Law and Gospel in Paint - Part 5 - The Reformation of Ars Moriendi
Fig. 1 Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Dying Man 1518 |
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 has incorporated many of these images such as angels on one side and demons on the other, all vying for the attention of the man lying on his death bed. 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. His head is turned toward the demons while his body is turned toward the angels. As the inscriptions indicate, this man trusts 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 as 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. 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 |
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 in themselves, but in 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. It was called inventio. This carries both the meaning of invention and inventory. So if Cranach is operating on this kind of thinking, then his "invention" of the Law and Gospel painting theme (with all of the biblical scenes distributed and organized accordingly) are done for the sake of "inventory" or remembering. 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 has become the art of distinguishing between Law and Gospel. So perhaps Cranach's use of images might be able to teach us something today about how useful they 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)