Martin Luther (1483-1546), as we have seen, initiated the Protestant Reformation, which divided Europe and broke the monopoly of the Catholic Church. He objected to the practice of selling indulgences, and particularly to Johann Tetzel (c. 1465-1519), the Dominican "pardoner." Luther saw Tetzel and the papacy as profiting from the fear and ignorance of his German compatriots. This view was con[1]firmed by Tetzel's "Sermon on Indulgences," in which he compared indulgences to "letters of safe conduct" into heaven and pointed out that each mortal sin was punished by seven years of purgatory. Since people repeatedly com[1]mit mortal sins, Tetzel argued, they could save themselves many years of torture by buying indulgences. Ninety-Five Thesis 1517 Luther's Ninety-Five Theses included scathing attacks on the principle of buying one's way into heaven. Referring to the financial motives of the Church, Luther's thesis num[1]ber 28 stated, "It is certain that, when the money rattles in the chest, avarice and gain may be increased, but the effect of the intercession of the Church depends on the will of God alone." Number 43 declares, "He who gives to the poor man, or lends to a needy man, does better than if he bought pardons." And number 50, "If the pope were acquainted with the exactions of the preachers of pardons, he would prefer that the basilica of Saint Peter [then being rebuilt] should be burnt to ashes rather than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep."1 1517 Luther's Ninety-Five Theses included scathing attacks on the principle of buying one's way into heaven. Referring to the financial motives of the Church, Luther's thesis num[1]ber 28 stated, "It is certain that, when the money rattles in the chest, avarice and gain may be increased, but the effect of the intercession of the Church depends on the will of God alone." Number 43 declares, "He who gives to the poor man, or lends to a needy man, does better than if he bought pardons." And number 50, "If the pope were acquainted with the exactions of the preachers of pardons, he would prefer that the basilica of Saint Peter [then being rebuilt] should be burnt to ashes rather than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep."1 The exterior of the doors (fig. 18.9) depicts the Crucifix[1]ion; its emphasis on physical suffering and the wounds of Jesus was related to healing. This is enhanced by Grüne[1]wald's revolutionary use of color—for example, the green[1]ish flesh (suggesting gangrene), the gray-black sky, and the rich reds of the drapery that echo the red of Jesus's blood—to accentuate the overwhelming effect of the scene. The arms of the cross are bowed from Jesus's weight. In contrast to the idealized, relaxed Jesus of Michelangelo's Pietà in Rome (see fig. 16.14), Grünewald's Jesus is con[1]torted, blood drips from his scalp, and his loincloth is torn and ragged. On Sundays and feast days, however, the altarpiece was opened to reveal an interior transformed by bright colors (fig. 18.10). In the right panel, Jesus attains a new, spiritual plane of existence. His body, defined by curvilinear forms, floats upward into a fiery orb. Christ-as-sun is juxtaposed with the Roman soldiers, whose sinful ignorance causes them to stumble in a rocky darkness Saint Anthony, who was associated with healing, on the right
t was commissioned for the hospital chapel of the monas[1]tery of St. Anthony in Isenheim. The hospital specialized in the treatment of skin diseases, particularly ergotism, known as "St. Anthony's Fire." The altarpiece was a form popular in Germany between 1450 and 1525. It typically consisted of a central corpus, or body, containing sculptured figures and was enclosed by doors (wings) painted on the outside and carved in low relief inside. In the Isenheim Altarpiece, it is the base, not the corpus, that contains the sculptures; but sculptured figures of Saint Anthony, Saint Jerome, and Saint Augustine are located in the central corpus behind the Virgin and Child with Angels and are revealed when the two panels of this scene are opened Saint Anthony, who was associated with healing, on the right : Baroque style corresponds roughly to the closing years of the sixteenth century, overlapping Manner[1]ism and lasting, in some areas, until around 1750. Religious and political conflicts, especially between Catho[1]lics and Protestants, continued in the seventeenth century. The Thirty Years' War (1618-48) sapped the power of the Holy Roman emperor. The rebuilding of Saint Peter's, which began when Julius II became pope in 1503, was finally completed during the Baroque period. Its interior decoration and spatial design, however, still required attention. Pope Urban VIII (papacy 1623-44) appointed Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) to the task, and he remained the official architect of St. Peter's until his death. Bernini reduced the space at the crossing so that worshipers would be drawn to the altar. He did so by erecting the bronze baldachino (fig. 19.1), or canopy, over the high altar above St. Peter's tomb