First Glorious Post of the Second Glorious Blog

Let us hope that this blog survives, otherwise I shall be greatly wroth...

Link to art: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lucas_Cranach_-_Antichrist.png

This is a woodcut made by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The title is "Antichrist."

This work makes strong pathetic appeals to the audience. It shows the pope residing in the Vatican, surrounded by lawyers and bankers. Any view of Cranach's time would immediately recall the biblical scene where Jesus drives the bankers out of the temple, and associate the pope with the bankers. Because the pope controls the church, yet will be driven out, the viewer would then confirm the title of the work and think of the pope as an anti-Christ. Cranach sets up the scene by employing logos. When the work was drawn in 1521, simony (the practice of selling Catholic offices and favors) was rampant, as the Church desperately need money to complete the Lateran Basilica in Rome. The viewer of this work would likely be wondering where all of the money went, and Cranach supplies a semi-logical conclusion. Cranach exploits ethos through his medium. Woodcuts were the means by which artists illustrated handbills, posters, and widely read books. No artist would dream of using woodcut for a portrait of a patron. By using woodcut rather than paint, Cranach establishes that he is not one of the people surrounding the pope, but an upright, moral, and humble man.