print;
broadside;
satirical print
- Museum number
- 1862,0712.116
- Title
- Object: [God's lament for the fate of his vineyard]
- Description
-
Broadside on the decadent practices of the papist church; with a wooduct with partial faded hand-colouring showing a fenced-in vineyard guarded by a dog; clerics attempting to escape as angels and God are uprooting and burning the stems on which papal indulgences and catholic vestments are growing; the pope standing at far r; at far left a protestant preacher with his devout congregation and Christ on a cross formed by vine; with quote from the Bible, and below with c. 140 lines of letterpress verse by Hans Sachs divided into five columns. (n.p.: 1532)
- Production date
- 1532
- Dimensions
-
Height: 262 millimetres (Borderline)
-
Height: 405 millimetres (Sheet size)
-
Width: 368 millimetres
-
Width: 372 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- The letterpress line above the woodcut only the last line of the title.
Text from Bartrum 1995
Literature: C. Dodgson, I, p. 555, 2; Rottinger 140; Rottinger, Sachs, 529; Schreyl 127
This broadsheet is an example of the didactic type of propaganda used by the reformers in which they sought to reeducate the public.The verses by Hans Sachs (see 1933,0614.29) which accompany it begin: "Hör mensch wie Gott der herre clag" ('Hear men, how God laments for his people'). The poem is a long complaint written in the form of a biblical comparison of the world as a vineyard, now ruined by poor water supply and the wild beasts of idolatry. The woodcut is divided into two contrasting sections. On the left, an evangelical preacher addresses a congregation with the words: "Blessed are those who hear the Word of God, and keep it, and act according to it." He indicates the crucified Christ hanging on a fruitful vine tree above a plentiful water supply, which represents the waters of baptism. On the right of the print, the vineyard is cultivated by the Pope and various monks; the trees have been adorned with objects of Catholic devotion and are all dead. God is shown in the centre of the print, taking vigorous action with a hoe to root out the dead trees; he is assisted by angels who throw the dead wood on to a fire. The monk gardeners are despatched over the fence, and a Cerberus-like hound guards the gate to prevent their return (for a full interpretation of this print, see Scribner, pp. 190ff).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1995 Jun-Oct, BM, 'German Renaissance Prints, 1490-1550', no.84
1999 May-Jun, London, Strang Print Room, Prints, Propaganda, Popular Culture
- Acquisition date
- 1862
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1862,0712.116