Apocalypse Then: Woodcuts of the Reformation

"The Woman Clothed With the Sun and the Seven-Headed Dragon" by Durer

As the Reformation was just beginning, several ideas about the apocalypse and the antichrist became popular.  Many artists used such a topic as the theme of their artworks, as seen in the woodcut above.  No doubt artists such as Albrecht Durer among others looked to the book of Revelation in the Bible for the ultimate question of what was to become of the future, or the end of it.  There was this idea of the coming of an antichrist, who was supposed to set himself up as a God and try to tear the Church apart from within.  The Church would thus be persecuted before the coming of Christ, and many Reformers including Luther believed that the antichrist was the Pope and papacy at the time.  They saw themselves as fighters against the powers of evil, and that the Catholic Church was corrupted.  Artists such as Durer wanted to encourage Reformers that even though they were being persecuted that there was still hope that Christ would come and save them from evil.  

The woodcut above depicts a section from Revelation 11-12 of the Bible, showing a woman presumed to be Mary.  A dragon with seven heads (symbolizing the devil) awaits the birth of her male child destined to rule the world someday and wishes to devour him, but angels above are waiting to carry the child away to the safety of heaven.  In a way the woman represents the Church, and her child the faithful followers who would be saved from the clutches of evil.  Many artworks such as this were not uncommon in the time of the Reformation, and all asked the same question:  What was to happen once the end of the world arrived?  I think it's extremely fascinating that so many were concerned with their future, and that many thought the Pope to be the antichrist.  It's crazy to see how a small Reformation can turn out to move so many people with a central idea.  

Praise of Folly

               This is an image from the essay written by Erasmus titled The Praise of Folly.  This is a marginal drawing in the first edition of the essay.  It was written in Latin in the year 1509 and was one of the key pieces of literature in the start of the reformation.  The story begins with Folly praising herself in a crowd of people claiming how she is the center of all, joy, relationships, love, and happiness in the world.    She then criticizes different professionals in the city such as doctors, lawyers, and eventually moves to the clerics, cardinals, and the Pope, and the story ends with a statement regarding Christians and their relationship with God.

                Although Erasmus was a devout Catholic, this essay was a harsh critique of the church.  The uses the allegory of Folly to show how the Roman Catholic Church abuses some of their powers.  When speaking of the Pope she claims that he is selfish and hoards his money.  Surprisingly, Pope Leo X found the essay very amusing.  I liked this piece because it allows us to see how authors in this time were expressing their views.  His use of satire made the literature interesting but still allowed for Erasmus to get his point across.  

Book of the Books

The Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible was the first major book printed with movable type. It is not only an astonishing book itself, which is printed with great accuracy and decorated in a detailed way; the Gutenberg Bible also represents the start of the so-called “Gutenberg Revolution” and the spreading of printed books as a medium.

Before Gutenberg invented the process of the printing press, books were produced entirely by hand, normally by monks. It is not hard to imagine, that this method took months to copy even a small book. Gutenberg then found a way of mass-producing individual pieces of type in metal. He was able to produce hundreds of pieces of type, which then could be set up in phrases and pages and being printed on a printing press. Afterward he could use them again and set them up in a new way. With that Gutenberg also guaranteed (for the first time) a consistent and clear font all over the book.

            The Gutenberg Bible is praised for its high aesthetic and artistic qualities. It is written in Latin and was produced in the 1450s in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg made approximately about 180 editions of the Bible with his printing press. 49 copies of it are known to exist today. Each Bible consists of 1,268 pages, with 42 lines on each page, made by around 2,500 pieces of type. The spacious margin around the text allowed great decoration, which was added by hand. Some of the Bibles were decorated in a really elaborated way (always depending on how much the buyer would pay). The approximate selling price of the Bible at Gutenberg’s time was around 300 Florins. Gutenberg’s invention did not make him rich, but it laid the foundation of mass production of books. Wider parts of the population could afford them and enabled them to follow debates and take part in discussions. The Gutenberg Bible represents all the changes happening during that time period in a concrete and impressive way.

Sources:

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/gutenbergbible/history/#top

http://www.bl.uk/treasures/gutenberg/homepage.html

Birthing Chair or Beds

This week we have discussed a lot of social history concerning various aspects of life. Notably centering on pregnancy and giving birth. One of the things we mentioned in passing was the concept of a birthing chair. Searching around online, I found a few examples of birthing chairs. The image chosen is a basic one from the sixteenth century, but also seems to be similar to the kind that is referred to in Bell’s text. Both Savonarola and Mercurio prefer the birthing chair for pregnant women. Mercurio offers the choice for a woman to stand on the knees of another woman, because many families could not afford to purchase a birthing chair.

