The origin and reception of the woodcuts on the title pages of Luther’s sermons on the Sacraments (1519)

The topic of this paper is the woodcuts featuring on the title pages of the three editions of Luther’s sermons on the Sacraments written in the autumn of 1519. These include the first edition of Ein Sermon von dem hochwürdigen Sakrament des heiligen wahren Leichnams Christi (Wittenberg, Grunenberg, 1519); another edition of the same sermon (Leipzig, Schumann, 1520); and one of the editions of Ein Sermon von dem Sakrament der Taufe (Lepizig, Stöckel, 1520). All the woodcuts were reprinted from wooden blocks previously used for other works. The Wittenberg print features the images of the two ostensoria (monstrances) executed after the dra- wings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, originally showing reliquaries from the collection of Frederick the Wise (the so-called Wittenberger Heiltumsbuch, 1509 and 1510). The two Leipzig brochures open up with the picture of the Man of the Sorrows as the source of the Seven Sacraments, which in 1514 illustrated the anti-Hussite treatise by Hieronymus Dungersheim, in 1520 belonging to one of Luther’s most important opponents. The main purpose of this article is to demonstrate that despite the often repeated opinion to the contrary, the decorations on the title pages sometimes played a significant, although ambiguous role in the reception of a woodcut. In some cases, they amplified or raised doubts about the doctrinal correctness of the author’s claims, as a result exposing him to troubles with censorship. In others, on the contrary, the title pages decorations distracted the reader’s attention from the content of the work. All this entails the issue of the later reception of these designs, characterised by considerable durability despite the changing historical, religious and artistic circumstances, which were disseminated through printing medium