Two Early Representations of Lutheranism in France

Abstract

One of the most interesting designers of woodcut in Renaissance France is the monogrammist GS with the Lorraine cross, now identified with Gabriel Salmon.' Traceable in documents from 1504 to 1542, this artist, who seems to have come under the influence of Wechtlin early in his career, served for long as court painter to Duke Anthony of Lorraine at Nancy. His style and whole manner of expression are so individual that it is tempting to regard him as the last flicker of life in that Burgundian culture that died before it had grown to independence. His work, as known to-day, consists entirely of woodcuts, and it is two of these which I propose to deal with in this short essay (P1. 43a, b). Both cuts treat of the same subject, namely the Lutheran heresy, and date from the middle of the third decade of the sixteenth century (1524 and 1526). Both, moreover, are Catholic in their objective and both show an originality of symbolism not to be found in contemporary cuts of similar nature. Compared, for instance, with the illustrations in Murner's Luther'scher Narr, they are markedly developed and mature. Moreover, it should be remembered that, whereas Lutheran representations. of the Catholic Church, the Papacy and the like are extremely common, the same cannot be said at this date of Catholic representations of Luther and Lutherans. The first cut to be described occurs in the Blazon des Hiritiques, a plaquette by Pierre Gringore, at this time a herald in the service of Gabriel Salmon's master, the Duke of Lorraine. The Blazon bears no year of impression, but the privilege is dated 1524. It consists of a catalogue (in verse) of the great heresiarchs and a description of their heresies. It concludes with a terrific and highly personal attack on the Lutherans, completely in the style of Gringore's Chatelet mysteries.2 On the title page is the woodcut (P1. 43a), signed on a plaque with Salmon's monogram.3 It depicts a man, similar in type to the Strassburg and Basle Landsknechte. In his right hand he holds a lance with a banner, and in the left a spade and a hoe, slung over his shoulders. His clothing is odd ; one hose is that of a nobleman, the other that of a manual labourer ; one arm is mailed, the other wears an ordinary sleeve. A necklace is strung round his neck, and by his side hangs a bag, the contents of which are being devoured by three rats.