Essay Example on The cataclysmic event that was the Catholic Reformation

A difference is exhibited between the two men where a dagger is on one side of the painting and a book on the other which are associated with an active way of life compared to a contemplative way of life His age also appears in the book that he's got his elbow on which at the time was 29 In the middle of the painting are all these objects on two levels of shelves and Holbein s ability to render textures and the material made the objects very realistic On the top shelf are objects related to the heavens the study of astronomy and the measuring of time But on the lower shelf the items are more earthy like the terrestrial globe lute and book of hymns And all of these objects are supported by the floor which is a mosaic that references an actual floor in Westminster Abbey a Catholic church In other words the base of the new innovations and human development is the Church Holbein did not include any random objects anywhere in the painting so everything that meets the eye has a specific purpose as to why it is there For example lutes were traditionally objects that were rendered in order to learn perspective and the foreshortened one on the bottom shelf is a masterful representation of this because of the way in which that lute is much shorter than it should be because the observer is seeing it on end However if you look very closely one of the strings is broken and this is visibility is made possible by Holbein s high pitched clarity Art historians understand this as referring to the discord in Europe at this time Similarly through the hymn book discord in the church can also be alluded Because of the precise painting the book can be read It s a translation of a hymn by Martin Luther the head of the Protestant Reformation What most people believe to be the most eye catching thing about this painting is the large form that occupies the foreground It is nearly impossible to know what the figure is when your observing from the front however when you go to the right corner of the painting and crouches down slightly they see that they are looking at an anamorphic image of a human skull