Law and Gospel in Paint - Part 5 - The Reformation of Ars Moriendi

Fig. 1 Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Dying Man 1518

"Why is the guy naked?" The first time that I got this question about Lucas Cranach the Elder's Law and Gospel paintings, I simply said that it emphasizes that people have nothing to bring before God and that it related to Adam and Eve in the background. Now, this is true, but there is more. Since that time, I had an opportunity to discover more substance to the answer. Over eighty years ago, art historian Ernst Grohne connected the nakedness of the man to one of Cranach's earlier paintings of the Dying Man (1518) (Fig. 1). Apart from Bonnie Noble's book Lucas Cranach the Elder (2009), there is very little if any discussion about this connection. 

[If you are looking for an introduction into the paintings see the rest of this series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. What I write below is a short version of a conference paper that I recently gave.]

Cranach's Dying Man was made for the family of a lawyer named Heinrich Schmittburg at his death in 1518. Cranach employed several images from a popular literary genre of his day called Ars Moriendi ("the art of dying"). This was a genre of manuals meant to be helpful aids to clergy and lay people in overcoming the temptations (Anfechtungen) that would arise at the deathbed. In fact some of these manuals contained a series of woodcuts that would help the dying person to properly envision victory over the temptations that would arise. See the images here. This makes sense, because images were a vital part of thinking and life in the medieval mind.

This painting by Cranach features the man on his deathbed surrounded by his priest, family, and friends. Above the man, his soul arises to the Triune God. Yet, on his way up, demons hold up notes to remind him of his sins in the previous year and vices. To his left, the angel holds up a sign that reads, "Good works (OPERA BONA)." The soul of the man is in the midst of tension between these two sides angels on one side and demons vying for his attention. His head is turned toward the demons while his body is turned toward the angels. As the other inscriptions in the panting indicate, this man is to trust that even though he has sinned, he has not denied God.

There has been some considerable work done on Luther's reformation of Ars Moriendi. Most popular is his Sermon Preparing to Die (1519). Whereas the previous literature focused on looking to Christ as an example of dying well, Luther changed the emphasis of seeing Christ on the cross to that of the gracious gift of God to forgive sins. Luther talks often in this work and other places of looking to Christ in the midst of afflictions. For Luther, the afflictions did not only come at the moment of death. They were a daily reality in the life of a Christian. Claudia Resch has called it "the art of living." It means holding on to the image of a gracious Christ who gave His own life on the cross to redeem sinners. This can only happen by the Word that is preached and brings about faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, for Luther, distinguishing between Law and Gospel was essential for seeing Christ as the gracious and loving Savior.

Fig. 2. Law and Gospel, 1529. National Gallery of Prague

Now we look again at Cranach's Law and Gospel located in Prague (1529) (Fig. 2.) When we look at the posture of the man, it becomes very recognizable that Cranach has incorporated something very similar to the Dying Man. However, the meaning is significantly changed. In Cranach's Law and Gospel, the man in the center is not simply the soul of a man but the stand-in for every man in the midst of life. It is likely that this painting at one time also had Romans 7:24 below the man: "What a wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of death?" The answer is to that question is shown visually. It is Christ. John the Baptist points to Him, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29)! The prophet too from the Law side of the painting points across the scene to Christ. This whole painting is made to direct our eyes to the comfort that only Christ can bring. While the man's body remains under the law where he daily crucifies the flesh, his eyes and his heart, are fixed on Christ.

If The Dying Man and Ars Moriendi are some of the important antecedents to Cranach's Law and Gospel paintings, then this opens up other ways to view these paintings. Though these paintings are certainly didactic, they are not only this. They were not simply illustrations for teaching propositions as many scholars frame them. Rather, these paintings also carry a certain devotional value, not as objects of devotion in themselves, but in focusing on the Scriptures and helping people to properly see Christ as their gracious Lord and Savior. 

Mary Carruthers, in The Craft of Thought, notes that during medieval ages, images were often rhetorical tools used for remembering. The visual mental structure used for storing memories was called inventio, which carries both the meaning of "invention" and "inventory." So if Cranach, in his Law and Gospel painting theme (likely with the help of classically trained Luther and/or Melanchthon), is operating on this kind of thinking, then the arrangement of the biblical scenes serves as an "inventio" (an organizational memory structure) for the sake of remembering this vital distinction. As such, these paintings helped viewers to remember the important aspects of distinguishing between Law and Gospel so that when the afflictions of life come, they will have stored away in their memory images that direct them to the consolation that Christ alone brings. If this is the case, then for both Luther and Cranach, the art of dying is directly connected to the art of distinguishing between Law and Gospel. Luther also calls this the "highest art." So perhaps Cranach's use of images might be able to teach us something today about how useful art can be for directing our hearts, minds, and eyes to Christ our Lord.

This post is a part of a series:

LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 1 (Gotha Panel)
LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 2 (Gotha Panel)
LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 3 (Prague Panel)
LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 4 (Prague Panel)
LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 5 (The Dying Man)
LAW AND GOSPEL IN PAINT - PART 6 (Continuation of the Theme)

Presentation on Cranach's Law and Gospel Painting (Theological Symposium, Concordia Seminary St. Louis, 2022)