Before And After The Reformation Research Paper

SUSAN NDUBUISI

HUM 1010

FINAL PAPER

RELIGIOUS ART BEFORE AND AFTER THE REFORMATION The reformation in Germany started because Martin Luther was not happy with the way the Catholics were handling Christianity and he felt that a change needed to happen. He is known to have started the reformation by publishing a ninety-five thesis essay. In the essay, he rejected the authority the pope had against the people and argued that what they taught had no foundation in the bible. Before the reformation, art was sponsored by the catholic church in Rome and after the reformation, it became more secular and was well established. In this essay, religious art from before and after the reformation will be studied and explained in-depth to note the changes in the style, composition and subject matter in the art.

It began in Germany and spread throughout Europe, it started as a response to the corrupt administration of the catholic church. It was not intended to create a new religion, but it did, the spread of the reformation made people see an alternate form of Christianity and this led to Protestantism. This new movement initiated by Martin Luther grew in popularity, mostly in Northern Europe, later in the middle century most of north and west Germany became protestants. In England, King Henry VIII, a steadfast catholic left the catholic church because the pope refused annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This led to the divide of Europe, which was once solidly under the authority of the Church of Rome, into Catholics and Protestants. Spain, Portugal, most of France, Ireland remained Catholic, while Great Britain, Scandinavia, some parts of Eastern Europe converted to