Protestant Reformations Impact on the Visual Arts of Northern Europe

In the Year 1517 Martin Luther allegedly nailed ninety five theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral protesting many of the ways in which the Catholic Church was conducting itself. The sale of Indulgences was one of these inclinations. A person could actually exchange money for in exchange for sin forgiveness. They also disagreed with the concept of Transubstantiation in which the wafer and wine of the communion were believed to literally become Christ’s flesh and blood, believing instead that this was a symbolic rite. They also believed that the bible should be translated into the language of the people so that a person could understand the words themselves. Access to the printing press went a long way towards making this idea a reality though, ironically, one of the first uses of the printing press was to print Indulgences. A number of Protestant factions began to form, including the followers of Luther who became Lutherans and the followers of John Calvin in Switzerland who became Calvinists who spread throughout Europe and notably in Scotland. The Calvinists very much objected to art and particularly religious imagery.

As Protestantism became predominant tolerance for religious art declined to the point where there were Iconoclastic Riots that were inclined to destroy art; particularly art that described Saints and religious figures though Luther never directly supported Iconoclasty. As a result Art in Northern Europe moved away from religious subject matter to more secular subjects.

Pieter Breugal began his career by imitating the still popular Hieronymus Bosch. The subject matter of Breugals works though have subtley changed from those of Bosch. Rather than overtly religious moralizing, the message of his work is more secular. In Big Fish eat Little Fish 1556 he created a scene that suggested that the successful will always come out on top. The scene depicts a large fish with a number of smaller fish spilling out of its mouth and smaller fish yet spilling out of their mouths. Though the image suggests a predatory world of eat or be eaten it is also interesting in that the Big Fish is being cut open by a fisherman. Secular prints like this one and many of Albrecht Durers were becoming increasingly popular.

Landscapes were also in increasing demand and Breugal was a master. Trips to Italy had not given him an Italianate tranformation to his work but instead gave him a love of the Alps that began to make an appearance in his paintings. In 1565 he painted a set of works reminiscent of the Limbourgs 15^th Century Calendar paintings. In The Harvesters and Return of the Hunters he painted rich landscapes with rolling hills occupied by common people working at their daily lives. There is no humanist approach to the bodies painted here. Rather than nudes with idealized musculature rapt in deep meaningful activity there are fully dressed peasants going about everyday tasks. Also like the earlier Limbourg work, these paintings are calendaresque, showing the difference in landscape and activity of subject that the seasons entail.

The rise of Protestantism in Northern Europe in the 16^th Century created an artistic environment that made religious work unappealing or even dangerous to make. Iconoclastic Riots that destroyed art of this sort disinclined artists to create and also collectors and patrons to commission it. Artists began to put more effort into creating secular art and as a result it became more popular in the North.