you were rewarded with participation in this important body / Because of your true service to Christ’s Church. / Oh, how beautifully the body lies, how sweetly it rests, / And it awaits other days without limit. / That eternal luster will adorn you, when you begin / To take part in the new life. / That which no eye has seen, nor ear

musste er doch erst kurz zuvor drei Glieder seiner Familie zu Grabe tragen, darunter seine Frau Helena Kuffner, die er zärtlich und innig liebte- , am 10. Dezember 1569, im Alter von 58 Jahren, unter inbrünstigem Beten sanft und selig entschlafen, im Geiste traurige Umwälzungen voraussehend, wie sie nicht viel später an unserer Universität Einzug halten sollten. Ihm haben von einsmals vierzehn Kindern die übriggewbliebenen, zwei Söhne und zwei Töchter, ihm, dem liebenswürdigsten und teuersten Vater, dieses Denkmal ihrer Dankbarkeit und Anhänglichkeit auf eigene Kosten errichten lassen.” 394 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 59. 395 Ibid., 58-9. The names of Friedrich, Margarethe, and Maria are documented on the gravestone. Friedrich remarried on September 16, 1576. 192

heard,/That which is just a hope for us, has already been joyfully given to you. 396

The inscription demonstrates Friedrich’s support of Lutheranism in both realms as one who ‘served the Saxon princes and the Church with … excellent wise counsel.’ The first half of the inscription is dedicated to Friedrich’s contributions to peace in and protection in the secular realm. The second half of the inscription makes it clear that Friedrich is now enjoying the eternal reward sought by the Lutheran flock, “to take part in the new life. That which no eye has seen, nor ear heard./ That which is just a hope” is now a reality for Friedrich.

Summary

Display of the epitaphs near liturgical areas of the church supports the contention that secular roles were an important factor in commissioning and arranging the epitaphs within the church space. Hierarchal organization of the epitaphs aligning the importance of secular achievements with increasingly sacred spaces of the church implicates the importance of perceived leadership in the physical realm on reception of the message by the church audience. An emphasis on secular identity makes sense within the Lutheran worldview, which contended that individuals should honor the societal role bestowed upon them. In serving their station to the best of their ability, they glorify God. Therefore, in celebrating the secular role played during a lifetime as fulfilling the commands of God, the individual makes additional claims about piety beyond witnessing the religious truths.

Continued participation in and guidance for the physical body of the church indicated in

396 Ibid., 58. Text translated from Latin into English by Steinwachs. 193 epitaph form, content, and placement symbiotically leads the viewer back to the spiritual.

The importance placed on the complex interplay between viewer and sitter, giving and receiving, secular and spiritual is highlighted through comparison with pre-Reformation epitaphs as will be indicated in the next chapter.

194

Chapter 4: Public versus Private Confession: A Comparison between Pre-Reformation and Catholic Examples

Thus far, Cranach’s methods for harnessing the Lutheran understanding of spiritual and temporal realms as inspiration for the content and construction of Lutheran epitaphs have been considered in terms of support of Lutheranism, public confession, piety, community membership, and civic engagement. The emphasis on dual membership in two realms, an emphasis that depends on the leaders’ external appeal to the congregation in the church to complete the composition, becomes more apparent in comparison to pre-Reformation and Catholic examples. In particular, the Cranach epitaphs’ reliance on giving and receiving God’s Word, which in turn relies on the sitters’ participation with the community of the faithful, is particularly striking. Comparative pre-

Reformation and Catholic panels instead depict individuals in meditative prayer as a model for one-to-one communion with the divine. Cranach’s new method of depicting sitters corresponds to the a fundamental shift in ideology from the pre-Reformation belief that individuals must actively seek salvation to the Lutheran belief in passive salvation directly from God found only in acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice for humanity. In short, pre-Reformation piety often took a bottom up approach to seeking God while Lutheran piety reversed the order to top down. Religious artworks from each of these two traditions draw inspiration from attitudes toward piety as a method for structuring the paintings. This final chapter addresses how the Cranach epitaphs adapt the visual 195 language already commonly known and understood to underscore passive acceptance of grace and community engagement through a structure inspired by the two realms.

Ideological Underpinnings

Attitudes toward the use of imagery in worship reflect the ideological shift between Lutheran devotional practice and pre-Reformation and Catholic devotional practice as well as the appearance of artworks commissioned for the church space. Prior to the Reformation, donors often commissioned artworks and building programs as goods works believed to aid in their salvation. Initially, Luther took issue with the pre-

Reformation belief that external practices, including the purchase of decorations for a church, could constitute merit for Christians and contribute to salvation. 397 He writes that

“proper worship” needed “no bells, no churches, no vessels or ornaments, no lights or candles, no organs or singing, no paintings or images, no panels or altars… For these are all human inventions and ornaments, which God does not heed, and which obscure the correct worship, with their glitter.” 398 Not only did Luther see ornamentation as unnecessary, he was also concerned that imagery used incorrectly could pave the path to idolatry and sin. He believed that by paying homage to intercessory saints and miraculous images like those often found on pilgrimage routes, the faithful venerated false idols rather than the true God. Furthermore, in Luther’s eyes the allocation of money from the

397 For a more detailed account of Lutheran attitudes toward imagery, see Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 42-65; Dillenberger, Images and Relics ; Eire, War Against the Idols , 94-104; Koerner, The Reformation of the Image, especially pages 158-168; and Sergiusz Michalski, The Reformation of the Visual Arts: The Protestant Image Question in Western and Eastern Europe , 1 st English edition (London: Routledge, 1993), chapter one. 398 Luther, Church Postils , 1522. Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 42. 196 sale of indulgences to facilitate building and furnishing Catholic churches detracted from available funds for the poorest people who needed it most.

Rather than seeking salvation through external, material means, Luther advocated sola fide : only faith in Christ’s sacrifice leads to salvation. Good deeds on earth were the natural consequence of deeply held Christian belief, not a means to the heavenly realm.

In serving vocational duties to the best of their ability, managing secular governments, and being adherents to ‘true’ faith, Lutheran leaders gave honor to God, but these deeds were not necessary precursors to salvation. Luther’s concerns regarding the possible pitfalls inherent in pre-Reformation use of external practices as a means for salvation led him to question the role of artworks in ecclesiastical life during the early years of reform.

His sermons and writings about the subject developed slowly around two core thoughts.

On the one hand, Luther found images to be “unnecessary” external tools for worship that

“should be put away and destroyed” in places where they might be used idolatrously. On the other hand, he announced that artworks were “neither here nor there, neither evil nor good” objects; as Christians who rely on the Word of God rather than the material world,

“we may have them or not, as we please.” 399 In his 1525 Against the Heavenly Prophets ,

Luther elaborates:

However to speak evangelically of images, I say and declare that no one is obligated to break violently images even of God, but everything is free, and one does not sin if he does not break them with violence. One is obligated, however, to destroy them with the Word of God, that is, not with the law in a Karlstadtian manner, but with the gospel. This means to instruct and enlighten the conscience that it is idolatry to worship them, or to trust in them, since one is to trust alone in

399 Eire, War Against the Idols , 68. 197

Christ. Beyond this let the external matters take their course. God grant that they may be destroyed, become dilapidated or that they remain. It is all the same and makes no difference, just as when the poison has been removed from a snake. 400

Thus images were accorded no particular importance in Luther’s early writings, as long emphasis remained on Christ alone.

The ambivalent and oscillating attitude exemplified in the above quote ultimately morphed into a more positive, if conservative, stance adopted by Lutherans by the middle of the sixteenth century: artworks were considered adiaphora, or a matter not essential to faith unlike sola fide . They were unnecessary for worship, but well suited toward instruction about the Word of God. Already in a 1522 Passional Luther encapsulated the core of this notion: “I thought it good to put the old Passional with the little prayer book, above all for the sake of children and simple folk, who are more easily moved by pictures and images to recall divine history than through mere words or doctrines.” 401 He reiterates the idea later in a 1529 Wittenberg edition of his Personal Prayer Book , saying

“children and simple folk are ‘more apt to retain the divine stories when taught by picture and parable than merely by words or instruction.’” 402 At still another point, Luther explains that “external images, parables, and signs are good and useful: they illustrate a thing so that it can be grasped and retained.” 403 With these endorsements, Reformation art proliferated first in prints then in paint under the auspices of education for the unlettered.

While Lutherans accepted that artworks had a place in the church, choices for imagery were limited to those with educational potential, namely those that could convey

400 Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Volume 40: Church and Ministry II , 91. 401 Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , xi. 402 Quoted in Christensen, Art and the Reformation in Germany , 53. 403 Ibid., 60. 198 the Word of God with a degree of accuracy. Narratives without biblical support and gatherings of saints were among subjects deemed inappropriate for religious art. Instead,

Reformation art favored subjects adhering directly to passages in the Bible or emphasizing sola fide . As already indicated in Chapter Two, certain biblical subjects like the Crucifixion were particularly applauded for their reflection of the image of Christ that formed in the hearts of listeners upon hearing God’s Word. 404 In regards to who should commission these works, a call made by Luther in Against the Heavenly Prophets in the

Matter of Images and Sacraments (1525) is salient: “Yes, would to God that I could persuade the rich and the mighty that they would permit the whole Bible to be painted on houses, on the inside and outside, so that all can see it. That would be Christian work.” 405

In the epitaphs, the sitters heed the call and aim to fulfill a teaching element through modelling proper conduct in both realms, illustrating Biblical narratives, and reinforcing concepts behind the external manifestations of the ‘true’ church in representations of the sacraments. The concept of the two realms is not taught , but rather harnessed as the inspiration for revisions to familiar structures used in pre-Reformation artworks.

Although artworks were deemed harmless to the Christian eternal soul and useful in instruction, Lutherans still treated them with caution lest the viewer be tempted by idolatry. Rather than remove images entirely, Luther, in his own words, again from

Against the Heavenly Prophets , “approached the task of destroying images by first tearing them out of the heart through God’s Word and making them worthless and despised… For when they are no longer in the heart, they can do no harm when seen by

404 See page 145-146 for the full quote. 405 Luther, Against the Heavenly Prophets , 1525. Reproduced in Richardson et al., 422. 199 the eyes.” 406 The subtle distinction between the delineation of images in the heart upon hearing the Word of God and removing images residing in the heart prior to hearing the

Word of God, seemingly contradictory, touches on the core difference between pre-

Reformation and Reformation imagery. 407

Belief in the power of images to perform miracles or garner salvation gives primacy to the picture before God’s Word, privileging what is actively received through the eyes and placing the roots of salvation in the actions of the viewer. In contrast, Luther placed the Word and God’s grace first. The image in the heart appeared simultaneously as a natural consequence of true faith and the Word much like good works accompanied true faith. Luther’s quote regarding the delineation of God in the listener’s heart identifies this catalyst clearly: the Word of God must be heard for the image to passively delineate.

The image appears from engaging with God through reception of the Word not as a means to engage with God. Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs undermine the temptation to use the image as a catalyst for devotion, adopting a style that emphasizes reading the image as if it were the Word and passively receiving God’s love and grace rather than meditative engagement seeking ascent through active prayers guided by sensuous imagery. This grounded approach to artworks is crucial in understanding the difference between what would become known as the Lutheran aesthetic in contrast to the pre-

Reformation and Catholic aesthetic.

406 From Against the Heavenly Prophets. Quoted in Luther, Luther’s Works, Volume 40: Church and Ministry II , 84. 407 See page 151 for more detail regarding Luther’s contention that images formed in the heart upon hearing God’s Word. 200

Grounded imagery stands in contrast to the pre-Reformation and Catholic idea of miraculous imagery, which was a particularly concerning aspect of pre-Reformation practice for Luther. The practice derived from what Luther felt was the misappropriation of the idea, appearing first from St. John of Damascus, that “the honour shown to the image is transferred to the prototype, and whoever honours the image honours the person represented by it.” 408 Pilgrimage cults moved far beyond the simple basis of honoring a prototype, believing that visiting a miraculous image could answer prayers, heal the sick, or reduce the amount of time spent in purgatory. The Cult of the Schöne Maria in

Regensburg exemplifies the power pre-Reformation images could yield over Christian faithful. 409 Originally the cult emerged to honor a Byzantine icon, reproduced here in a print by Albrecht Altdorfer [Figure 49], displayed on the church altar and believed to have miraculously healed a man who was injured while demolishing the synagogue of the city’s recently evicted Jews in 1519. 410 Following the declaration of a miracle, the Pope issued an indulgence for the pilgrimage. Pilgrims streamed in by the thousands seeking salvation, respite from earthly suffering, and a reduction of time spent in purgatory. 411

Soon, the image found competition with a statue of Mary on a column set before the church as indicated by a woodcut by Altdorfer’s pupil, Michael Ostendorfer [Figure 50]

408 Sixten Ringbom, Icon to Narrative: The Rise of the Dramatic Close-up in Fifteenth-century Devotional Painting (Doornspijk, Davaco Publishers, 1984), 12. 409 For the Regensburg Madonna, see, for example, Christopher S. Wood, “Ritual and the Virgin on the Column: The Cult of the Schöne Maria in Regensburg,” Journal of Ritual Studies 6 (1992), 87-101. 410 Wood, “Ritual and the Virgin on the Column: The Cult of the Schöne Maria in Regensburg ,” 93.Jakob Kern, a stonemason, survived a fall a beam and crushing rubble. Other miracles followed. 411 Ibid.,” 93. For more on indulgences, see, for example, Ringbom, Icon to Narrative , 24-29. 201

(c. 1520). 412 Weeping, ecstatic, and kneeling pilgrims surround the statue in the foreground, demonstrating the transformative effect that came over visitors who, in their search for immediate access to the divine, improvised worship through physical contact with a cult object. 413

Ostendorfer’s woodcut, originally published only in Latin, both popularized the cult to those abroad and served as an example for critics. 414 One person’s critical reception is found in the handwriting on the bottom of the print reproduced here. In beautiful script, owner and preeminent German artist Albrecht Dürer writes, “This illusion [gespenst] rose up against Holy Scripture in Regensburg and was tolerated, for the purposes of worldly gain, by the bishop. God help us, that we do not so dishonor His worthy mother…” 415 Here, Dürer touches on Luther’s concern about the financial motivations for promoting pilgrimage and indulgenced images as well as what he perceived to be an offense against proper worship. Luther also used the example of the

Cult of the Schöne Maria to criticize the cult’s use of imagery. He says “It is a sure sign of the Devil that the people rush giddily like madmen, for the Holy Spirit is a spirit of deliberation, which does not move so impetuously, nor does it teach the people to run after the Lord, but rather to behave dutifully.” 416 Luther underscores that the human drive to strive for salvation, as exemplified in the Cult of the Schöne Maria , is dangerous and should be exchanged for deliberation and duty. Perhaps in response to criticism in

412 Ibid.,” 88-89. Later in his article, Wood notes that the free-standing virgin on a column was particularly problematic because the form was associated with pagan symbolism and idolatry. 412 413 Ibid.,” 92. 414 Ibid.,” 88-89. 415 Ibid.,” 89. 416 Ibid., 92. 202

