After our discussion on peasant revolts during the reformation, I decided to research some of the various woodcuts regarding peasants and revolutions during this time. As we have learned, Marxist ideas were common among peasants and related to many of the uprisings in the reformation. This particular woodcut depicts the peasant war in Germany, by Frederick Engels. As provided by the image, German peasants revolted against the higher government. In class, we have discussed that peasants were often not featured in woodcuts after they started to revolt. This image is unique because it actually shows the peasants in battle during the uprising. As we can see, some noblemen and possibly knights are fighting along with peasants. This aspect links us back to our class discussion as to why it is in fact called a peasant revolt if various other men aided peasants in fighting. Either way, peasant revolts were a significant issue surrounding the reformation and had an impact within various countries and the art that originated in them.
Interesting information of woodcuts.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify: in class, I stated that Marxists in the 19th century (Engels, etc.) and 20th century Communists countries like Eastern Germany idealized figures like Müntzer.
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