CONFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND THE ARTS: APOCALYPTIC IMAGERY, THE POPE AND THE TURK
CONFESSIONAL IDENTITY AND THE ARTS: APOCALYPTIC IMAGERY, THE POPE AND THE TURK

Summary/Abstract: Dürer’s Apocalypse was undoubtedly the prototype for the many apocalyptic representations that suddenly had appeared in Central Europe by the end of the 16th century: the influence of Dürer’s Apocalypse extended far beyond the German borders, into Western, Southern and Eastern countries. The Apocalypse text is extremely rich in symbols, so that it could easily be enriched with additional meanings: Cranach’s reworking of Dürer’s iconographic model in the 1520s, under Luther’s personal guidance, became an instrument of transmission of the Lutheran doctrine and an anti-papal critique. At the end of the 17th century, an unidentified Transylvanian Saxon Lutheran goldsmith introduced Cranach’s apocalyptic imagery on a Gospel book cover purchased by the Wallachian princely court. The Cranach prototype, originally made to transmit the Lutheran doctrine was, for this occasion, adapted to a different context. The comparative analysis of the same scene by Dürer, Cranach and the Transylvanian goldsmith can be useful to show how art could be used to transmit a religious and political message, adapted to the specific needs and characteristics of a different context, balancing the confessional and visual identity of both the artist and the customers of a certain piece of art.

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