Germany, the cult was short-lived, declining in 1522 soon after the Reformation picked up speed and disappearing entirely in 1525. 417

Contemporary devotional practices, popularized in the fifteenth century, also emphasized striving toward Christ, in this case through lay visions and meditations. 418

Craig Harbison summarizes nicely:

In fifteenth-century Flanders we find a religious art in which individual piety is the prime motivating force; not scholastic disputation, transcendent ecstasy or liturgical ritual, but a calculated, personal religious experience, the vision or the meditation is found at the center of things… Above all, fifteenth-century men and women are shown to so fervently engage in their own prayers that the subject of their devotions, whether it be the Virgin or an event from Christ’s life, stands before them or indeed surrounds them. 419

The basis for this type of devotion can be found in the writings of St. Augustine on the three types of human vision: corporeal, spiritual, and intellectual. 420 The first type of vision consists of objects physically observed in the world. The second type recalls things seen from memory or constructs imagined images from things seen. The final type moves beyond pictures completely, using purely intellectual sight. Popular practice lost the nuance of the more erudite understanding, emphasizing meditation and prayer as a

417 Ibid., 103. 418 For more on visions, meditation, and imageless devotion, see, for example, Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” David Freedberg, “ Invisibilia pervisibilia : Meditation and the Uses of Theory,” in The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Response (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1989); Jeffrey F. Hamburger, “Seeing and Believing: The Suspicion of Sight and the Authentication of Vision in Late Medieval Art and Devotion,” in Imagination und Wirklichkeit: zum Verhaltnis von Mentalen und Realen Bildern in der Kunst der fruhen Neuzeit (Mainz: von Zabern, 2000), pages 47-69; Sixten Ringbom, “Devotional Images and Imaginative Devotions: Notes on the Place of Art in Late Medieval Private Piety,” Gazette des Beaux-Arts Vol. 73, Issue 6 (1969): 159-66; Ringbom, Icon to Narrative ; Bret Rothstein, “Vision, Cognition, and Self-Reflection in Rogier van der Weyden’s Bladelin Triptych,” Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte , vol. 64, no. 1 (2001); 37-55; Henk van Os, ed., The Art of Devotion in the Late Middle Ages in Europe 1300-1500 , (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994). 419 Craig Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” Simiolus 15, no 2 (1985): 87. 420 For example, Ringbom, Icon to Narrative , especially 15-17, or Ringbom, “Devotional Images and Imaginative Devotions: Notes on the Place of Art in Late Medieval Private Piety,” especially 162-163. 203 precursor to an intimate, visionary experience. The goal of this simplified practice is found at the end of a chapter in the popular Vita Christi , written by Ludolph of Saxony.

The prayer asks God to grant the believer the grace to reenact the events of the Passion so that one might “bury thee [God] in my heart by undistracted recollection and meditation.

Then may I merit to come with thee to the glory of the resurrection.” 421 To borrow

Harbison’s phrasing, a text like Ludolph of Saxony’s offers “an analogous model for approaching contemplation and religious meditation” to contemporary artworks. 422 Just as Cranach would capture passive reception and community engagement, fifteenth- century artists captured active prayer and meditation.

While it is tempting to seek to define the appearance of the spiritual realm in the background of the Lutheran epitaphs in terms of this fifteenth-century terminology, application quickly becomes unwieldy. Theoretically, Luther’s image in the heart relates to spiritual vision where the image appears drawing on things seen. However, the idea of spiritual vision as it is discussed in Northern Renaissance art is laden with active striving toward God and the use of imagery in worship rather than education. Luther’s writings indicate that he was not comfortable with either practice. The Cranach epitaphs reflect this distance, creating an image that is not at all visionary, but rather a representation of the sitters’ perception of an invisible reality that is omnipresent. His representation of the spiritual realm appears as an overlapping layer of truth that is always grounded in what can be perceived, most frequently shown to be on the same plane, and, at times, completely integrated into everyday scenes just as Luther described the spiritual realm.

421 Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” 90. 422 Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” 90, footnote 12. 204

Thus the background narrative is a representation of the spiritual realm that is grounded in reality. Thus, the terms grounded image and representation will be used to distinguish the basis for the imagery when compared to pre-Reformation and Catholic visionary examples. These representations appear simultaneously with reception of God’s Word, outlining in the heart and putting God’s spiritual realm into visible form much like the sacraments make God’s promise of salvation visible in the church.

A sixteenth-century woodcut from the Cranach workshop, first circulating pre-

Reformation then later revised based upon Lutheran theology, illustrates the shift from ascension to God through good works, as in meditative devotion, to the Lutheran concept of salvation descending from God. Lucas Cranach the Elder’s Heavenly Ladder of St.

Bonaventure (first edition 1510-1515) [Figure 51] was originally published as a visual reminder that salvation could be achieved through the viewer’s good works in the physical realm. As such, the text on the ladder rungs in the first version reads from the bottom up as a reflection of humans striving upwards toward God “despisement of the world,” “self-abasement,” and “humble love of God.”423 As Koerner notes of the pre-

Reformation version, “such ‘ladders… on which one climbs to heaven’ (Luther) make

God the passive focus of human designs.” 424 Cranach’s adaptation in a later undated version [Figure 52] clearly reframes the print to demonstrate Lutheran attitudes. The ladder rungs now demonstrate God’s reach toward humanity, reading from the top down

423 In order, the translations are “Verschmehung der welt,” “Sein selbst Kleinmechugung, (translated as making oneself small” and “Demütige lieb gottes” 424 WA XVII/1, page 438. Quoted and translated in Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 63. 205

“forgiveness of sins,” “Christ’s Last Supper,” and “Baptism.” 425 In other words, the rungs indicate the three Lutheran sacraments, the external manifestations of God’s promise of salvation in the earthly realm. Again, Koerner’s observations succinctly summarize the difference between the two versions of the ladder. “Altering only the inscriptions,

Cranach can say that God is the only active agent, that the word is his instrument, and that the verbal gloss, rather than the picture itself, makes an image true or false.” 426 The banderols at the top and bottom of the ladder support this reading. Both versions read

“fear of eternal pain” 427 at the bottom. In the pre-Reformation version, the top banderol reads “love of the eternal reward,” placing agency in the viewer. 428 In contrast, the

Lutheran version removes the verb, stating only “Eternal love” at the top. 429

Moving attainment of salvation from the efforts of the believer to grace from God, from the bottom up to the top down using only the gloss provides a lens through which the changes from pre-Reformation to Reformation epitaphs come into focus. Adapting the methods by which fifteenth-century artists captured the appearance of active prayer and meditation, Cranach harnessed the theory of the two realms to show passive reception of grace and community engagement. Noble makes a similar observation about

Law and Gospel [Figure 25] in contrast to Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg [Figure 53].

She says differences “begin with what constitutes salvation or damnation and with what

425 In order, the translations are “Vergebüg den Sünde,” “Abendmal Christi,” and “Tauff.” All translations are mine unless otherwise noted. 426 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 64. 427 The translation is “Furcht ewiger pein.” 428 The translation is “Lieb ewiger belonüg.” 429 The translation is “Ewiges Leben.” 206 power a human being has over the fate of the soul.”430 Furthermore, Noble notes that the earlier panel identifies a course of action needed for salvation. Schmitburg must act rather than receive salvation. He is responsible for securing his own fate in contrast to the passive forgiveness offered to true believers by Lutheranism through Christ’s sacrifice. 431

Meditative engagement with artworks on the part of the viewer, exemplified in

Cranach’s pre-Reformation Ladder was an activity that required quiet contemplation, indicating personal interaction with the divine and corresponding to an increasing tendency toward private devotion in the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. 432

Particularly characteristic of private piety are devotional texts for the laymen’s personal use, small imagery, and prie-dieu .433 Altarpieces, commonly found in small versions in private homes as well as large altarpieces displayed in churches, also facilitated private devotion. The tripartite format was particularly useful for evoking ascent to the divine.

On most days, exterior wings of a triptych, such as those seen in the Portinari Altarpiece

(1473-78) [Figure 54] by Hugo van der Goes, would be closed revealing only grey scale images imitating the type of devotional sculpture frequently found in the church. In the case of the Portinari Altarpiece , the viewer sees the Virgin looking up from prayer while the dove of the Holy Spirit appears over her head on the left. The angel Gabriel appears to issues his statement from the right panel. Together they depict the Annunciation, when the Word was made flesh. This scene was commonly found on exterior panels as the precursor to the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation in Christ’s sacrifice referenced

430 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 40. 431 Ibid. 432 See, for example, Ringbom, “Devotional Images and Imaginative Devotions: Notes on the Place of Art in Late Medieval Private Piety,” 30-39. 433 Ibid. 207 in the interior Nativity [Figure 55]. On feast days, the wings would open to reveal colorful splendor of van der Goes interpretation of Christ’s birth, showing his humanity in his nude form and implicating his sacrifice by his placement above a sheaf of wheat as the bread come down from Heaven. According to Craig Harbison, “In this sense sculpture on the outside of a triptych changing to painting on the inside clearly suggests a transition from earthly to supernatural vision.” 434 As demonstrated with in the Heavenly

Ladder of Bonaventure , the progression of interaction again begins in the physical world with human actions, this time individual prayer and meditation, moving upward toward the divine.

Pre-Reformation imagery focused on individual experience: it facilitated and modelled active prayer as a means to propel the viewer toward God. The popularity and abundance of visionary images implies a common understanding and acceptance of the language among lay people. When creating the new language for Reformation art, both

Cranach the Elder and Cranach the Younger adapted the existing visual vocabulary for the sake of readability for contemporary viewers, changing the gloss to reflect new attitudes toward imagery. In the Cranach epitaphs, the visual language inverts the traditional construction of devotional imagery, demonstrating how grace descends effortlessly to the pious. Donors commemorated in the Cranach epitaphs demonstrate their faith in Christ alone in a public confession, directing their appeal toward their

Lutheran congregation instead of God. In doing so, they proclaim their Lutheran beliefs to the viewer, demonstrating their qualifications to lead while emphasizing an exchange

434 Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” 106- 107. 208 of information between donor and viewer in the congregation rather than a donor and

God. These epitaphs identify a gathered community of faithful and the external rites of the church, conveying recognition of the spiritual realm as a grounded image appearing in the heart. Pre-Reformation artworks bring the viewer into the artwork to facilitate individual communion while Lutheran examples redirect the viewer back to the community. The outward orientation depicts donors bearing witness to an audience, aiding in the process of confessionalization by forwarding a personal, authoritative statement of Lutheran faith and situating the family in the community of true believers.

These differences in function and audience, particularly the emphasis on community, are evident in the pictorial construction and placement of the epitaphs within the church, the gaze of the sitters, the artist’s methods for delineating the b, and the sitter’s identity. Each of these four aspects as they appear in Cranach’s epitaphs will now be compared with pre-Reformation and Catholic examples to clearly illustrate how Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs draw on and adjust precedent to convey a Lutheran gloss.

Before moving on to comparisons, a brief recap of key terms is necessary. For clarity in comparison, the following paragraphs use the term Catholic for artworks painted after 1521 to clearly differentiate them from pre-Reformation and Reformation works. The date is significant because it was in 1521 that Luther stood trial at the Diet of

Worms and was excommunicated, solidifying his break with the Catholic Church. Un- coincidentally, the first Lutheran statement of faith, Passional Christ and Antichrist

[Figure 1] appeared at this time, marking the first attempts at creating a Lutheran visual

209 language. Subsequent imagery continually refined the new visual language concurrently with more precise statements of Lutheran faith.

Individual vs. Communal Piety

When creating Lutheran epitaphs, Lucas Cranach the Younger drew on the already existing pre-Reformation visual language. In doing so, he retained forms that would have been familiar and comprehensible to contemporary viewers, changing the gloss like his father did in the Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure [Figure 52]. As

Cranach the Elder’s first iteration of the Heavenly Ladder [Figure 51] indicates, pre-

Reformation epitaphs served as devotional tools. They guided veneration, prompted prayers for commemorated’s soul during masses, served as a good work by decorating the church, and modeled piety. All but the last of these functions is primarily facilitated by a one-on-one relationship with God. The last function, found in both pre-Reformation,

Catholic, and Reformation epitaphs exemplifies proper conduct based on prevailing attitudes. In contrast to individual functions, Reformation epitaphs denied singular engagement in favor of public confession, locating the donor simultaneously in the physical and spiritual realms and establishing a dialogue between donor and viewer rather than viewer and the divine. Changes in donor placement and doctrinal clarity as well as the physical location of the paintings in the church space underscore the new Lutheran gloss on the pre-Reformation format.

The most immediately recognizable difference between pre-Reformation and

Lutheran memorials is the placement of the donors. As Noble notes, in pre-Reformation formats there is a progression of figures from the outer edges of the panel inward with the 210 most holy figures occupying the center. 435 The interior of the Portinari Triptych [Figure

55] illustrates this hierarchy. 436 Here Tommaso Portinari, manager of the Bruges branch of the Medici Bank, kneels in the left panel of the painting with his two sons, Antonio and Pigello, accompanied by two patron saints, Thomas and Anthony. Portinari’s wife,

Maria di Francesco Baroncelli, occupies the right panel with daughter Margaritha and patron saints, Mary Magdalen and Margaret. The middle panel features a Nativity set before a stone structure. Witnesses to the event, including Joseph on the left, shepherds on the right, and kneeling angels, form a circle around Mary. She in turn kneels before

Christ, who is clearly designated as the most important element by the direction of their gaze, the orientation of the bodies, and the ring of empty ground drawing attention to his small form. The Portinari family is allowed access to the event with the intercession of their patron saints, but they are relegated to the wings of the panel. Furthermore, they are shown at a significantly smaller scale, indicating their lowered importance in the composition.

An Catholic example by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Altarpiece of George the

Bearded (1534) [Figure 56], emerged after the Reformation had been firmly established but right before the first truly confessional paintings like the Schneeberg Altarpiece

(1539) [Figure 26-28] and Wittenberg Altarpiece (1545) [Figure 7]. The altarpiece, which served as an epitaph for George the Bearded (1471-1539), retains a traditional pre-

Reformation format. George, a cousin of Frederick the Wise, became Duke of Saxony in

435 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 146. 436 See, for example: Susanne Franke, “Between Status and Spiritual Salvation: The Portinari Triptych and Tommaso Portinari’s Concern for His Memoria ,” Simiolus 33, no. 3 (2007-8):123-44; Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” 105; and Joel M. Upton, “Devotional Imagery and Style in the Washington Nativity by Petrus Christus,” Studies in the History of Art 7, (1975): 67-79. 211

1500. He remained a staunch supporter of the Pope and Catholicism despite the new confession of his cousin and the surrounding German territories. George’s epitaph reflects his confessional loyalties. The Saxon Duke kneels in the left panel with his patron saints Peter, identified by his keys, and James the Greater, identified by his wide- brimmed hat with a scallop shell. The donor’s wife, Duchess Barbara Jagiellon (1478-

1534), is accompanied by her patron saints Paul and Andrew. The artwork was finished around the time of Barbara’s death on January 17, 1534, making it likely that the Duke donated the altarpiece in her memory. 437 As in the Portinari Altarpiece , George and

Barbara kneel in the wings of the altarpiece, their presence adjacent to Christ facilitated by the patron saints. In the central panel, Christ presents his bloody wounds, blood trickling red streams down his hands, torso, and leg. He is supported by the Virgin and St.

