Iconoclasm in the German engravings in XVI century

Abstract

The role of the religious images, mainly discussed, in the polemic between catholics and protestants, under the historic and theological point of view, has been reflected in some German engravings, representing iconoclasm scenes.

The iconoclastic riots were denounced in some woodcuts from 1522, in the catholic work Von dem grossen lutherischen narren by franciscan Thomas Murner, part of longer contentious with Luther. The pamphlet, illustrated by Dürer’s pupil, Erhard Schön, shows the moderate position of the Luthern side, where the sacred images are seen as unarmed and subordinate to the man will.

Heinrich Vogtherr’s engravings, trained at the Augsburg school, belong to the most radical Zwingli iconoclasm. These prints recall the historic example of the Iconoclasm in the Old Testament and in that Byzantine in VIII century, led by authority.