The description of a birthing chair that Savonarola prefers is rather extensive and detailed. He states that it should be made of strong wood, be approximately two feet wide, a seat of one and a half feet high, and closed with boards on the sides. It would also have sturdy arms for the mother to use as hand rests with a high back, so that if necessary one could place a pillow behind her back. Yet when hit with contractions the pillow would be removed so as to exert maximum pressure against the boards. One key thing to note in Bell’s text is that both Savonarola and Mercurio dislike the idea of pregnant women giving birth in bed. The reason this is so interesting is because in modern times that is the way many women give birth. Yet one can argue that this is a much more difficult way to give birth, interesting to think that 16^th century physicians may know better in this situation.

Source:

pages 110 - 111 of Bell

-Jenn Kervian

Playtime!

While I was perusing the internet looking for children's toys from the renaissance, in conjunction with our readings on renaissance families, I came across an interesting theory.

Illustrated above is Arbella Stuart as a young child. As you can reasonably guess, Arbella was a noble woman who was also considered one of the possible successors to queen Elizabeth I of England. Located in her left hand is a small doll that we can only assume was her favorite. What is interesting about this doll is its clothing. Historians are in agreement that the clothing the doll is wearing is at least 10 years outdated. But how can this be? Surely Arbella's noble family could afford to outfit her favorite play doll with up to date garments. But that's just it. This doll was not originally intended for play.

The outdated clothing on the doll implies that this was actually a fashion doll. A local tailor would have used a doll as a model to create a larger version of the dress that the doll was wearing. This means that when fashions came and went, tailors would give away their obsolete doll models to children who would use them as play things. Obviously dolls have been used as toys centuries before the renaissance era, however these dolls were painfully detailed and wore heavily ornamented clothing of the highest quality. So even though the doll is an age old invention, the dress up barbie doll can trace its history back to 16th century tailors.

Arnold, Janet. Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd. Los Angeles: Quite Specific Media Group, 2001. 157-58. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

The Execution of Jan Hus

This image depicts the burning of Jan Hus at the stake for all to see.  Hus was sentenced to death after refusing to repent his beliefs in front of the court.  His followers viewed him as a martyr after he was executed, and went on to uphold his beliefs.  This particular source is interesting because it provides a first hand account of the execution.  This source also provided an eye witness testimony from one of Hus's followers.  This follower by the name of Peter from Mladonovic, explains in detail the accounts of Hus's execution. According to the testimony, Peter watched in horror as they lit the fire beneath Hus; as he was then consumed in the blaze, Peter recollects Hus praying aloud while his body was immersed in flame (Columbia.edu).  this eye witness account along with the picture can vividly explain the horrors of that day.  Sometimes, as historians, we get so caught up in reviewing why someone was killed and the effects of that person on society that we forget to look into the eyes of everyday people who actually witnessed it.  For Peter who was a friend of Hus's, this marked a terrifying event in his life.  Not just because of the powerful beliefs Hus presented, but also because he was a friend and fellow believer.  How would you feel to see a friend and idle being burned at the stake? this is a question I hope no one would ever have to answer, but it does provide a historical perspective from personal level of an eye witness' viewing.


Sources:

http://www.columbia.edu/~js322/misc/hus-eng.html

The Stages of Life

Thought I should post this image of the Stages of Life; it's a woodcut from northern Europe. You can go from infant to old man, but notice the baby walker, which I alluded to in class last time.

My 24 hours in the Ozarks

A note on my last 24 hours: 

When St. Francis planned to make his fellow citizens a little more interested in the human aspect of Jesus, by pulling out some actual stinky barn animals and making a life-size nativity scene, I'm sure that he would not have imagined the appearance of this: 

I wish it came with a St. Francis of Assisi endorsement on the box. It's a travesty little children are playing with these and don't know the history of the first creche. :))

After visiting Toys R Us at 6 p.m. on Saturday, I headed to Patrick's Family restaurant in Nixa (yummy catfish) and listened to some old-timers play some pretty cool Johnny Cash tunes, alongside some faith tunes as well (Folsom prison and Heaven tunes are a bit abrupt). On the wall of the restaurant were various signs--one of the popular themes carved in wood was: "Thank you Jesus".  I would compare this to a Madonna in Italy--in that there was public acknowledgement of the divine. 

On Sunday afternoon at Phelps Grove park, I went for a walk where several groups of role-players interacted in a medieval fantasy game. There were colorful flags erected. Some had tunics, some had long hair braids, some had more like Samurai pants on. I was reminded again of how the age that we are studying comes with so many layers of "history" that we must sort through: the humanists at that time writing their own advertisements; the historians of the 19th century; popular culture and the fantasy of the past ala Game of Thrones; the sexuality of shows like the Borgias . . . I am thankful to have actual primary sources that force me to think through fact and fantasy. I am also thankful that there are people who are interested in the period, despite it heading towards more fantasy. 

Now to the store, I need one of those nativity scenes! Who doesn't love Little People?