John. The instruments of his torture are held aloft above his head by putti , foregrounding

Christ’s Passion and prompting an empathetic response from the viewer. The three central figures are much bigger than the figures in the side panels, instantly directing the viewer to the most important part of the painting.

The tripartite form pushing the donors out of central sight lines could be adapted into a single panel. This hierarchy is seen in one of the most widely-recognized pre-

Reformation Netherlandish epitaphs, The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele

(1434-6) [Figure 57]. 438 The single-panel painting portrays the Canon kneeling in his

437 Friedländer and Rosenberg, The Paintings of Lucas Cranach , 112, number 219. 438 For information on the meditative nature of Madonna of Canon van der Paele , see, for example, Douglas Brine, “Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration,” Art Bulletin 96, no 3 (2014): 265-287; Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” particularly 99- 101; and Bret Rothstein, “Visions and Devotion in Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele ,” Word & Image 15, no. 3 (1999): 262-76. 212 white surplice, signifying his role as priest, in adoration of a depiction of the Virgin and

Child enthroned. His namesake, St. George, stands behind the Canon, with a hand held out toward the Virgin and a hat tipped in greeting as if introducing the Canon to the mother and child. St. Donatian stands stoically on the opposite side of the Virgin. As in the triptych format, saints stand on the exterior presenting a sitter, while the Virgin and

Child, the most Holy figures, occupy the center of the panel. A carpet rolled out to the end of the picture plane reinforces the direct connection between the mother and child and the viewer.

In contrast, Reformation panels place the less holy figures, namely the donors or reformers, centrally without need of any patron saints. Cranach and Luther appear in the central panel of the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16] in the same scale as John the Baptist and Christ. Certain Cranach epitaphs, like Epitaph for Michael Teuber [Figure 6] or

Augustusburg Altarpiece [Figure 10], crowd the foreground with the commemorated and their family. Still other epitaphs, for example, Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen [Figure

22] or Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5] retain an open space in the center of the image, but the artist still emphatically creates an intermediate space for the commemorated between the viewer and the central image using changes in the environment. The transitional space changes the dynamic between the viewer and the divine. Rather than fostering an individual relationship by providing direct access as in

Altarpiece for George the Bearded [Figure 56] or The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele [Figure 57], the viewer first interacts with the donor. The human interaction, in addition to changing the relationship between the viewer and the representation of the

213 spiritual realm in the heart, also underscores the importance of community in Lutheran ideology. Preaching and reception of the Word were at the core of Lutheran theology and were a way to define the external appearance of the Lutheran church. 439 Luther’s Large

Catechism elucidates that “the house ought not to be called a church, except only for the reason that the multitude assembles there. For we who assemble there make and choose for ourselves a particular place and give a name to the house according to the assembly.” 440 According to this passage, Lutheran faithful invert the Catholic understanding of sacred space by demarcating boundaries by means of a congregation of adherents rather than the physical structure surrounding them. It is through interaction with the donors, the building of community, and the human exchange of the Word of God that the Lutheran spiritual community becomes perceptible. Set in such a way to retain participation in the liturgical rites of the church, the Lutheran donors in the Cranach epitaphs play a part in defining the church, changing the dynamic in the epitaphs from

God and individual to individual and community.

Changes in the conceptual accessibility of the narrative between pre-Reformation/

Catholic and Lutheran art is also at issue. As has been noted, most of the content of

Lutheran art is derived from biblical narratives. To rephrase, the subjects derive from

439 Joseph Leo Koerner, “The Image in Quotations: Cranach’s Portraits of Luther Preaching,” in Shop Talk: Studies in Honor of Seymour Slive , edited by Cynthia P. Schneide, William W. Robinson, and Alice I. Davies, (Cambridge: Harvard University Art Museums, 1995), 143. Koerner demonstrates how the Wittenberg City predella manifests the Lutheran conception of church. Standing in a pulpit overlooking the congregation, Luther projects the words of the Bible resting in front of him across the courtyard to the congregation on the other side. His words are magnified by his pointing finger, projecting the concepts forward across the courtyard. The group on the left receives these words, aiding in the creation of a vision of Christ. 440 Martin Luther, Der Große Katechismus , 1529. Quoted in and translate by Maria Deiters, “Epitaphs in Dialogue with Sacred Space: Post-Reformation Furnishings in the Parish Churches of St Nikolai and St Marien in Berlin,” 76. 214 stories actively read by the community and easily accessible, particularly with Luther’s translation of the Bible into the vernacular. In case the viewer needed clarification of the theological message of the background subject, supplemental text was often added. For example, in Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13], the rejoicing angels hold banners with German words, underscoring the connection between the image and a specific

Biblical narrative. Corresponding text in or next to the epitaphs sometimes appeared in

German, sometimes in Latin, and sometimes in both, as can be seen from Epitaph for

Paul Eber [Figure 46 and 48]. Tying imagery to widely-circulating Lutheran prints, which were also most commonly found with textual explanations, provides an additional layer of redundancy, ensuring the message is easily understood. Clarification of the image is consistent with the idea that paintings were books for the unlearned. The image was meant to be more widely accessible to the general public, while the text was directed at the learned, who presumably could explain the image to those who were unlettered.

This multi-layered redundancy results in an image that can almost be read like the text that accompanies it.

Contrast, for example, both the pre-Reformation Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg

[Figure 53] and the Catholic Altarpiece for George the Bearded [Figure 56] with

Lutheran examples. Drawing on contemporary ideas regarding the art of dying well,

Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg (1518) [Figure 53], 441 commissioned to hang in

441 Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Der Sterbende . Accessed online February 25, 2013. URL: http://www.mdbk.de/sammlungen/detailseiten/lucas-cranach-dae/ ; Koepplin and Falk, volume 2, page 466. 215

Leipzig’s Nikolaikirche, 442 depicts Schmitburg (d. 1490) demonstrating his piety as he lies centrally in the bottom tier on his deathbed with his wife praying beside him. 443 As he dies, he is visited by angels, saints, and a priest on his right while beasts, demons, and a doctor waving a vial of medicine vie for his attention on his left. The nude figure floating above the dying man’s head appears to be his soul waiting to descend into hell or ascend into Heaven after his life choices have been weighed. Latin text appears throughout the painting. 444 The phrases include “ Der Sterbende [the dying] fulfilled his good works carelessly” inscribed on the chest, indicating the tenuous fate of

Schmitburg’s soul and his petitions to God for salvation .445 Despite the uncertainty implied in the bottom tier, Schmitburg appears to have adequately fulfilled his religious obligations since he kneels with four others before the Virgin and Child in a mandorla in the upper tier. In the church before them, a man pulls on a string, presumably ringing the bells. The text following the semi-circle frame on the top tier identifies the sitter clearly, stating “Our great Father allowed Heinrich Schmitburg of Leipzig to have this panel

442 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 59, note 50. The panel would have been surrounded by many other memorials. It was removed from the Nikolaikirche to the City Library in Leipzig and later moved to the Leipzig Museum der bildenden Künste. 443 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 38. Koepplin and Falk, Lukas Cranach , 466. Schmitburg was a physician who graduated from University of Leipzig in 1465, an alderman in 1470, and a Professor of Pathology in 1471. Koepplin and Falk say the epitaph was commissioned by Heinrich Schmitburg, the donor’s son. Noble, 60, indicates that the painting was commissioned by Schmitburg himself. As there is a twenty-eight year gap between the completion of the epitaph and the death of the donor, the earlier claim seems more likely. 444 Translation from Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 60. Next to the soul of the dying man reads “Although I have sinned, still I have never denied you, my God.” Above the dying man’s head to the right is “Atone for your sins, pray for forgiveness, and hope for mercy.” On the foot of the bed appears “You must despair, because you neglected God’s commandments, and fervently fulfilled mine [the devil’s] with the help of the woman [Eve].” The notary writes “The deceased gives his soul to God, his body to the earth, and his possessions to his relatives.” Above his head, Holy figures gather around the Trinity facing outward, in a mandorla inscribed with a single Latin phrase repeated on each side-- one right side up, the other upside down-- “Holy Lord, God of the Sabbath. 445 Translation from Ibid. 216 made in the year 1518 after the birth of Christ.” 446 Text that is exclusively in Latin rather than German marks a difference in accessibility. 447 With an emphasis on good works to attain salvation and Latin inscriptions, the epitaph focuses on the actions of the sitter, limits the accessibility of the words, and chooses a subject not derived from the Bible. In the case of Altarpiece for George the Bearded , the Latin text seems to paraphrase passages regarding submission of a wife to the husband and the husband to God.

Paraphrasing passages alongside an unrelated image again underscores that clarity is not as important as the message of piety and salvation through good works. 448 In contrast, the

Reformation works frequently use the vernacular, and at times Latin, to reinforce the biblical stories, demonstrating their witness to the truths of the Bible.

The physical location of the epitaphs also factors into the accessibility of the panels. Pre-Reformation and Catholic epitaphs were scattered throughout the church, sometimes in highly-visible locations, sometimes in family chapels that likely didn’t have had a great deal of traffic. For example, Susanne Franke makes a convincing argument for the intended placement of the Portinari Altarpiece [Figure 54-55] in the Portinari family chapel in Bruges’ St. James church near the designated site of the tombs of

Portinari and his wife. 449 The family chapel was in the old chancel. Following

446 Translation from Ibid. 447 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 40. 448 The text above George is from St. Paul’s Epistles to the Ephesians and Timothy. The first set of text, from Ephesians 5:23-25 and 1 Timothy 2:9 is “Mulieres debent esse subditae maritis sicut deo mariti debent diligere uxores sicut corpus suum quilibet diligat uxorem sicut se ipsum uxor timeat maritum. Ad Epeh:5. Muliere habeant honestum vestitum cum discretione. Ad. Timoth: 2.” Above his wife Barbara, the artist paints from 1 Peter 2: 13-14 “Estote Subditi Omni Humanae creaturae propter deum siue regi sicut prae cipuo siue principibus taouam arege missis in uindictam malorum laudem uero bonorum quia sic est uoeuntas dei. Pet Secundo.” To provide a precise translation, I would need to find a Latin scholar. 449 Franke, “Between Status and Spiritual Salvation: The Portinari Triptych and Tommaso Portinari’s Concern for His Memoria ,” 123-144. 217 contemporary practice for founding chapels, the public was guaranteed access; however, access was limited by an entry through the adjoining sacristy. 450 Madonna of Canon Joris van der Paele [Figure 57] was likely closer to the central aisle on the northern pier in the nave of St. Donation in Bruges, Flanders over the Canon’s tomb and therefore more visually accessible during mass. 451 Altarpiece of George the Bearded [Figure 56] hung in a side chapel, founded by the pair in 1513 to serve as their burial place, adjacent to west portal of Meissen Cathedral, where it still hangs today.

The array of placements from relatively private to public corresponds with the

Catholic attitudes toward artworks. Public placement was not necessary as the most important function was to act as a good work. In contrast, the Lutheran epitaphs were more conspicuously located to facilitate continued participation of the commemorated persons in Lutheran services. The visibility of the panels along with the accessibility of the story and the interaction between the viewer and the donor speaks to the importance of community engagement from the physical realm in order to make the invisible perceptible rather than to help an individual achieve salvation through good works.

Active vs. Passive Reception of Grace

Emphasis on community as contrasted to individual communion with God sought in good works is also indicative the Lutheran concept of salvation. God’s grace is effortlessly bestowed upon ‘true’ believers with good deeds naturally following just as

450 Franke, “Between Status and Spiritual Salvation: The Portinari Triptych and Tommaso Portinari’s Concern for His Memoria ,” 124. 451 Brine, “Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration,” 271-272. Brine provides a useful history of and argument for the original location of the panel. Brine makes a convincing argument for the placement of the panel near the altar of Saints Peter and Paul. However, he does not believe the artwork was hung over the altar as an altarpiece. Brine, 272-274. 218 the image naturally delineates in the heart when the Word of God is spoken. No actions are needed. The direction of the donor’s gaze in Cranach’s Lutheran epitaphs underscores this natural process in an adaptation of pre-Reformation and Catholic methods. Following a concept Noble discusses as “directing veneration” in her comparison of the two types of artworks, the viewer observes that pre-Reformation precedent directs the gaze to reinforce the most important parts of the painting. 452 In literature on the appearance of visions in Netherlandish precedent, this gaze also reflects the donor’s deep meditation, resulting from ascent beginning with fervent prayer to a visionary experience. In stark contrast, Lutheran sitters direct their gaze back outward, demonstrating participation in the community of the church, who form the priesthood of all believers, and indicating that the delineated image in the background occurs in their heart simultaneously as a natural consequence of their true faith.

The pre-Reformation method of directing veneration is nicely demonstrated in

Altarpiece for George the Bearded [Figure 56]. George and Barbara each turn their eyes and bodies toward the central image of Christ with the Virgin and Saint John. Behind each figure, a patron saint reinforces the interior direction with pointing fingers and hands on the outside shoulder of each donor. The sitters’ gazes are also interior and distinctly unfocused, exemplifying ascent that would have begun with prayer and corporeal vision, active engagement, and ultimately a visionary experience. In other examples, namely Jan van Eyck’s The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele [Figure 57], analysis of underdrawings demonstrates how the artist paid special attention the Canon’s gaze,

452 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 144. 219 reworking the eyes to capture this specific, distant, unfocused appearance. 453 As a result, the donors’ eyes appear directionless, showing that they have retreated into their minds to achieve their divine vision.

In the Lutheran epitaphs, the turn of the donors’ bodies and the position of their hands still point to a representation of the divine. However, their gaze distinctly focuses outside of the painting, redirecting the exchange back to the congregation rather than into internal meditation and the mind’s eye. Many of the Cranach epitaphs move a step further, directing the gaze of at least one of the sitters directly at the viewer, engaging them. In direct contrast to the upward progression from corporeal to spiritual vision indicated in pre-Reformation works, the Cranach epitaphs deny ascension by creating an exchange between sitter and viewer in the physical realm. Noble has recognized this change in conversation in the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16]. She observes that “The final element of this new, imagined dialogue is the response of the viewer, who is to accept Luther’s word, to recognize the grace Christ offers, and to accept this grace and be saved, like Cranach and the ducal family. Not only Christ, but also Luther and Cranach and the figures in the wings have become these ‘living participant(s) in the dialogue’ with the viewer.” 454 Placing the exchange within the context of the Lutheran understanding of sacred space further illustrates the connection between the paintings and Luther’s conception of the two realms. The new dialogue between viewer and donor, their mutual acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice, the Word of God, and Luther’s ideas, establishes the

453 Rothstein, “Vision and devotion in Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele ,” 262 also comments on the connection between the canon’s glasses and the absence of sensory stimulation. 454 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 156. 220

Lutheran church in the physical realm, allowing the invisible spiritual realm in the heart of the believer to become perceptible to the viewer.

