For the first time ever, artworks and historical objects related to the story of Martin Luther and the Reformation will be on exhibit outside of Germany. “Martin Luther: Art and the Reformation” is the first exhibition in the United States to examine Luther’s personal life and explore the impact of the Protestant Reformation through high and low art from the 16th century onward. Objects on view will include religious paintings, miniatures, sculptures, satirical prints and important manuscripts. The exhibition will also feature Luther’s treasured personal possessions.
The exhibition will place particular emphasis on Luther’s support of art as a tool for worship, teaching and propaganda. Among the works on view will be paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, who was inspired by Luther’s preaching to develop didactic paintings that vividly depict the viewer’s choice between salvation and damnation. Additionally, several vandalized objects by other artists will be presented to underscore the intense emotional reaction in the wake of Luther’s protest.
A major section of the exhibition devoted to Luther’s personal life will feature recent archaeological finds from his boyhood homes in the towns of Eisleben and Mansfeld, as well as his house in Wittenberg. Excavations, undertaken in 2004 and 2005, uncovered household goods that reveal new information about Luther and his family. A selection of those objects will be displayed for the first time in the United States and offer new insights into Luther’s daily life, especially his childhood.
See the exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, October 30, 2016 – January 15, 2017.