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GYC Southeast

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Rhonda Grakov

Martin Luther: Captive Conscience

Ulrich Zwingli: Of Switzerland and Sola Scriptura

Marguerite of Navarre: Faith over France

William Tyndale: Singing the Same Note

Menno Simons: A Forbidden Book

Albrecht Dürer: Brushstrokes of the Reformation, Part 1

Albrecht Dürer: Brushstrokes of the Reformation, Part 2

Katherine Parr: The Survivor

Philipp Melanchthon: Nothing but Heaven

Ursula Von Münsterberg: Escape Artist for God

Hello and welcome to Grading God's Sight, the podcast that explores underrated heroes.

This is Season 3 and we're so glad you've joined us for part 2 of our story entitled Albrecht Dürer, Brushstrokes of the Reformation.

Please be sure to subscribe and check out the terrific artwork that goes along with today's story on our website, thegreatpodcast.org.

In 1514, while Martin Luther in Wittenberg was deep in Bible study, Albrecht Dürer in Nuremberg experienced the death of his mother, which unfortunate event was to leave a permanent impression on his spiritual life.

In his own words, his mother died hard and I noticed that she saw something frightening.

I have such sorrow from this that I cannot express it.

To Dürer, his mother was a saint whose greatest delight was always to speak of God, and she liked to see God honored.

Witnessing his pious mother's dying moments was a sobering experience for the now middle-aged artist, perhaps confronting him with the question of eternity more insistently than ever before.

1517 was the year in which Martin Luther penned the 95 Theses and set off the Reformation.

It was also the year in which Johann von Staupitz came to Nuremberg and presented a sermon series on true repentance, which emphasized God's infinite capacity for the forgiveness of sins and the passion of Christ as the only true key to salvation.

Both these events exerted a profound influence on Dürer and his circle of Nuremberg thinkers.

The artist even presented Staupitz with a gift, likely a set of his woodcut prints, and the following year sent a similar gift to Martin Luther in Wittenberg, for which Luther's thank-you note still exists.

Over the next few years, as the Reformation unfolded before his very eyes, Dürer's convictions continued to grow.

His friends noticed his spiritual angst, and a young artist who wished to train under him, declared that Dürer was preoccupied with the teachings by which Luther had begun to stir the quiet world, and so left Dürer's workshop.

In 1520, Albrecht Dürer wrote a revealing letter to Spalatin, secretary to Prince Frederick, who was a lector of Saxony and a champion of Luther.

In it, Durer begged the prince to protect the praiseworthy Dr.

Martinus Luther for the sake of Christian truth, which is more to us than all wealth and power of this world, that utterly perish with time, while truth alone endures eternally.

Dürer also promised, If with God's help I should come to Dr.

Martinus Luther, I will use my skill to sketch his portrait and engrave it in copper plate as a lasting memorial of this Christian man who has rescued me out of deep anguish." Clearly, Albrecht Durer was emerging from his spiritual crisis and aligning himself with the Reformation.

In the letter he added this request, I ask your honor when Dr.

Martinus publishes something new in German, please to send it to me and I shall pay you.

Like many people all over Europe, the famous artist hungered for messages of truth from scripture in his native tongue.

As Albrecht Dürer was beginning to find peace in the gospel as presented by Luther, calamity struck.

In 1521, the reformer was summoned before the deity of Worms to answer for his faith before the newly crowned emperor Charles V.

After a powerful and Holy Spirit inspired defense, Luther left Worms to return to Wittenberg.

On the road, he was abducted by armed horsemen, and no 1 knew what his fate had been.

Like most people in Germany, Dürer believed the reformer had been murdered.

He poured out his grief in his journal, writing, O God, if Luther is dead, who will henceforth deliver the Holy Gospel to us with such clearness?

Ach, God, what might he still not have written for us in 10 or 20 years?

O, all ye Christian men, help me to weep without ceasing for this man, inspired of God, and to pray him to send us another such enlightened man.

Thankfully, however, Luther was not dead.

He had merely been spirited away to Wartburg Castle where he remained under the vigilant protection of Prince Frederick.

From Wartburg, the reformer continued to write furiously, and even translated the New Testament into German during this time.

We can only imagine Jurer's joy when more tracts and pamphlets by Luther began to circulate, intimating that the mighty man of God was still alive after all.

Although the progressive and independently minded population of Nuremberg had been sympathetic towards Luther and his followers from the very beginning, between 1524 and 1525, this imperial free city openly declared for the Reformation.

The mass was abolished, and it was decided that all preaching must be from the Scriptures.

Although Dürer's hometown was now 1 of the first German cities to harbor the Reformed faith, there was still a price to pay for those individuals who accepted it.

Late in 1524, Durer wrote, "...we have to stand in disgrace and danger for the sake of the Christian faith, for they abuse us as heretics, but may God grant us his grace and strengthen us in his word, for we must obey him rather than men." Although he could not have known it then, by this time there were only a few years left in the artist's life.

Around 1526, Albrecht Dürer set to work on what would be his final painting and greatest masterpiece in oil.

In October of 1526, Dürer presented the massive pair of Lindenwood panels, which came to be known as the 4 Apostles, as a gift to the Nuremberg City Council.

In Durer's accompanying letter to the council, he stated that on This artwork he had bestowed more trouble than on any other painting, perhaps because of its sheer monumentality, but more likely because of the subject matter and symbolism.