As discussed in Chapter One, Cranach’s depiction of the crucifixion in the

Wittenberg Altarpiece predella [Figure 8] provides precedent for the latter appearance of epitaphs depicting the exchange of the Word making the invisible Lutheran spiritual realm visible. Here, Christ appears in the middle of the panel as Luther delivers the message of the Bible from the right side to the congregation on the left. Luther’s words are magnified by his pointing finger, forwarding Gospel across the courtyard to be received by an attentive congregation. In reading this image Koerner has noted that

Cranach the Elder presents Christ as if he were an interior image instead of physically present in the space. 455 Koerner relates the interiority of the image of Christ to the acts of preaching and receiving the Word of God, noting that Christ’s sacrifice manifests in the hearts of the faithful. 456 The sitters’ gazes in Cranach’s epitaphs work in a similar manner. They look out into the church or engage with the viewer, demonstrating that through preaching and reception of the Word, the spiritual realm appears in the hearts of the faithful.

The act of turning the gaze of the sitter back into the space of the church rather than into the painting draws attention to the importance of the physical realm. Only belief and God’s Word is required for the viewer to recognize the real, overlapping spiritual

455 See for example, Koerner “The Image in Quotations: Cranach’s Portraits of Luther Preaching,” 143. Koerner also discuss the nature of the cross and the visionary experience of the congregation in The Reformation of the Image , 248-249. 456 Ibid. 221 realm represented by the image in the heart. Grace is passively received based solely on true belief.

Visionary vs. Representative

The gaze and position of the sitters in pre-Reformation and Catholic epitaphs allow the most Holy figures greatest visibility, modeling for and directing to deeper meditative engagement initiated with veneration. Through this engagement, the viewer, by emulating the donor, could strive toward their own visionary experience. The artist’s methods of depicting space in these memorials supported the idea that the viewer was drawn in from the physical realm to partake in a richly ornamented, sublime vision of

Christ. This progression can be likened to actions being the catalyst to ascension up the

Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure [Figure 51] toward God. Reformation panels adapted precedent, turning the viewer around rather than drawing them in, making them aware of the omnipresence of the spiritual realm through belief and exchange with the

Lutheran community and emphasizing passive reception of grace. Again using the example of Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , the gloss has changed to illustrate the divine descending upon the commemorated effortlessly and simultaneously with reception of the Word in true faith.

Just as the fervent prayer of the donor is shown as a prompt to individualistic visions in pre-Reformation epitaphs, so too did the giving and receiving of God’s Word seem to make perceptible the invisible spiritual realm in Cranach’s epitaphs. In paint, this perception is implicated by religious subjects representative of proper conduct in the spiritual realm. However, while the appearance of the divine in Lutheran epitaphs is 222 rooted in pre-Reformation precedent, the implementation is flipped. Pre-Reformation panels portray sublimely colored visions in oil paint that, in Harbison’s words, “could be taken to be magical, capable of materializing and yet dematerializing objects before the spectator’s eyes, rending the world as glowing as a stained glass window.” 457 In contrast,

Reformation panels underscore that the spiritual realm overlaps the corporeal realm, with perception occurring simultaneously with the reception of the Word. The two realms are clearly distinct, but the spiritual realm adopts characteristics of the physical world, denying a visionary and transcendental experience and reflecting a change from the visionary to the representative. Rather than the spiritual being an imagined element brought to the viewer through the piety of the donor, it is an invisible presence always in existence and perceived in the heart through exchange with the Lutheran community, which was the body of Christ.

Cranach the Younger’s method for depicting the two realms derived from his father’s artworks, which in turn adapted pre-Reformation visual vocabulary. Comparing artists’ methods for structuring space in pre-Reformation and Lutheran paintings identifies inspiration for both epitaph construction and the appearance of the representation of the spiritual realm while highlighting the importance of the changes.

Directed veneration and a sequential hierarchy of space in triptychs is one such method of indicating the most sacred, divine parts of the painting in Catholic predecessors. In progression, the figures and scenes became increasingly holy, climaxing in the middle.

For example, engagement with the Portinari Altarpiece [Figure 54-55] began with the

457 Craig Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” Simiolus 15, no 2 (1985): 117. 223 exterior grisaille Annunciation , which would have been the most commonly observed scene. The sumptuous interior saints and Nativity would have only been visible on feast days. The exterior figures, resembling sculpture, were most grounded in the physical space of the church although clearly not of the church. 458 In the open position the

Portinari panels revealed a richly colored scene with the donors and their patron saints clearly distinguished from the central, most holy scene by the physical boundaries of the frame. Moving from exterior wings and climaxing in the center panel, the triptych guides the viewer toward communion with the divine.

The Nativity depicted on the interior scene of the Portinari Altarpiece relies on dramatic color and symbolic elements rather than text and a Biblical narrative to denote a visionary nature. Compare this depiction of the Nativity with the one found in Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13], which is arguably the Lutheran epitaph most like its pre-

Reformation predecessors. Both panels show Mary, Joseph, the Christ child, the Three

Shepherds, and a host of angels. However, the arrangement and appearance of these figures are dramatically different. The Portinari panel depicts the Christ child lying naked above a sheaf of wheat, indicating that in addition to his very human nature he is also the real presence in the bread come down from Heaven. Angels in priestly robes, one in red and gold with an embroidered sanctus, sanctus, sanctus , act as priests in support of the new priest and sacrifice, the infant Christ. Still life elements in the foreground indicate, by three irises and a scarlet lily in a vase, Christ’s passion, purity, and royalty while a columbine, carnation, and violets on the right demonstrate Mary’s humility and

458 Harbison, “Visions and Meditations in Early Flemish Painting,” 106- 107. 224 sorrow. Meditation on these details could keep the viewer engaged in the panel and help develop a deeper understanding of the story. In comparison, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck is stark. Christ, wrapped in red swaddling clothes —attire entirely appropriate for a newborn baby— rests in a trough padded with hay—creating a makeshift crib—rather than exposed on the ground. Mary and Joseph honor the child and the Shepherds approach from the right. The appearance of angels is limited to the rafters, where they carry banderols tying the image to a specific biblical narrative. The artist faithfully composes the scene based upon testimonies in the Bible, encouraging the viewer to read rather than meditate upon the narrative.

Artist Jan van Eyck also included small details in Madonna and Canon Joris van der Paele [Figure 57] to help create a sensory experience. 459 The locus for this experience is indicated to be the Canon himself. His glasses, needed only for earthly vision, rest unused in his hand while he gazes unfocused into the painted space. 460 Richly vibrant color, light, and texture makes the figures seem substantial and invites the viewer into van der Paele’s memorial while such brilliance simultaneously distances the scene from the physical realm. 461 This distinction is amplified by the demarcation of space in the architecture of the apse, which surrounds and confines the figural group. 462 Although the canon is in the same space as the Holy figures, he does not physically interact with any of them, nor does he look or act like the other figures. The Canon is deep in prayer, as

459 Ibid., 100. 460 Rothstein, “Vision and devotion in Jan van Eyck’s Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele ,” 262 also comments on the connection between the canon’s glasses and the absence of sensory stimulation. 461 Ibid. 462 Ibid. 225 indicated by his open prayer book, and separated from those around him by his posture, unfocused gaze, and pure white robe.

Cranach the Elder translated this kind of visionary experience into the composition of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Kneeling before Christ on the Cross

(1520-29) [Figure 58]. 463 Although the painting was completed after the Reformation had begun, the format of the painting draws on pre- Reformation traditions to highlight the piety of Albrecht of Hohenzollern (1490-1545), showing the sitter’s adherence to what would become known as Catholic faith. Like the Canon, Albrecht’s appearance is incongruent with the rest of the panel. His bright red cardinal’s robes draw immediate attention in the otherwise darkened landscape, bringing the traditional dress of his vocation and, by extension, his role in the church, to the forefront. He kneels on a large pillow that is out of place in a scene devoid of any other interior furnishings. Christ’s loincloth billows slightly, indicating a slight breeze in the air. In contrast, the Cardinal’s clothes are still. The physical body of Christ is represented at a smaller scale than

Albrecht, and the base of the cross is carefully hidden behind the pillow. Turning toward

Christ, who in return looks at the Cardinal, the figures celebrate an individual’s piety and relationship with the divine. It is clear that the landscape and crucifixion are imagined by

463 Friedländer and Rosenberg, Lucas Cranach , 106, catalog 183; Gemäldegalerie (Berlin, Germany), Lucas Cranach d.Ä. und Lucas Cranach d.J.: Ausstellung im Deutschen Museum Berlin, April-Juni 1937 (Berlin: Staatliche Museen, 1937), catalog 43; Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 13 and 81-83; Scheidig et. al., Deutsche Cranach-Ehrung 1953: Weimar und Wittenberg, 52, catalog 90. Albrecht was made cardinal in 1518. Noble states that Cranach the Elder later adjusted his production to omit the subjects that Luther found most problematic, but he did, as a businessman, continue to accept Catholic commissions. Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 83. Noble identifies Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Kneeling before Christ on the Cross as an example of the visionary experience in the work of Cranach the Elder. 226

Albrecht due to his fervent prayers, not a part of the real, physical space in which he lives.

One of Cranach’s single panel Catholic examples also uses frames, reminiscent of those seen in the example of the Portinari Triptych [Figure 54-55], to form a physical boundary between what is in the physical plane and what is imagined by the donor. 464

Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg [Figure 53] adapts a progression of space from the mostly earthly to the most holy into a two-tiered format with the earthly on the bottom and the heavenly at the top. 465 The physical realm occupied by the donor on his deathbed is on the bottom. Schmitburg’s communion with the divine is imagined in the upper register, indicating his hope that his acts of piety have been enough.

Cranach the Younger’s methods for delineating space detailed in Chapter One stem from these pre-Reformation practices. Using dress, frames, color, and progression of space, Cranach indicates which elements of the Lutheran epitaphs represent the spiritual realm and which turn back to the physical realm. However, while the pre-

Reformation and Catholic donors are in a space of their imagination, the Lutheran donors stand in two overlapping realms. They participate in church services and the confession of the Lutheran church in the physical realm, which in turn makes perceptible the real spiritual realm. The grounded appearance of this realm is adapted from precedent to adamantly deny a visionary aspect.

464 Internal framing devices, often arches, were used to demarcate space in other Netherlandish precedents as well. See, for example, One,” The Art Bulletin 43, no. 1 (March, 1961): 1-20; Karl M. Birkmeyer, “The Arch Motif in Netherlandish Painting of the Fifteenth Century: A Study in Changing Religious Imagery: Part Two,” The Art Bulletin 43, no. 2 (June, 1961): 99-112; or Upton, “Devotional Imagery and Style in the Washington Nativity by Petrus Christus,” 48-79. 465 Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Der Sterbende ; Koepplin and Falk, volume 2, page 466. 227

Noble and Koerner have both observed Cranach’s tendency to undercut a visionary experience in his Reformation panels, marking it as an image to be read. When considering the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16], Noble notes that “Viewers of Lutheran art were not to imagine: rather, they were to be carefully guided through a picture.”466

Koerner also supports the claim that the artist creates an image facilitating a more text- like reception, 467 going on to say that Reformation artworks “point beyond the visible form to what they mean.” 468 By grounding his imagery as a product of the physical world, Cranach demands a text-like reception and circumvents ascension into meditative state.

Cranach further undermines meditative engagement by drawing on printed material to craft the background narrative. In a community concerned with idolatry, developing the vocabulary of painted panels from printed forms could serve a double purpose. First, prints rapidly dispersed new ideas through a combination of image and text, which clarified the conversion of the Catholic pictorial language into a Protestant vocabulary. 469 Second, a connection between painted epitaphs and prints associated the panels with a more abstract, cerebral medium. Contemporary reception of prints in

Lutheran circles underscores the difference between treatment of printed and painted artworks. Prints remained outside of discussions of idolatry and frequently were spared

466 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 146-147. 467 Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art , 370; Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 52-53. 468 Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art , 382. 469 See, for example, Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , 6. 228 the iconoclastic destruction enacted on other artworks. 470 In consideration of the backlash against indulgenced prints, the omission of prints in Lutheran discussions about images is surprising. Rebecca Zorach suggests that prints were not a target due to their “special status as cognitive images. They offered an alternative way of thinking about images, more abstract, less material, and, perhaps, closer to the ‘idea’-- in the technical, Platonic, sense.” 471 Drawing on theories of ‘imageless devotion’ in the writings of devotio moderna founder Gert Grote, Zorach argues that the fact “that prints were not as richly illusionistic as a painting by van Eyck might in fact make them more suitable as devotional aids: their degree of abstraction might present ‘something contrary to Christ’s presence’ to remind the viewer that he or she is not, actually, in the presence of Christ himself.” 472 Reliance on printed precedent could thus underscore the physicality of the image, reminding the viewer that they are not actually with Christ, further suppressing idolatrous urges or meditative engagement.

The type of space represented in the Cranach panels further denies a visionary experience. The spiritual realm, while clearly demarcated by figures, objects, and transitions in space and often colored in a slightly different manner in an adaptation of pre-Reformation style, is not magnificent or sublime. Cranach’s spiritual realm becomes visible in the familiar world of rolling hills, churches, or dining halls. Like God’s

470 Rebecca Zorach, “Meditation, Idolatry, Mathematics: The Printed Image in Europe around 1500,” in The Idol in the Age of Art: Objects, Devotions, and the Early Modern World , edited by Michael W. Cole and Rebecca Zorach (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2009), 317. 471 Ibid., 317. 472 Ibid., 321. Gert Grote founded the movement in the late fourteenth century. By the time of Luther and the Reformation, devotio moderna was prevalent in Catholic Europe. 229 sacraments, his physical signs of the church on earth, 473 the spiritual realm is perceptible in a representation. In turn, the donors earn their placement in the spiritual realm as believers bearing witness to the truths of the Bible. As Noble notes, they are there because God has promised believers salvation. 474 Unlike the Catholic panels, they do not need to ascend to a higher realm to reach God. God’s realm is ever present and invisible, overlapping the physical realm.

In several epitaphs, Cranach includes a self-portrait at the transition between spaces, further defining that everything, including the divine, is from the hand of the artist. 475 In doing so, he again grounds the image in the known world. Precedent for

Cranach the Younger’s inclusion of self-portraits is found in a pre-Reformation painting by Cranach the Elder, The Holy Family (c. 1510) [Figure 59], as well as two paintings completed during the early development of Lutheran art, Judith at the Table of

Holofernes (1531) [Figure 60] and the predella of the Wittenberg Altarpiece [Figure 8].

