Lucas Cranach was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He dedicated part of his career to embrace the Protestant Reformation. During his time, printed images varied from devotional and edifying to the criticism which could be drawn by Protestant illustrators both to condemn the Church of their day and to present an alternative ideology in positive terms.
As an element of propaganda, Cranach represented a contrast between the Christ compelled to carry his cross and the Pope carried in a litter. By doing that, the artist not only criticizes ostentation but also makes the metaphysical point that the true supporters of Christ involve suffering. It is consequently difficult to make a hard and fast distinction between positive and negative illustrations in these pamphlets.
Another polemical woodcut included the Cranach`s Revelation of St. John, most famously the depictions of the beast in the temple and of the prostitute of Babylon wearing papal tiaras. The tiaras proved controversial and were quickly withdrawn; but their original inclusion exemplifies the extraordinary freedom Luther felt able to apply in relation to the form of the holy text, provided that its essence was retained.