The diptych, 2 panel set, is nearly 7 feet high, depicting St.

Larger than life, the apostles radiate a powerful, authoritative aura, and are placed on a solid dark, almost black background to eliminate distractions and emphasize their presence above all else.

Of special interest is Dürer's complete omission of halos or any other exterior marks of sainthood.

Although the term had not been coined yet, Albrecht Durer's Apostles exude a very Protestant look indeed.

The arrangement of the apostolic figures is key to our understanding of the painting.

John and Paul, the New Testament authors most prized by Martin Luther, each dominate the foreground of their respective panels.

Luther was galvanized to accept the doctrine of righteousness by faith while studying Paul's epistle to the Romans, and once stated that John's was the 1 fine, true, and chief gospel.

Meanwhile, Dürer relegated the wrinkled-looking Peter, claimed by the papacy to have been the first pope, to a background position behind the youthful and good-looking John.

Peter holds the golden key to the kingdom of heaven, another symbol of the Vatican.

But the key is forgotten as both he and John direct their full attention to the gospel in John's hands, which is open to the first verse.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This highlights the Protestant concept of dependence on Christ as revealed in Scripture rather than on the Church for salvation.

Albrecht Durer seems to have been consumed with the idea of the Word while painting the 4 apostles, since Paul and Mark in the right panel also grasp portions of Scripture.

As the most prolific New Testament writer, Paul holds a huge bound volume while Mark, author of the shortest gospel, clutches a small scroll.

But the emphasis on the written Word of God cannot be lost.

In case a viewer was in danger of missing the point, Dürer added texts from Luther's 1522 German translation of the New Testament underneath each apostle.

A passage from 1 John was calligraphed beneath John, 1 from 2 Peter beneath Peter, 1 from the Gospel of Mark beneath Mark, and 1 from 2 Timothy beneath Paul.

The 4 selected scriptures have a common thread woven throughout, a warning against false teachers and their doctrines.

He also included a personal exhortation to the city fathers and all who would ponder his painting on exhibit in the town hall.

All worldly rulers in these dangerous times should give good heed that they receive not human misguidance for the word of God, for God will have nothing added to his word nor taken away from it.

Hear therefore these 4 excellent men, Peter, John, Paul and Mark, their warning." Albrecht Dürer's message could not have been clearer.

By creating the 4 apostles and presenting it to the city council, the artist was declaring himself on the side of Scripture for all the world to see, while exhorting the leaders and people of Nuremberg to continue embracing the truths of the Reformation.

As aforementioned, the 4 apostles together make up a diptych, while altarpieces in Roman Catholic churches would have been triptychs, with 2 narrower panels flanking a central 1.

The center panel is missing in Dürer's diptych, And it has been postulated that perhaps the artist intended to create an altarpiece triptych at 1 point, but instead only ended up painting the 2 panels of the 4 apostles.

However, modern analytical techniques have revealed that this is not the case.

Dürer fully intended for his painting to include only the 2 existing panels.

This can be seen as Albrecht Dürer's knowing, yet willing relinquishment of church commissions for his art.

In other words, the artist is subtly expressing his understanding of the fact that he will not create any more altarpieces or icons for the Roman Catholic Church.

Moreover, Dürer expresses his acceptance of this new, less lucrative state of affairs in light of the all-consuming Word of God, which has become all-important to him.

Albrecht Dürer passed away in 1528, less than 2 years after dedicating the 4 Apostles to the Nuremberg City Council, but not before leaving the world with a visual legacy of his growing Christian faith.

Dürer was uniquely positioned in history as a contemporary of Martin Luther and as such had the rare opportunity of observing the Reformation in real time as it sprung up all around him.

However, as evidenced by the 4 apostles, the great artist did not merely observe, but actively embraced the present truth for his era.

His monumental twin panels testify to their Creator's faith in God's Word, immortalized in the language Albrecht Dürer spoke best, the language of art.

Thank you for listening to Great in God's Sight, a podcast by GYC Southeast.

We hope you have enjoyed this adventure through time, and pray it serves to deepen your relationship with God.

While we strive to bring you a unique perspective on each believer, We encourage you to use your God-given curiosity to explore these topics for yourself.

Please remember to hit the subscribe button and share this episode with your friends via text or social media.

Until next time, we wish you God's blessing as you seek to be great in His sight too.

Series

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Albrecht Dürer: Brushstrokes of the Reformation, Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Martin Luther: Captive Conscience

11m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

The Celestial Railroad: Part 1

13m

Great in God's Sight Season 1

Mark: One Young Man

10m

Great in God's Sight Season 1

Jerome, Cyril, and Methodius: Bibles for East and West

10m

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Philipp Melanchthon: Nothing but Heaven

11m

Great in God's Sight Season 1

Patrick: Unlikely Freedom

10m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

The Celestial Railroad: Part 2

13m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

John Bunyan: Progress in Prison

9m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

Johann Sebastian Bach: This Art Still Lives

13m

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Ursula Von Münsterberg: Escape Artist for God

9m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

Sir Isaac Newton: On the Shores of the Ocean of Truth

11m

Great in God's Sight Season 2

Johannes Kepler: Thinking God’s Thoughts

11m

Sound Doctrine