In all three works, a portrait of Cranach the Elder is included on the left as an introductory element. 476 In the pre-Reformation example, Cranach stands in dark,

473 For the physical nature of the sacraments, see, for example, Cameron, The European Reformation , 156- 7. 474 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 81. 475 The inclusion of self-portraits in the work of both Cranach the Elder and Cranach the Younger could serve as a dissertation unto itself. Current literature on the subject of Cranach’s pre-Reformation self- portraits is limited Walther Scheidig, “Lucas Cranachs Selbstbildnisse und die Cranach-Bildnisse” in Lucas Cranach d.Ä. Der Künstler und seine Zeit (Berlin, 1953): 128-139 and Schade, Cranach: A Master Family of Painters , 56-59. Both sources are more focused on making important arguments as to whether or not certain pictures contain self-portraits, leaving analysis of portrait function open for discussion. Self- portraits in Reformation artworks, particularly the Wittenberg Altarpiece , the Weimar Altarpiece , and Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt have been considered to some extent by Koerner and Noble. 476 Schade notes that this tendency to place a self-portrait on the left “at the opening of the pictorial sequence is a very conspicuous one. There is more behind this than an artist’s vanity.” (Schade, Cranach: A Master Family of Painters , 56) However, he does not elaborate. He also notes that Cranach’s self- portraits “show a quiet man, low-keyed, with an aura of dark foreboding; they emphasize the melancholy features which, in the humanist view, are an intrinsic part of the artistic personality.” The comments 230 anachronistic clothing at the edge of the panel but fully immersed in the painting. He is distinguished from his surroundings by both his dress as well as his gaze, which is focused directly on the viewer. He implicates himself in the scene, but does not stand at a transition. In the two later images, his portrait is moved to denote a change of space. In the Wittenberg Altarpiece , he forms part of the group receiving the Word of God from

Luther, defining the boundaries of the community of believers. In the biblical narrative

Judith at the Table of Holofernes [Figure 60], a later Reformation-era work, a tree isolates him from the story and his body is only partially defined, cut off by the panel’s edge. From behind the tree, only his pale, pointing finger and hands silhouetted against the dark shadowed brush betray his vantage point. Here, he marks the story as from his hand rather than immersing himself in the narrative.

Koerner draws a direct correlation between the portrait of Cranach in the

Wittenberg Altarpiece predella [Figure 8] and the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 16]. 477 He says in the Weimar Altarpiece “Cranach is shown to see and to indicate the crucified

Christ. Receiving the word, he implicitly, and inwardly, beholds the crucifix we behold even as he looks at us-- in rather the same way as the parishioners in the Wittenberg predella behold Christ while looking Luther’s way.”478 A similar observation is made for

support the notion that Cranach’s original self-portraits were following in the humanist tradition of documenting work of a melancholy artist. (Schade, Cranach: A Master Family of Painters , 57) 477 It should be noted that John Cook made a statement about the Weimar Altarpiece being “an extraordinary claim about the role of the artist as a believer and interpreter of the Crucifixion. The artist is a recipient of the truth and a worshipper, and the work of art is an interpretation and proclamation of the Gospel.” Cook, “Picturing Theology: Martin Luther and Lucas Cranach,” 33. Koerner takes these ideas much further in both The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art and The Reformation of the Image . 478 It should be noted that Koerner is more cautious about assigning a large role in The Moment of Self- Portraiture in German Renaissance Art . He says the Weimar Altarpiece is “less an advertisement of the artist than of the theologian Luther, who, more than anyone else, is the picture’s hero and designer.” (p. 231 the self-portrait in the Wittenberg predella, where Cranach the Elder appears as a

“bearded fellow who, more markedly than anyone else, sees what Luther preaches.” 479

The key to understanding Cranach’s role as a vessel for viewing the Word is in the difference between Cranach’s appearance in the Weimar Altarpiece and the typical depiction of the everyman in Law and Gospel prints.

In most versions of Law and Gospel [Figure 25], the everyman appears near John the Baptist with a stream of salvific blood hitting his heart. This example extends to the

Cranach epitaphs as seen in Epitaph for Anna Badehorn [Figure 18]. Like other Law and

Gospel depictions, the blood stream in the Weimar Altarpiece [Figure 17] emits from

Christ’s side and strikes the artist directly, but the trajectory is altered. Instead of striking

Cranach in the heart, blood hits the artist directly on the top of the head. The shift in the stream of the blood from heart to head is noteworthy. Traditionally, Luther identified the heart , not the head , as the source of devotional images as in his quote from Against the

Heavenly Prophets . When the everyman receives salvation through redeeming blood, he receives it in his heart as the place where images appear and gifts are received. Cranach, in stark contrast, is washed clean as in Baptism with redeeming blood on his head. The image behind him, so well-known and recreated by his own hand, stands as a testament to

Cranach’s artistic production in the Reformation, celebrating the role of the artist as creator as well as the most renowned subject created by the Cranach hand.

408) In The Reformation of the Image , 232, Koerner modifies this statement to indicate that “Cranach is shown to see and to indicate the crucified Christ. Receiving the word, he implicitly, and inwardly, beholds the crucifix we behold even as he looks at us- in rather the same way as the parishioners in the Wittenberg predella behold Christ while looking Luther’s way.” Although Koerner identifies the source of the image as the eyes of the artist, he does not grant Cranach the role of mediator in the Weimar Altarpiece . 479 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 250. 232

Hands and redeeming blood are also important in the last identified self-portrait by a Cranach family artist. In the Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt by Cranach the Younger

(1565) [Figure 5], the artist includes a depiction of himself as wine bearer, passing the glass to a man identified as Dr. Johannes Scheyring. Only one figure, the artist, is able to punctuate the physical boundary formed by the long bench separating the dinner table from the commemorated’s foreground space. Noting that the figure is positioned between the Last Supper and the panel edge, Koerner hypothesizes that here the artist “becomes the mediating link between world and work. With his back passing out of the picture toward the contemporary scene of confession, he connects the present to a recent past, while Luther connects to apostolic history.” 480 Koerner sees Cranach’s gesture of service as a play on words, as schenken , the German word for ‘pour’ can also mean ‘to give,’ referencing Cranach’s gift of imagery. 481 Koerner goes on to state that Cranach’s role as cupbearer “affirms the artist’s role in a religion of the word, perhaps recalling that images can serve to make words ‘visible’, just as sacrament does.” 482 Koerner also points out

Cranach’s gaze at Christ as he passes the wine to Scheyring, suggesting that Cranach

“presents Christ both in the wine and through his labour and art.” 483 In the theology of the

480 Ibid., 374. Koerner also states that the position of Cranach standing between the viewer and Luther may represent a personal relationship. “Influential both in the city and at court, the painter may have been one of Luther’s most effective protectors.” 481 Ibid., 380. 482 Ibid., 374. 483 Ibid., 380. Koerner’s reading in this aspect is based on the German work schenken , meaning “to pour” but also “to give.” This is the term used in Luther’s translation of Nehemiah 1:11, “For I was the king’s cupbearer [ Schenke ],” cited by Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 380. He immediately notes the problem with this reading, as it evokes the idea of giving something to God and God reciprocating: an idea that was anathema to Protestants. Several of Cranach the Elder’s Pre-Reformation religious works show self-aggrandizing tendencies common in the work of contemporary artists such as Albrecht Dürer. As for the role of the cupbearer, Susan Boettcher states that “Scholars have usually read the reception of the chalice as a sign for the transmission of the proper ordination to distribute the sacrament” (“Are the 233 two realms, Cranach can be said, through his hand, to make the spiritual realm perceptible from his place in the physical realm and through his service in the role of artist bestowed upon him by God.

Suggestively, the identifying mark of the artist, a signet ring bearing the Cranach monogram worn on the artist’s left hand, touches the glass of wine signifying communal wine. 484 The cup also relates to the blood of Christ, as illustrated in the book of Concord, which Philip Melanchthon wrote based on Luther’s theology. Melanchthon writes that

Christ took the cup at the Last Supper and said ‘This cup is a new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”485 The emphasis on blood in salvation in the wine is accentuated by the contrasting statement about the reception of bread, which is translated as “Take; eat; this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 486 The body is taken in remembrance while the blood is the source of forgiveness for sins. Like his father, Cranach the Younger does not receive salvation through his heart, as the Luther suggested; rather he receives it through his hand, the tool of his trade.

Likewise, Cranach the Elder is introduced into Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann

[Figure 3] through an instrument in his hand. He appears on the far left of the panel in a position reminiscent of his earlier self-portraits in religious narratives. In his hand he carries a water bucket, presumably meant to add fuel to Elijah’s supernaturally burning

Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 98). She does not document her source. 484 Ibid., 380. 485 Kolb et. al., The Book of Concord , 385-386. The quote is taken from Luther’s translation of 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 [New International Bible]. 486 Ibid. 234 pyre. In consideration of contemporary identifications of Luther as a new Elijah, the portrait is particularly interesting. Here Cranach stands as an anachronistic figure in the scene contributing to the blaze, a role not unlike his role as the artist most well-known for spreading Luther’s message in imagery. Through the work of his hands he fanned the flames of reform that spread through Germany in the first half of the sixteenth century.

His presence in the panel serves as a reminder of his service, a signature for the Cranach workshop, and a reminder that the image is grounded in the physical realm not to be venerated.

Perhaps one of the most important distinctions between pre-Reformation and

Reformation memorials is the emphasis placed on physicality rather than ascension to a meditative state. Pre-Reformation artworks and their Catholic descendants show the donor in their sublime vision of the divine. The majority of the painted scene is dedicated to defining a transcendental experience with a few elements occasionally employed to indicate the physicality of the painting. The placement of the donors in pre-Reformation memorials contributes to this type of engagement. They are positioned in a way that makes the divine most accessible, facilitating individual piety. In contrast, the placement of the Lutheran donors marks their simultaneous placement in the corporeal and spiritual worlds, emphasizing the role of community in the perception of the spiritual realm and denying individual engagement with the divine. Cranach’s tendency to paint highly representational themes tied to print culture and the inclusion of portraits of known figures, grounds the image in this world, turning the focus back to the community rather

235 than encouraging further interiority, which in turns spreads the Word and helps define members of the priesthood of all believers.

Defining the Sitters’ Identity

An emphasis on the membership of the donor in the priesthood of believers elevates the importance of identity in the Lutheran epitaphs. These Lutheran donors are not just Christians doing good works, commissioning artworks to decorate the church, and serving as a model of piety. They are leaders who are representative of the congregation. As Koerner notes, Luther himself saw the potential for individuals to represent groups, “as a husband stands for his household. And in public life ( politicus ), ministers both apostolic (John, Peter) and present (Luther, Amsdorf) stand for their congregation.” 487 Furthermore, as Noble notes, Luther saw memorializing prominent

Lutheran community members as “paragons of explicitly Lutheran salvation” as one of four functions for art. 488 Finally, with the Peace of Augsburg, confessional identity of a territory rested in the beliefs of the secular ruler. As representative of their communities, these leaders project their public confession with the expectation that the congregation will follow their example, preserving Lutheran faith despite religious upheavals.

Some methods of identification remain the same in pre-Reformation, Catholic, and Reformation memorials. For example, the physical likeness of an individual and their family, presumably known to some extent by at least a few viewers, was a primary means of identification. The memorials to Canon Joris van der Paele, Cardinal Albrecht of

Brandenburg, and the Portinari family also use dress as an aid in identification. In The

487 Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 378. 488 Noble, Lucas Cranach the Elder , 10-11. 236

Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele [Figure 57], the sitter’s identity develops in his physical likeness, the inclusion of the van der Paele and Carlin (his mother’s family) coat of arms at each corner, and his white canon robes. 489 Inscriptions reinforce this identification, documenting the Canon’s full name, occupation, and his foundation of two chaplaincies, and acted with the masses the Canon commissioned for “the salvation and good of his soul and the souls of his parents and benefactors” to create a program of good works intended to help secure the Canon’s salvation. 490 Similarly, the Portinari family wears luxurious fabrics in an explicitly Burgundian court fashion, alluding to the garments that Tommaso Portinari was permitted to wear when he appeared in public as counselor to Charles the Bold. 491 By depicting Portinari in court clothes, van der Goes to some extent helps further the social status of an individual by pictorially aligning the

Portinari family with the court. 492 However, again in the triptych, secular identity is secondary to the devotional focus and the piety of the sitter.

In Reformation panels, certain methods for identifying the donor are the same, particularly in physical appearance, family ties, and crests. However, the new, central

489 Brine, “Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration,” 268. 490 The commission quote is Reproduced in Brine, “Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration,” 269. The full inscription reads “Magister Georgius de Pala, canon of this church, has ordered this work by Johannes Van Eyck, painter, and he has founded two chaplaincies as part of the choir of the clergy, 1434. Completed in 1436.” Quoted in Craig Harbison, Jan van Eyck: The Play of Realism , second edition (London: Reaktion Books Ltd, 2012), 59. 491 Franke, “Between Status and Spiritual Salvation: The Portinari Triptych and Tommaso Portinari’s Concern for His Memoria ,” particularly 131-141. Contemporary documents make it clear that Portinari never officially held a title at court despite a close personal relationship with Charles the Bold. However, locals perceived him as a counselor in part due to his public attire. Prior to Franke’s article, the panel was thought to be commissioned for rather than the high altar of Sant’ Egidio in the hospital of Maria Nuova in Portinari’s home town of Florence, Italy. Portinari endowed his family chapel in St. James on October 16, 1974, and gave no indication that he intended to return to Italy at the time of commission. During the sixteenth-century, triptychs like the one seen here began to surpass single panels as the preferred format for Catholic epitaphs. Brine, “Jan van Eyck, Canon Joris van der Paele, and the Art of Commemoration,” 156. 492 Ibid.,” 123-44. 237 placement of the sitter allows the panel to demonstrate piety while also celebrating leadership roles. Choosing narratives that held personal importance for the sitter further supports identification by referencing secular achievement. Epitaph for Johannes

Bugenhagen [Figure 22] is a particularly nice example because the commemorated was born on the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist and was explicitly connected to the Baptist in his eulogy by Melanchthon. Similarly, Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46] references the Pope calling Eber the bull in the Vineyard, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5] alludes to the personal beliefs of Joachim’s brother Georg, and Epitaph for Michael

Meienburg [Figure 36] can be correlated to an accusation that Meienburg was like the wealthy man who slighted Lazarus. In the first three cases, the personalized narrative helps identify the sitter while strengthening their qualifications as a leader of the

Lutheran community. In the last case, a Lutheran magistrate used the background narrative to reframe an otherwise unflattering story, demonstrating his firm commitment to the Lutheran cause.

