From the Collection: ‘Martin Luther, Heretic’, Etching, c.1650
‘Martin Luther, Heretic’
Etching c.1650 after Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-77)
Purchased 2017.
This Spanish etching of Luther shows the devil whispering in his ear. He had been condemned as a heretic – holding views contrary to church teaching – by the Pope in 1521, and ex-communicated. The Reformation had, crudely, divided Europe into a protestant north, and a Catholic south, and Spain remained loyal to Rome.
This etching can be viewed as part of the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum’s 2017 exhibition ‘Reformation 500: the Reformation in Europe and it local legacy’.