Journal: Conservative Theological Journal
Volume: CTJ 04:13 (Dec 2000)
Article: Martin Luther And The Visual Arts: A Study In Theory And Application
Author: Steve R. Halla

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CTJ 4:13 (December 2000) p. 267

Martin Luther And The Visual Arts:
A Study In Theory And Application

Steve R. Halla

M.A. candidate, University of Texas at Dallas

This article is adapted from Steve Halla’s master’s thesis at Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM ‘00), “The Wittenberg Altarpiece and its Reflection of Martin Luther’s Expressed Views of the Visual Arts”

One of the most common misconceptions that continues to plague various circles of historical research and study is the notion that the Protestant Reformation, in view of its opposition to the aesthetically and artistically supportive Roman Catholic Church, was at its core an anti-art movement,1 thus deserving of such titles as “the destroyers and enemies of visual and sensual culture.”2 Based on the elevated status that the reformers had placed upon the written Word of God, it has often been suggested that such an elevated status necessarily resulted in their maintaining a negative view of the visual arts. While it is true, however, that many Protestant reformers such as Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt and Gabriel Zwingli, for example, did hold to and advocate a negative view of the visual arts,3 others, like Martin Luther, did not.

CTJ 4:13 (December 2000) p. 268

According to Luther, if understood and used correctly, the visual arts could indeed play a significant role in the life and program of the local church. Yet, while not only verbally and literarily affirming a positive use of the visual arts, he also demonstrated his convictions by supporting the development and implementation of a new style of Protestant art in the Lutheran church. In no other single form of artistic expression is this new style of art more readily visible than Lucas Cranach’s Lutheran altarpieces.

Although Lucas Cranach had created several different Lutheran altarpieces (i.e., the Wittenberg, the Scheenberg, the Weimar, the Dessau, and the Kemberg), upon closer examination it is apparent that not all of them reflect Martin Luther’s personal views of the visual arts with the same degree of accuracy. In light of these differences an important question that naturally arises is whether or not there exists any one particular Lucas Cranach Lutheran altarpiece that best reflects a comprehensive adherence to Martin Luther’s stated views. In response to this inquiry, the following article will seek to demonstrate that such an altarpiece does in fact exist in the form of the Wittenberg altarpiece and, as a result, earns it the right to be identified as the most comprehensive artistic reflection of Luther’...

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