These four epitaphs also include portraits of known reformers, further situating the figures in a community of believers and indicating legacy. By appearing with historical and contemporary figures, the donors both inherit and bequest authority, creating continuity with the Christian past while concurrently projecting hopes for the future. This inheritance and legacy passes not by birth right, but rather by the idea of apostolic succession, or the handing down of ideas and responsibility for care of the

238

Lutheran flock through generations of leaders. 493 The figureheads would have been known from widely-circulating reformer portrait prints, a phenomenon which began in the early 1520s with portraits of Luther, quickly making the faces of Lutheranism familiar to the community at large. 494 For example, at least twenty-six different versions of Luther’s portrait circulated in the first half of the 1520s describing him as, among other things, a monk, a doctor, and a man of the Bible, all of which served to strengthen his authority and claims to religious leadership. 495 The faces, familiar through prints, were then inserted into narratives depicting the biblical past, as seen for example in the placement of Luther and Cranach next to John the Baptist in the Weimar Altarpiece

[Figure 16], actively building a contrived memory, called memoria , for the Lutheran movement. 496 The memories sought to surpass the limits of known human history, creating a perception of a place and time that impacted those who came after. The proliferation of portraits of Luther and his contemporaries made the faces of reform familiar to the public and gave the Lutheran community a sense of rootedness in the past. 497

493 For more on how an epitaph can reference apostolic succession, see Koerner, The Reformation of the Image, 374 or Boettcher, “Late 16 th Century Lutherans: A Community of Memory,” 121-142. 494 For more detail regarding printed portraits of Luther during the Reformation, see, for example, Scribner, “Chapter Three: Enemies of the Gospel,” in For the Sake of Simple Folk , 37-58. 495 See, for example, Scribner, For the Sake of Simple Folk , 14-36; Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 93-99; Koerner, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art , 66-68. 496 Designated as memoria , active memory building took root in the Medieval era, bringing the past into the present and creating a sense of legitimacy in a shared history. See, for example, Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 87. This conception of active memory building was already present long before the sixteenth-century culture in the form of artworks and relics as well as pilgrimage paths and endowments. 497 See, for example, Ibid., 96. 239

Commemorative orations for Luther document Lutheran leaders’ active interest in creating a shared history or memoria . Melanchthon’s funeral sermon for Luther ties biblical figures to Lutheran reformers, starting with Adam and continuing through

Joseph, Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Christ and including church fathers and medieval theologians. 498 Cyriakus Spangenberg’s commemorative sermons for Luther similarly integrated the reformer into biblical narratives with biblical figures, including Elijah,

Paul, and John the Evangelist. While creating a sense of history, Spangenberg’s sermons also made the historic figures accessible to the common folk by paralleling them with different occupations within the mining community, a segment of the population that comprised the bulk of his congregation. 499 Spangenberg’s normalization of the biblical narrative offers additional insight into Cranach’s use of everyday settings like the contemporary prince’s hall and known faces in the Last Supper scene in Epitaph for

Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5]. Drawing on the theory of memoria , placing known reformers in the role of apostles at the Last Supper creates the impression of an unbroken succession of inheritance. 500 As Jodi Cranston notes, integration of portraits into historical scenes, already popular in the early sixteenth century, also implies future desire. 501 Cranston says these allegories “commemorate the past that will, in turn, affect future memory. When sitters impersonate historical figures in portraits they in effect figure human life as a continual interchange between temporal event (their life) and the

498 Ibid., 95. 499 Ibid. 500 Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy,” 126. 501 Jodi Cranston, The Poetics of Portraiture in the Italian Renaissance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), particularly 86-96. 240 eternal pattern that the legendary personages come to represent.” 502 Thus, the inclusion of contemporary figures in the Cranach epitaphs create an accessible shared legacy for sixteenth-century Lutherans while concurrently projecting the hope that the legacy will continue to thrive in the future.

In the case of Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , the inclusion of certain reformers creates a link to the past that legitimizes Philippist Lutheranism in particular, illustrating

Joachim’s personal partisanship and support. Sitting side by side in a cohesive unit, these contemporary reformers act as modern apostles of Christ and heirs to the legacy of the early Christian church. Their placement within that unit is significant. As Susan

Boettcher has noted, the five men to the left of Christ, including Martin Luther, represent early contributors to the establishment of a Lutheran identity. The five men to the right of

Christ, beginning with Philip Melanchthon, represent later Reformers and Philippist supporters. 503 It is important to note that only Major and Pfeffinger were alive when the portrait was completed. Boettcher has identified the Philippists’ desire to couch themselves in biblical history and to connect themselves to historical figures in order to demonstrate that Philippists were the true inheritors of the apostolic church and Lutheran orthodoxy. 504 Mixing living and dead reformers ordered by their chronological role in the

Reformation marks the Epitaph as both actively building memoria as well as creating a

502 Ibid., 96. 503 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Luther Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 104. 504 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Luther Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 104. 241 polemic in favor of the Leipzig Interim. 505 The Interim is further propagated by representation of its most vocal opponent, Matthias Flacius Illyricus, in the guise of the traitor Judas. 506 By carefully organizing the men in the center of the painting, framed in the foreground by the deceased Joachim and in the background by contemporary Anhalt princes, Cranach demonstrates that Joachim and his successors support the legacy established by Georg in the Interim and that they project that legacy upon the future inheritors of Anhalt territories.

A dominant column, visually divorced from its surrounding area by its light coloring brought forward by a dark background, reinforces the significance of the figures gathered around the table. Conspicuously, the column rises from the physical center of the panel to meet with the ceiling, despite the apparent lack of need for structural support in the center of the room. Furthermore, the column does not seem to intersect with the tiles on the floor behind the grouping of men; rather, it sits squarely on Christ. This type of visually dominant column, as it appears in Reformation artwork and architecture, is the

505 Ibid., 85-112. See pages 100-105 in particular. In consideration of another Philippist work by Cranach the Younger entitled the Meienburg-Epitaph (1558), Boettcher notes that several early Wittenberg Reformers are portrayed with later Philippist Reformers in order to demonstrate the Philippist camp as the rightful heirs of the Lutheran legacy. Nikolas von Amsdorf is not portrayed in this group, despite his active role in the early Reformation, due to his allegiance with Gnesio-Lutherans in Magdeburg. The same omission is made in the grouping of men in the Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt . 506 There has been some debate over the identity of this sitter. Koerner has convincingly argued that the figure of Judas was based upon prints of the Gnesio-Lutheran such as the one reproduced in this slide. Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy,” 126 and Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , 382-399. Koerner’s identification is supported in works by historians such as Oliver K. Olson, Matthias Flacius and the Survival of Luther’s Reform (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002), 190-194. In the Epitaph , Flacius’s rejection of the Leipzig compromises is manifested as a betrayal of the Philippist cause. Flacius is fully decked out in the accoutrements of Judas’s treachery, the bag of bribe money already attached to a noose-like rope around his neck and his yellow anachronistic robe contrasting with Reformers clothed in contemporary dress. 242 pillar of truth found in 1 Timothy 3:15. 507 The passage states: “Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 508 Further reasoning for the column’s placement can be found in a passage from Ephesians, which states the church is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” 509 Two elements in this passage are important. First, Timothy identifies the church of God as the pillar and foundation of truth. Notably Christ does not support the church alone. The close proximity of the Lutheran leaders surrounding Christ creates a visually solid grouping with Christ seated at the center. Following Timothy and

Ephesians, these men are the apostles and prophets who help support the church, the pillar and foundation of truth, indicating the Philippist reformers form the base of the

507 Precedent for the use of biblical passages in Cranach prints also can be found in Christ as the Cornerstone (1524) by Monogrammist H. Drawing on Ephesians 2:19-22. (19) Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; (20) And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; (21) In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: (22) In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. There is also reference to Christ as the cornerstone in Isaiah 28: 16. “So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.” This print, entitled Christ as the Cornerstone (1524) (Illustration 5), displays a crucified Christ centered in a square at the convergence of four diagonal lines and in the center of a series of five circles. Figuratively, Christ is the cornerstone of this arrangement along with the Old and New Testament evangelists, prophets and apostles. Scribner, 211-215. Scribner identifies the four New Testament evangelists, who appear in their animal forms: Matthew as man, Mark as lion, Luke as ox and John as the eagle. The Old Testament prophets are identified, from the upper right corner, lower right corner, lower left corner to upper left corner as Isaiah, Moses, Job, and David. The two ‘pillars’ consisting of three figures each are from top to bottom on the left John the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, and St. Peter and on the right Daniel in the lion’s den, St. John the Evangelist and St. Paul. Scribner also notes that Christ is illustrated as the foundation of the Old and New Testament. I would propose instead that the grouping is the foundation, with Christ as the primary support. This is the structure defined in Ephesians 2:20: “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]” 507 Thank you to Barbara Haeger for initially directing me to this passage. 508 1 Timothy 3:15-16 [New International Bible]. 509 Ephesians 2:20 [New International Version]. 243

“true” church. Second, Timothy ties proper conduct in the church of the living God with the pillar of truth. The men at the Last Supper table exemplify conduct, demonstrating the proper administration of sacraments. Joachim and his successor bracket the central

Last Supper scene, visually referencing the maxim “under his rule, his religion,” indicating their personal confession, support of Philippist Lutheranism, and hopes for the future of the religion. 510

Likewise, the portraits of reformers assembled in Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure

46] supports Philippist Lutheranism. As already indicated, the choice of subject referred to a papal bull from Pope Leo X calling Eber the boar who spoils the vineyard.

Portraying Philippist reformers as the tenders of a thriving vineyard in contrast to the

Papist who destroy their garden demonstrates that the Philippists rather than the Papists are true inheritors and protectors of God’s vineyard. Once again, Luther, Major, Cruciger, and Bugenhagen are depicted, among others, as supporters of Melanchthon and the

Interim, creating a history of support. Eber is placed among these figures in the foreground and background, showing his adherence to the Philippist legacy and his hopes for the future of the confession, implicating the community of believers in his territories rather than fostering individual communion with the divine.

Epitaph for Michael Meienburg [Figure 36] also creates a sense of history, identifying Meienburg as a Philippist supporter. 511 Like Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt

[Figure 5] and Epitaph for Paul Eber [Figure 46], the faces of Melanchthon and Luther as

510 Koerner, “Confessional Portraits: Representation as Redundancy,” 130. 511 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 100-105. 244 well as Spalatin, Bugenhagen, Jonas, Cruciger, Förster, and Gregor Brück represent a grouping of Wittenberg Philippists, creating a Philippist polemic. The Lutheran reformers appear as if in conversation with Erasmus of Rotterdam, with whom Meienburg corresponded. 512 Here Erasmus stands in the chain of contemporary apostolic succession, grounding the present in the recent past. 513 While Erasmus is present in the group, Luther and Melanchthon stand in the foreground as the most important figures. Luther holds his right hand in a gesture of blessing and rests his left hand on Melanchthon’s shoulder, implicating Melanchthon as his successor and making the Philippist polemic clear. 514

This grouping of contemporary apostles finds resonance with the group of twelve disciples standing behind Christ on the right side of the painting. However, the sixteenth- century reformers are slightly closer to the picture plane and in contemporary dress, showing their chronological position between the donors in front and the biblical figures grouped behind Christ. While they are distinct from the narrative by dress and they show no indication of seeing or interacting with the scene, they are able to occupy the same ground. These figures were not present at the original event but, as part of the apostolic past, they earn a place in the narrative. Meienburg and his family are implicated as the last link in the chain of succession by their foreground placement closest to the space of the viewer.

The final epitaph reproducing reformer portraits, Epitaph for Johannes

Bugenhagen [Figure 22], adapts the format of support for a group of reformers to

512 Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , 95. The donor’s last name is also frequently spelled Meyenburg. 513 Boettcher, “Are the Cranach Altarpieces Philippist? Memory of Luther and Knowledge of the Past in the Late Reformation,” 100. 514 My thanks to Dr. Barbara Haeger for pointing out this gesture. 245 emphasize succession. As with other sitters, Bugenhagen kneels with his family between the viewer and the religious narrative, indicating his support of a Lutheran confession and dual presence in two realms. In the background a group of men stand on a small hill removed from the narrative in the manner of the contemporary leaders of Anhalt in

Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt [Figure 5]. The resonance in positioning the group appears intentional. The figures in the background, Georg Cracov and Friedrich Drachstedt, who are recognizable from their own epitaphs in Wittenberg City Church, stand at the forefront. 515 Cracov stands closest to the foreground with his hand outstretched.

Drachstedt stands immediately to his left. Cracov’s hand gesture is mirrored in John the

Baptist’s cupped hand over Christ’s head, drawing a connection between the biblical past and contemporary figures. Like the Baptist, Cracov alerts the crowd to Christ’s presence.

Drachstedt’s and Cracov’s placement in Bugenhagen’s epitaph is almost certainly influenced by their connection to the reformer. Cracov was Bugenhagen’s son-in-law and

Drachstedt was the son-in-law of Georg Major. Both Bugenhagen and Major were key

Philippist supporters and well-known for their defense of Lutheranism, Melanchthon, and the Interim as well as for their Wittenberg connections. The pair’s appearance in

515 Steinwachs, St. Mary’s , 21 and Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 493. Steinwachs only identifies the face of Georg Cracov. Zerbe supports the identification of Cracov and identifies the dark-haired man to his left, identified as Friedrich Drachstedt here, as Bugenhagen’s second son-in-law, Andreas Wolf. Wolf married Martha Bugenhagen in 1551. Zerbe basis her identification on the idea that the background should depict relatives. Similarly, she identifies the man with the short beard behind Cracov as Georg Rörer, who was Bugenhagen’s brother-in-law, a deacon of the City Church, and a Luther tradent. A portrait of Rörer may also be present in Epitaph for Paul Eber . I support the second identification as Rörer would fit the profile of figures found in the background of other Cranach epitaphs. However, it seems unlikely that a Bugenhagen son-in-law would appear in such a prominent position simply because he was a relative. There is no indication of such a trend in the other Cranach epitaphs. There is a tendency to include historically significant figures in the Lutheran community as part of the past and future of Lutheranism, making an argument for the identification of Drachstedt. Furthermore, there are no portraits of Wolf. Zerbe’s attribution rests solely upon his relationship by marriage to Bugenhagen. 246

Bugenhagen’s epitaph positioned them to inherit the role of defenders of Philippist reforms and the Leipzig Interim in Wittenberg. Like the group in Epitaph for Joachim of

Anhalt [Figure 5], the group in the background of Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen

[Figure 22] implicates succession for support of the Lutheran confession in Wittenberg.

The legitimacy of Bugenhagen’s claims to authority and the importance of his secular identity in the appearance of Lutheranism are further emphasized by designating ties to the past and future inheritors of his Lutheran legacy. This emphasis on donor identity, secular achievement, and community connections stands in stark contrast to the overarching singular emphasis on piety in pre-Reformation and Catholic memorial examples.

Summary

Since Reformation artworks drew on pre-Reformation visual language, the differences between the two styles can sometimes be subtle as exemplified in Epitaph for

Caspar Niemeck [Figure 13]. Recognizing the importance of the new placement for the sitters is the first step toward understanding Cranach’s adaptations of precedent. This recognition allows the viewer to see a shift from individual to community engagement, from active to passive reception, and from a visionary to representational appearance of the divine. These shifts encapsulate a change in attitude from the bottom up pre-

Reformation and Catholic artworks to top down Lutheran epitaphs.

