Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1714 - 1744
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1000 x 840 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 485034
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Martin Luther (1483-1546) by Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744). A three-quarter -length portrait of a man, turned to the right, gazing to the right, with his left hand on a book and wearing a black cloak with a white collar. Martin Luther was a German religious reformer and founder of the Reformation. He was born in Eisleben, the son of a miner. Became an Augustinian monk and was ordained in 1507. The following year he moved to Wittenberg, Saxony to teach philosophy and theology at the university. On a mission to Rome he was horrified by the corruption of the papal court and on his return home began to espouse his views on reform of the church. In 1517 The Dominician monk Johann Tetzel was sent by the bishop of Mainz to raise money for the rebuilding of St Peter's in Rome by the sale of indulgences. Luther drew up 95 theses attacking the practice and nailed them to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. After a number of disturbances, Luther was summoned to Rome by the Pope in 1518 and responded in due course by attacking the papal system as a whole. A Bull of excommunication was issued against him which he publicly burned. Charles V entered the fray by placing Luther under his protection in the Castle of Wartburg. In 1525 Luther married Katharina von Bora, a former Cistercian nun and they had three sons and two daughters. The Peasants Revolt (1523-25), partly due to Luther's own rebellion did not receive his support but instead he encouraged its feriocious repression. Luther remained intolerant of other Protestant groups, was pessimistic, supertitious, and anti-semetic. He considered mankind to be totally depraved and unreasoning. He died at Eisleben and was buried at Wittenberg.
Provenance
By descent to the current Lord Egremont. On loan from the Egremont Private Collection
Credit line
Petworth House, The Egremont Collection
Makers and roles
Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744), artist