The Serpent and the Lamb: Cranach, Luther and the Making of the Reformation, by Steven Ozment

Abstract

The Serpent and the Lamb: Cranach, Luther and the Making of the Reformation, by Steven Ozment. New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 2011. x, 325 pp. $35.00 US (cloth). The title of this engaging and delightful book comes from the copyright symbols for two of the monumental characters of the Reformation living in Wittenberg, Germany. Lucas Cranach the Elder was given the symbol of a serpent with bat wings by the elector of Saxony after he was hired as the court artist, while the lamb was one of the logos for Martin Luther, the controversial reformer and thorn in the side of the Roman Catholic church of his day. Ozment weaves a crisp and fetching narrative of the role Cranach played as the main propagandist for Luther's reformation, but his focus is definitely on the artist rather than the theologian. In doing so, the author provides a fascinating glimpse into the of medieval Wittenberg, electoral Saxony, and the ever-changing development of the artist within this context. He touches upon Cranach's personal life, his complex relationship with Roman Catholic and Lutheran patrons, and his connection with another famous artist and craftsman of the time, Albrecht Durer. Two themes develop within the pages of this book. First, Ozment explores Cranach's important role as the propagandist for the Lutheran reformation. Cranach portrays Luther's main theological themes in concrete graphic ways through his art. When combined with his involvement in the publishing business, Cranach disseminated Luther's teachings and reforms in ways that reform-minded individuals of earlier generations would never have imagined. Yet at the same time, he also painted for many Roman Catholic patrons. Cranach was above all pragmatic. At the same time, Ozment argues that the differences between Cranach and Durer reflect the differences between the Reformation and the Renaissance, respectively. The idealized human form portrayed by Durer, common to both the Roman Catholic and Renaissance traditions, are replaced with the transient moments of everyday life (p. 56), so ably portrayed by Cranach. One of the things that helped unite Cranach and Luther in a life-long partnership was how both responded to the threats posed by other, more radical reformers who wanted to get rid of all artwork and images in the churches, insisting that they were idols. For Cranach, such actions would take away a major source of income, since churches were important patrons of the arts. Luther, for his part, felt that such artwork could aid Christian piety, and that it was actually the suppressing of such artwork that turned this decorative art into the very ungodly idols the radical reformers were trying to protect against. As Ozment notes, an imageless faith was impossible (p. 134). When Cranach realized that Luther was not interested in clearing all the artwork from churches, the working relationship between them was cemented. …