One notable point of continuity in both types of artworks was the role of the sitters as models of ideal behavior in a religious context. In pre-Reformation examples, the ideal was a pious Christian completing good works for their individual salvation. 247

While the viewer could benefit by being led to a deeper devotion, this too could be considered a good deed on the part of the commemorated. The composition and content of pre-Reformation memorials support this model of individual piety. Since piety was of central importance, pre-Reformation donors did not need to attain a certain political or social status to be allowed to display their epitaph in a church. They only needed to have the material wealth to purchase the panel. In contrast, Cranach’s Lutheran panels highlight the importance of an individual’s accomplishments as well as piety. The panels deliberately turn the viewer back to the community of the church, emphasizing the exchange between individual and the congregation. It is only when a group of believers give and receive the Word of God that the spiritual realm in the heart, seen as a representation in the background, becomes perceptible. The Lutheran leaders depicted in

Cranach’s epitaphs serve as models for this exchange while simultaneously confessing

Lutheran doctrine. Their communication with the congregation is preceded by an intricate web of contemporary historical events, thereby firmly situating a person in the socio- political milieu surrounding them. The resulting panels contained personal statements about character, leadership, and legacy that demonstrated the donor’s place in a community of believers and in a secular leadership position.

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Conclusion

Luther and his followers repeatedly emphasized the importance of two realms and proper conduct in both. God ruled the spiritual realm, which was populated by the righteous. God-appointed leaders ruled the physical realm, which was populated by everyone on earth. Luther believed Christians reside in both these realms simultaneously, the temporal world physically and the spiritual world internally, until the day of their death, when they move fully into the spiritual realm. While there was a political aspect to the division, as William J. Wright argues in Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s

Two Kingdoms , the designation of two realms was more than a political ideology: it was a worldview. The Lutheran conception of two realms is evidenced in biblical exegeses, polemics, personal letters and the textual portion of epitaphs, gaining wide-spread circulation and adoption by Lutheran leaders. With such far-reaching examples, it makes sense that the conception would find its way into Reformation art.

Pictorially, the distinction between the two realms served as the inspiration for a revised construction of space in the Cranach workshop panels. In the background, a religious narrative functions as a representation of the spiritual realm relating to the image that delineates in the heart of the commemorated upon hearing the Word of God.

The outward direction of the sitters’ bodies and their gazes implicates the community of believers in the church, representative of the temporal realm. Individuals and families

249 appear in the foreground of these panels in a defined space that places them neither in the spiritual realm nor the physical realm, but in both simultaneously. Their dual placement is defined primarily by objects or changes in the landscape and their gaze, but it is reinforced in their pose and dress.

Comparing the Lutheran epitaphs to pre-Reformation and Catholic examples fortifies the claim that two realms are being depicted. Cranach adapted the visual language already in use for memorials to change the gloss. Pre-Reformation memorials, exemplifying prayer and meditation as the means to a visionary experience, often used physical or implied boundaries to demarcate the progression into increasingly holy space.

Reformation memorials adapted these methods by establishing transitions between the space of the viewer and the background subject representing the spiritual realm in the heart. In placing the donor in the foreground rather than to the sides, what had been an exchange between the individual and the divine now became communication between the donor and the viewer. Adjusting the appearance of the religious subject to ground it in the physical world, at times including contemporary figures, denied the impetus for veneration that had been encouraged in pre-Reformation artworks. More symbolic, less dramatic methods of painting developed from Reformation prints further offered opportunities to read rather venerate the image. At the same time, the divine became more accessible as the stories occurred in a recognizable space. The invisible became perceptible in a representation of the spiritual realm upon giving and receiving the Word just as the sacraments functioned as external manifestations of God’s promise to his people.

250

Placed between the viewer and the divine, the Lutheran commemorated have a much more visible role in Reformation epitaphs than in pre-Reformation precedents.

These leaders function in the epitaph as Luther directed them to behave in life. They confess and promote ‘true’ faith, at times indicating their preferred external appearance of faith, in order to help maintain peace in their lands. As the voice of their subjects under the dictum “whose rule, his religion,” they expect their confession will be adopted and maintained in the future. In certain epitaphs, these hopes are projected upon the next generation of leaders, conferring Lutheran confession along with inheritance and legacy.

The importance placed on Lutheran leaders is evidenced in the visible placement of Lutheran epitaphs in the church. Compared to pre-Reformation works, which may or may not be placed publically, Lutheran adherents were remarkably clustered around the most sacred and visible areas of the church. Furthermore, higher-ranking Lutheran leaders merited closer proximity to the sacred areas due to their leadership in the secular realm. Their pre-Reformation counterparts show no such consistent correlation between social status and placement. This speaks to the continued importance of secular power in the establishment, promotion, and maintenance of Lutheran reforms as well as the

Lutheran directive to confess faith, the importance of community life, and the place of liturgical ritual in defining Lutheranism in contrast to other Christian religions. While pre-Reformation epitaphs appeal to individual devotion, Lutheran epitaphs appeal to the collective Lutheran community that, when gathered together, exchanges the word of God and makes the church perceptible on earth.

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The duality of the Lutheran leader as an active participant in both the secular realm as well as the spiritual realm can be summarized by the content of one final document, a 1547 broadsheet by Cranach the Younger [Figure 61]. The year of production is recognizable as the year of John Frederick’s famous defeat at Mühlberg. As a print, the image has multiple texts that serve to elucidate meaning. An inscription above reads “Portrait of the most illustrious and nobly-born prince and lord, John Frederick,

Duke of Saxony, Arch-Marshall and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Landgrave of

Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen and Burgrave of Magdeburg, as he went into his camp.” 516 Numerous crests indicating these titles surround the Elector in vertical lines on either side. A sentence on the left from Psalms 34:19 reads “Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” 517 Two sword hilts project from the hips of John Frederick’s fully-armored body. A third sword bearing the acronym

VDMIE rests on his right should. The letters, an alternative to VDMIAE, stand for

Verbum Dei manet in aeternum or “the word of God endureth forever.” 518 The papal beast snapping underfoot is easily seen to represent papists as they had in prior prints from the Cranach workshop.

516 Transcribed and translated by Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 73-74. The original German text is “Abconterfectung/ des durchleuchtigsten/ Hochgebornen Fürsten und Herrn Johan friedrichen hertzogen zu Sachsen des heyligen Römischen Reichs Ertzmarschalh und Churfürsten/ Landgrauen in Dörigen/ Marggrauen zu Meyssen und Burggrauen zu Magdeburg/ wie er in seinem feldleger ist gangen.” 517 Transcribed and translated by Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 74. The original German reads “Psal. 34. Der gerecht mus viel leiden/ Aber der Herr hilfft ihm aus dem allen.” 518 Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , 72. 252

Christensen reads the image as depicting John Frederick marching in to battle at

Mühlberg. 519 He is still in possession of all his titles and his face does not bear the scar he obtained during battle. However, the Psalms quote indicates that he has already lost and is suffering. Despite the trials implied in the quote, John Frederick is depicted as calm. In his demeanor and defeat of gruesome beasts, Christensen sees John Frederick as the spiritual warrior or Christian Knight. 520 A classical biblical source for this motif is Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (6:10-17), reading:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil… Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 521

As the Christian knight, John Frederick uses his secular power to uphold peace in his lands in part through support of true faith. Clothed in the armor and quite literally carrying a sword of the Word of God, the Elector stands strong while beasts surround him. In this role, he follows Luther’s directives, remaining true to faith despite trials and demonstrating his qualifications to lead in Lutheran lands. Likewise, the commemorated in the Cranach epitaphs can be seen as Christian knights defending peace in their lands through support of true faith. They wield their authority and beliefs, placing their confession before the congregation in hopes that they will maintain peace by

519 Ibid., 75. 520 Ibid. Christensen draws a correlation between this print and Dürer’s “Knight, Death, and the Devil,” which could have been known to Cranach. The tradition of the Christian knight would likely have been known to Reformers through Erasmus’ Handbook of the Christian Knight . 521 Ibid. 253 commanding their constituents to adopt a Lutheran confession. Reference to their secular role in the temporal realm as well as their witness to the spiritual realm buffered and propelled their influence.

Beyond the potential merits of examining the Cranach epitaphs as a set and identifying a new format for epitaphs, these findings create many avenues for future research on Lutheran memorials and the influence of local leadership in Reformation politics. Extensions of this research can lead to more detailed analysis of the individual epitaphs, longer studies focused on Reformation audience reception, the role and development of Lutheran epitaphs, the place of female leaders in Lutheranism, adaption of pre-Reformation visual language into Reformation language, and the use of self- portraiture in Cranach workshop paintings among other topics.

Upholding peace through the support of Lutheranism was a particularly pressing issue for the Saxon Lutheran leaders depicted in Cranach’s epitaphs. Secular leadership had been integral in the establishment and maintenance of the Reformation. Without the support and protection of the Electors of Saxony and the princes of the Schmalkaldic

League, Luther and his followers would likely have been crushed by the Pope and

Emperor. As the Reformation entered a second wave of critical defense following

Luther’s 1546 death, secular leadership was once again crucial. The 1555 Peace of

Augsburg placed the religious confession of a community in the hands of the secular leader with the motto cuius regio, eius religio [under his rule, his religion]. While legitimizing Lutheranism once and for all, the Peace did not prevent discord. Competing

Protestant groups, including Gnesio-Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anabaptists, began 254 encroaching on formally Lutheran territories, threatening the legacy of many of these leaders.

It was this period of pressure, between 1552 and 1578, that fueled the commission of the majority of the Cranach Lutheran epitaphs. Identifying the transition between spaces and its basis in Luther’s definition of God’s two realms clarifies the artworks’ ties to the historical social, political, and religious milieu from which they emerged, demonstrating the basis for their visual language in Northern Renaissance art and function as role models. By demonstrating piety through support of specifically Lutheran tenets of faith, the sitters exhibit proper conduct for members of the spiritual kingdom of

God even as rival groups entered Lutheran lands. These figures draw on their recognition as a leader to project their hopes for the future of their specific interpretation of

Christianity in the lands under their purview, preserving their confession for posterity and bearing witness to true faith even in the midst of trials.

255

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Appendix A: Images

Figure 1: Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Christ drives the money lenders from the temple; the Pope collects indulgences,” from Passional Christ and Antichrist , 1521.

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Figure 2: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg Niemeck , 1571. 268

Figure 3: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann , 1552.

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Figure 4: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Otto von Pogk , 1578.

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Figure 5: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , 1565.

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Figure 6: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Teuber , c. 1575.

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Figure 7: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Wittenberg Altarpiece , 1547.

Figure 8: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Predella detail, Wittenberg Altarpiece , 1547. 273

Figure 9: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Sara Cracov , 1565.

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Figure 10: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Augustusburg Altarpiece , 1571.

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Figure 11: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer , 1573.

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Figure 12: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Colditz Altarpiece , 1584.

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Figure 13: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck , 1564.

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Figure 14: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher , c. 1525.

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Figure 15: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Bartholomäus Vogel aus Wolkenstein , c. 1569.

Figure 16: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece , 1555.

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Figure 17: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece [Central Panel], 1555.

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Figure 18: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Badehorn , 1557

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Figure 19: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn , 1554.

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Figure 20: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for the Family of Caspar Cruciger , c. 1560.

Figure 21: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Christ Blessing the Children , 1537.

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Figure 22: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen , 1560.

Figure 23: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , c. 1550-1560. 285

Figure 24: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg , 1558.

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Figure 25: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Law and Gospel [woodcut], c. 1529.

Figure 26: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [closed], 1539. 287

Figure 27: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [open], 1539.

Figure 28: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [rear], 1539. 288

Figure 29: Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist, c. 1550.

Figure 30: Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist [Detail], c. 1550.

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Figure 31 : Lucas Cranach the Elder, Sketch for a Memorial , c. 1527 -1530.

Figure 32 : Lucas Cranach the Younger, Luther and the Elector before Christ , 1546.

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Figure 33: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Agnes von Anhalt , 1569.

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Figure 34: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Entombment , 1509.

Figure 35: Albrecht Dürer, Resurrection , 1510. 292

Figure 36: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Meienburg , 1558.

Figure 37: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Raising of Lazarus , c. 1535. 293

Figure 38: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Nativity , 1515-1520.

Figure 39: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt , 1573.

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Figure 40: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Viet Örtel , 1586.

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Figure 41: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt , 1553.

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Figure 42: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Agony in the Garden , c. 1520.

Figure 43: Lucas Cranach the Younger, The Baptism of Christ with John Frederick and Luther, c. 1548 297

Figure 44: After Cranach the Elder, Martin Luther and Jan Hus , c. 1556.

Figure 45: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Elijah and Baal’s Priests , 1545.

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Figure 46: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Paul Eber , 1569.

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Figure 47: Erhard Schön, God’s Lament for the Fate of his Vineyard , 1532.

Figure 48: Inscription for Epitaph for Paul Eber . 300

Figure 49: Albrecht Altdorfer, Schöne Maria of Regensburg , c. 1519-20.

Figure 50: Michael Ostendorfer, Pilgrimage to the Church of the Beautiful Virgin at Regensburg , c. 1520. 301

Figure 51: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , first edition, c. 1508-1511.

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Figure 52: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , second edition, undated.

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Figure 53: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg , 1518.

304

Figure 54: Hugo van der Goes, Annunciation [Portinari Altarpiece , exterior], 1473-78.

Figure 55: Hugo van der Goes, Nativity [Portinari Triptych , interior], 1476-79.

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Figure 56: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Altarpiece of George the Bearded , 1534.

Figure 57: Jan van Eyck, The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele , 1434-36.

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Figure 58: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Kneeling before Christ on the Cross , 1520-9.

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Figure 59: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Holy Family , c. 1510.

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Figure 60: Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judith at the Table of Holofernes , 1531.

309

Figure 61: Lucas Cranach the Younger, Portrait of Elector John Frederick of Saxony , 1547.

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Appendix B: Reproduction Information

1. Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Christ drives the moneylenders from the temple; the Pope collects indulgences,” from Passional Christ and Antichrist , 1521, woodcut, 200 x 140 mm. British Library, London. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cranach/lucas_e/16/57woodcu.html

2. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg Niemeck , 1571, oil on wood, 104 x 80 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Doreen Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , catalog 9, Farbtafeln [color reproduction] 3.

3. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann , 1552, tempera on wood, 124 x 171 cm. Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

4. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Otto von Pogk , 1578, wood, 131 x 162 cm. Stadtkirche St. Nicolai, Coswig/ Anhalt. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

5. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , 1565, oil on wood, 257.x5 x 209. Evangelical Kirchgemeinde St. Johannis und St. Marien, Dessau. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/art/c/cranach/lucas_y/15lastsu.jpg.

6. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Teuber , c. 1575, oil on wood, 187.5 x 136.5 Kreuzlingen, Private Collection. Photo credit: Christie’s on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Lucas_Cranach_d.J._- _Der_auferstandene_Christus.jpg.

7. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Wittenberg Altarpiece , 1547, oil on panel . City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Nick Thompson on Flickr . URL: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pelegrino/4267890065/in/gallery- lightfromlight-72157622575358459/.

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8. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Wittenberg Altarpiece [predella], 1547, oil on panel. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luther-Predigt-LC-WB.jpg.

9. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Sara Cracov , 1565, oil on wood, 167 x 100 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Christus-Kreuz-1565.jpg .

10. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Augustusburg Altarpiece , 1571, oil on wood, 318 x 237 cm. Schlosskapelle, Augustusburg. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

11. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Niemeck née Hetzer , 1573, oil on wood, 137.5 x 111 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Das-Gebet-am- %C3%96lberg_1575.jpg

12. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Colditz Altarpiece , 1584, oil on wood, 159 x 145.5 cm. [central panel], 159 x 62.5 cm. [wings]. Germansiches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. Photo credit: Sailko on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Cranach_il_giovane,_altare_c olditz,_1584,_01.JPG.

13. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck , 1564, oil on wood, 192 x 88 cm [trimmed]. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , catalog 249.

14. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher , c. 1525, oil on wood, 222 x 124 cm. Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

15. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Bartholomaus Vogel , c. 1569, oil on wood, 53 x 161 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Bartel-Vogel_1569.jpg.

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16. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece , 1555, oil on wood, 370 x 146 cm. [wings], 370 x 309 cm. [central panel]. Evangelical Lutheran Kirchgemeine St. Peter und Paul, Weimar. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/art/c/cranach/lucas_y/13cruci.jpg.

17. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece [Central Panel], 1555, oil on wood, 370 x 309 cm. Evangelical Lutheran Kirchgemeine St. Peter und Paul, Weimar. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/detail/c/cranach/lucas_y/13crucif.jpg .

18. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Badehorn , 1557, paint on wood, 263 x 201.5 cm. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig. Photo credit: Jan Nicolaisen, “Lucas Cranach der Jüngere: Allegorie der Erlösung, 1557,” [brochure] (Leipzig: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, 2003).

19. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn , 1554, wood, 163 x 124 cm. Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig. Photo credit: Schade, Cranach: A Master Family of Painters , catalog 224.

20. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for the family of Caspar Cruciger, c. 1560, oil on panel, 57 x 75.8 cm. Schloss Gottorf, Landesmuseum für Kunst-und Kulturgeschichte, Schleswig. Photo credit: Cranach Digital Archive. URL:http://www.lucascranach.org/object.php?&obj=DE_SHLM_1989- 480_FR- none&uid=5496&page=1&fol=01_Overall&img=DE_SHLM_1989- 480_FR-none_2012-08_Overall.tif.

21. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Christ Blessing the Children , 1537, oil on wood, 77.5 x 122 cm. Wawel Castle, Cracow, Poland. Photo Credit: Piotr Fr ączek on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cranach_the_Elder_Christ_blessin g_the_children.jpg .

22. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen , 1560, oil on wood, 111 x 157 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Die-Taufe-Jesu_1560.jpg.

23. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , c. 1550- 1560, oil on wood, 47 x 37 cm. Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin. Photo credit: anagoria on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/1555_Cranach 313

_d.J._Epitaph_mit_Kind_im_Totenhemd_anagoria.JPG/640px- 1555_Cranach_d.J._Epitaph_mit_Kind_im_Totenhemd_anagoria.JPG

24. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg , 1558, oil and tempera on wood, 148 x 98 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Der-Auferstandene_1558.jpg.

25. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Law and Gospel , c. 1529, woodcut, 270 x 325 mm [including text]. British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum. URL: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object _details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=848706001&objectId=1421 368&partId=1.

26. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [closed], 1539, oil on wood, 280.2 x 222 cm. Evangelicals Lutheran Kirchgemeinde St. Wolfgang, Schneeberg. Photo credit: Aka on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schneeberg_St._Wolfgangskirche_ altar_piece_front_%28aka%29.jpg .

27. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [open], 1539, oil on wood, 280.2 x 222 cm. Evangelicals Lutheran Kirchgemeinde St. Wolfgang, Schneeberg. Photo credit: Cranach Digital Archive. URL: http://www.lucascranach.org/object.php?&page=1&thumb=0&thumb_page =0&obj=DE_WSCH_NONE- WSCH001A_FR379&uid=2924&fol=01_Overall&img=DE_WSCH_NON E-WSCH001A_FR379_Overall-001.tif.

28. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Schneeberg Altarpiece [rear], 1539, oil on wood, 280.2 x 222 cm. Evangelicals Lutheran Kirchgemeinde St. Wolfgang, Schneeberg. Photo credit: Aka on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St.-Wolfgangs- Kirche_%28Schneeberg%29#mediaviewer/File:Schneeberg_St._Wolfgangs kirche_altar_piece_back_%28aka%29.jpg.

29. Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist , c. 1550, colored woodcut, 37 x 59 cm. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. [Incorrectly attributed to Cranach the Elder] URL: http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cranach/lucas_e/16/63woodcu.html

30. Pancratz Kempf, The Difference between the True Religion of Christ and the False, Idolatrous Teachings of the Antichrist [Detail], c. 1550, colored 314

woodcut. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. [Incorrectly attributed to Cranach the Elder] URL: http://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/cranach/lucas_e/16/63woodcu.html

31. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Sketch for a Memorial , c. 1527-1530, drawing. Brunswick. Photo credit: Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters , catalog 141.

32. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Luther and the Elector before Christ , 1546, woodcut. Öffentliche Bibliothek der Universität, Basel. Photo credit: Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , page 48.

33. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Agnes von Anhalt , 1569, wood. Klosterkirche, Nienburg. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

34. Lucas Cranach the Elder, “Entombment,” from the Large Passion Series , 1509, woodcut, 246 x 168 mm. The British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum.

35. Albrecht Dürer, “Resurrection,” from the Large Passion Series , 1510, woodcut, 39 x 28 cm. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. ULR:http://www.wga.hu/html_m/d/durer/2/12/3largep/12largep.html.

36. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Meienburg , 1558, wood, 233 x 200 cm. Originally the St. Blasiuskirche, Nordhausen. Now lost. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Epi_Michael-Meienburg- 1555.jpg.

37. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Raising of Lazarus , c. 1535, oil on wood, 123 x 85 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. Photo credit: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. URL: http://skd-online- collection.skd.museum/de/contents/showSearch?id=247208 .

38. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Nativity , 1515-1520, oil on wood, 32 x 24.5 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/detail/c/cranach/lucas_e/05/41religi.jpg.

39. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt , 1573, oil on wood, 111 x 165 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Steinwachs and Pietsch, The Parish Church in Wittenberg, the Town of Luther , 59. 315

40. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Viet Örtel , 1586, oil on wood, 162 x 129 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Blendung-d-Paulus.jpg.

41. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt , 1553, oil on wood, 230 x 184 cm. Evangelical Kirchgemeinde St. Johannis und St. Marien, Dessau. Photo credit: Sankt Johannis Dessau, “Bilder Erleben,” page 27.

42. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Agony in the Garden , c. 1520, oil on wood, 68 x 40.2 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. Photo credit: Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters, Catalog 88.

43. Lucas Cranach the Younger, T he Baptism of Christ with John Frederick and Luther , c. 1548, woodcut, 2.77 x 3.86 cm. The British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum. URL: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object _details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=49789&objectId=1420824 &partId=1

44. After Cranach the Younger, Martin Luther and Jan Hus Administering the Sacrament to Members of the House of Saxe , c. 1556, woodcut, 2.77 x 2.42 cm. The British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum. URL: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object _details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=545744&objectId=1532654 &partId=1.

45. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Elijah and Baal’s Priests , 1545, oil on wood, 127.4 x 242 cm. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. Photo credit: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. URL: http://skd-online- collection.skd.museum/de/contents/showSearch?id=247475.

46. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Paul Eber, 1569, oil on wood, about 230 x 195 cm. City Church, Wittenberg. Photo credit: Torsten Schleese on Wikimedia Commons . URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Paintings_by_Lucas_Cranach _the_Younger?uselang=de#/media/File:Weinberg-WB-1569.jpg.

47. Erhard Schön, God’s Lament for the Fate of his Vineyard , 1532, woodcut, 4.05 x 3.72 cm [with text]. The British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum. URL: 316

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object _details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=144821&objectId=1490910 &partId=1.

48. Inscription for Epitaph for Paul Eber accompanying his epitaph. Wittenberg City Church. Photo credit: Anastasia Nurre.

49. Albrecht Altdorfer, Schöne Maria of Regensburg , c. 1519-20, woodcut with five tone blocks, 340 x 245 mm. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/art/a/altdorfe/4/b_virgin.jpg.

50. Michael Ostendorfer, Pilgrimage to the Church of the Beautiful Virgin at Regensburg , c. 1520, woodcut, 5.55 x 3.90 cm. Kunstsammlung der Veste Coburg, Coburg. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/art/o/ostendor/pilgrima.jpg.

51. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonaventure , first edition, 1508-1511, woodcut, 3.90 x 2.93 cm. Schlossmuseum, Gotha. Photo credit: Koerner, The Reformation of the Image , page 65.

52. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Heavenly Ladder of St. Bonavent ure, second edition, undated, woodcut, 3.90 x 2.93 cm. The British Museum. Photo credit: The British Museum. URL: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object _details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=144483&objectId=1420355 &partId=1.

53. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Valentin Schmitburg , 1518, oil on wood, 93 x 36.2 cm. Museum der Bildenden Kunste, Leipzig. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons .URL: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Der- Sterbende-1518.jpg

54. Hugo van der Goes, “Annunciation,” Portinari Altarpiece [exterior], 1476- 79, oil on wood, 253 x 586 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo credit: WGA. URL: http://www.wga.hu/preview/g/goes/portinar/4portina.jpg. 55. Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Triptych [interior] 1476-79, oil on wood, 253 x 586 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/art/g/goes/portinar/2portina.jpg.

56. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Altarpiece of George the Bearded , 1534, oil on wood, transferred to canvas, 112 x 99 cm. Meißen Cathedral. Photo credit: Cranach Digital Archive. URL: http://www.lucascranach.org/object.php?&page=10&thumb=0&thumb_pag 317

e=0&obj=DE_DM_NONE- 02_FR219&uid=2438&fol=01_Overall&img=DE_DM_NONE- 02_FR219_2010-10_Overall-001.tif.

57. Jan van Eyck, The Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele , 1434-36, oil on wood, 122 x 157 cm. Groenige Museum, Bruges. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/preview/e/eyck_van/jan/21paele/21paele0.jpg.

58. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg Kneeling before Christ on the Cross , 1520-9, oil on wood, 158.4 x 112.4 cm. Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Photo credit:Alte Pinakothek. URL: http://www.pinakothek.de/en/lucas-cranach-d-ae.

59. Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Holy Family , c. 1510, tempera on wood, 89 x 71 cm. Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna. Schade, Cranach: A Family of Master Painters . Catalog 53.

60. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judith at the Table of Holofernes , 1531, oil and tempera on panel, 98.5 x 72.5 cm. Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha. Photo credit: Web Gallery of Art. URL: http://www.wga.hu/preview/c/cranach/lucas_e/06/2judith4.jpg.

61. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Portrait of Elector John Frederick of Saxony , 1547, woodcut, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kultürbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett. Photo credit: Christensen, Princes and Propaganda , page 73.

318

Appendix C: Chronological List of Extant Cranach Reformation Epitaphs

1. Lucas Cranach the Elder, Epitaph for Ulrich Lintacher , c. 1525. Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig. 2. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Balthasar Hofmann , 1552. Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig. 3. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg of Anhalt, 1553. St John’s Church, Dessau. 4. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Leonhard Badehorn , 1554. Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig. 5. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for a Child in Death Clothes , 1555. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin. 6. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Weimar Altarpiece, 1555. Sts. Peter and Paul, Weimar. 7. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Badehorn , 1557. Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig. 8. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Meienburg, 1558. Nordhausen, now missing. 9. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg , 1558. Wittenberg City Church 10. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for the family of Caspar Cruciger, c. 1560. Schloss Gottorf, Landesmuseum für Kunst-und Kulturgeschichte, Schleswig. 11. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen , 1560. Wittenberg City Church. 12. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck , 1564. Wittenberg City Church. 13. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Sara Cracov , 1565. Wittenberg City Church. 14. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Joachim of Anhalt , 1565. Church of Saint John, Dessau. (originally in the Castle and City Church of Saint Mary.) 15. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Agnes von Anhalt , 1569. Klosterkirche Nienburg. 16. Lucas Cranach Workshop, Epitaph for Paul Eber, 1569. Wittenberg City Church.

319

17. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Augustusburg Altarpiece , 1571. Schlosskapelle, Augustusburg 18. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Bartholomaus Vogel , 1569. Wittenberg City Church. 19. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Georg Niemeck , 1571. Now in 20. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt , 1573. Wittenberg City Church. 21. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Michael Teuber , c. 1575. Now in Kreuzlingen, private collection. 22. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Anna Hetzer , 1575. Dietrichsdorf. 23. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Otto von Pogk , 1578. Stadtkirche St. Nicolai, Coswig/Anhalt. 24. Lucas Cranach the Younger, Epitaph for Viet Örtel (Windsheim) , 1586. Wittenberg City Church.

320

Appendix D: Current Locations of Wittenberg Epitaphs

1 2 3 4 5

8

7 6

1. Epitaph for Viet Örtel 2. Epitaph for Lucas Cranach the Younger 3. Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck 4. Epitaph for Sara Cracov 5. Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt 6. Epitaph for Paul Eber 7. Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen 8. Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg 9. Epitaph for Georg Niemeck - No longer in Wittenberg

321

Appendix E: Historic Locations of Wittenberg Epitaphs 522

9 4 P 6 5 A B 3 P 10 1 2 8 11

7

A- Altar P- Pulpit B- Baptismal Font 1. Epitaph for Gregor von Lamberg 2. Epitaph for Johannes Bugenhagen 3. Epitaph for Caspar Cruciger

522 All locations have been taken from Zerbe, Reformation der Memoria , 467-470. Zerbe’s meticulous research is based upon Balthasar Mentz, Syntagm a Epitaphiorum. Quae in inclyta septemviratus saxonici metropolis Witeberga, diversis in locis splendidè honoificeque erecta conspiciuntur, In 4 Libros divisum , (Magdeburg: Ambrosius Kirchner, 1604). 322

4. Epitaph for Caspar Niemeck 5. Epitaph for Sara Cracov 6. Epitaph for Paul Eber 7. Epitaph for Bartholomaus Vogel - 8. Epitaph for Friedrich and Margaretha Drachstedt 9. Epitaph for Georg Niemeck 10. Epitaph for Anna Niemeck neè Hetzer 11. Epitaph for Viet Örtel

323