Interpreting the Visual Evidence
Decoding Printed Propaganda
The printing press has
been credited with helping
to spread the teachings
of Martin Luther
and so to securing the
success of the Protestant Reformation.
But even before Luther's critiques were
published, reformers were using the new
technology to disseminate images that
attacked the corruption of the Church.
After Luther rose to prominence, both
his supporters and detractors vied with
one another in disseminating propaganda
that appealed, visually, to a lay
audience and that could be understood
even by those who were unable to read.
The first pair of images below is really
a single printed artifact datable to around
1500: an early example of a "pop-up"
card. It shows Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492–
1503) as stately pontiff (image A) whose
true identity is concealed by a flap. When
the flap is raised (image B), he is revealed
as a devil. The Latin texts read: "Alexander
VI, pontifex maximus" (image A) and
"I am the pope" (image B). The other two
images represent two sides of the debate
as it had developed by 1530, and both do
so with reference to the same image: the
seven-headed beast mentioned in the Bible's Book of Revelation. On the left
(image C), a Lutheran engraving shows
the papacy as the beast, with seven heads
representing seven orders of Catho lic
clergy. The sign on the cross (referring
to the sign hung over the head of the
crucified Christ) reads, in German: "For
money, a sack full of indulgences." (The
Latin words on either side say "Reign
of the Devil.") On the right (image D),
a Catholic engraving produced in Germany
shows Luther as Revelation's beast,
with its seven heads labeled: "Doctor–
Martin–Luther– Heretic–Hypocrite–
Fanatic–Barabbas," the last alluding to
the thief who should have been executed
instead of Jesus, according to the
Gospels.
Images
Questions for Analysis
1. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d Given that this attack on Pope Alexander
VI precedes Martin Luther’s
critique of the Church by nearly two
decades, what can you conclude about
its intended audience? To what extent
can it be read as a barometer of popular
disapproval? What might have
been the reason(s) for the use of the
concealing flap? |
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2. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d What do you make of the fact that
both Catholic and Protestant propagandists
were using the same imagery?
What do you make of the key
differences—for example, the fact that
the seven-headed beast representing
the papacy sprouts out of an altar in
which a Eucharistic chalice is displayed,
while the seven-headed Martin
Luther is reading a book? |
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3. fiogf49gjkf0d fiogf49gjkf0d All of these printed images also make
use of words. What are some of the
different relationships between these
two media? Would the message of
each image be clear without the use
of texts? Why or why not? |
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