14b. Calvinisme et les arts visuels - Calvinism and the visual arts (pt 2)

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Calvin - Histoire et réception d'une Réforme

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University of Geneva

Calvin - Histoire et réception d'une Réforme

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Course in French with English subtitles -- Ce cours introduit à la vie et à la pensée du réformateur Jean Calvin (1509-1564) ainsi qu’à son influence sur le monde moderne et contemporain. La démarche proposée se veut critique, il ne s’agit ni de canoniser ni de condamner Calvin, mais de comprendre sa pensée avec toute la distance requise et d’en analyser les enjeux. Au cours de la première semaine, nous explorerons les principales étapes de la vie de Calvin. Les semaines 2 et 3 seront consacrées à l’étude de sa pensée théologique et de son éthique. Enfin, lors des semaines 4 et 5, nous nous interrogerons sur la diffusion du calvinisme dans le monde et la pertinence actuelle de la pensée de Calvin. -- This course is an introduction to the life and thought of the reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) and to his influence on the modern and contemporary world. The approach we develop is critical: we intend neither to canonize nor to condemn Calvin or his thought. Our goal, rather, is to avoid any rash evaluation in order to understand his thought and analyze the issues at stake in it. During five weeks, we will explore together the life and work of the Reformer. During the first week, we will study the main aspects of Calvin’s life. Weeks 2 and 3 will focus on his theology and his ethics. During the last two weeks (weeks 4 and 5), we will ponder how Calvinism became a worldwide phenomenon and ask ourselves what kind of relevance Calvin’s thought may still have today.

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La diffusion du calvinisme - The spread of calvinism

Le calvinisme a connu une diffusion internationale très rapide et très variée, d’abord en Europe puis, au fil des siècles, sur tous les continents. Il faut distinguer deux plans de cette diffusion et réception du calvinisme : l’impact des idées de Calvin sur les Églises, sur le christianisme, et l’influence, plus difficile à étudier car plus diffuse, des idées de Calvin ou des idées qui se réclament de Calvin, dans toutes sortes de champs de la réalité humaine (arts, philosophie, culture). L’objectif principal de ce troisième module est d’offrir une large vision de l’héritage calvinien et calviniste à partir de 1564, en Europe et au-delà.</p> <p>Calvinism spread internationally very rapidly and in quite diverse ways, first in Europe and then, in the course of time, on all continents. It is important to distinguish two aspects of this spread: the impact of Calvin's ideas on the Churches, on Christianity, on the one hand, and on the other the more diffuse influence of Calvin's ideas (or of ideas which claim to come from him) in all kinds of areas of our world (the arts, philosophy, culture, and so forth). The main objective of module 3 is to present a broad spectrum of the Calvinist (or Calvinian) legacy, from 1564 onwards, in Europe and beyond.

14a. Calvinisme et les arts visuels - Calvinism and the visual arts (pt 1)6:05

14b. Calvinisme et les arts visuels - Calvinism and the visual arts (pt 2)7:51

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Christophe Chalamet
Professeur de théologie systématique
Faculté de théologie
François Dermange
Professeur d'éthique
Faculté de théologie
Michel Grandjean
Professeur d'histoire du christianisme
Faculté de théologie
Sarah Nicolet
Collaboratrice scientifique
Faculté de théologie

Calvin. History and Reception of a Reformation Week 4. The Spread of Calvinism Sequence 14b. Calvin and the Visual Arts

At this point, there are two main objections one might raise,

and we'll examine each of them now.

The first is iconoclasm.

As you know, the early 16th century saw

several bursts of iconoclasm shake Europe.

In 1522, thousands of statues were ripped out or destroyed in churches in southern Germany.

The same thing happened in Geneva in 1535, as well as in Bern around the same time, as depicted in this painting.

In 1562, in the midst of the first war of religion, similar events transpired in France; in 1566, it was Holland's turn.

Yet iconoclasm cannot be reduced to a simple response to Calvinist tradition and ideas.

We know, first of all, that the main reasons for these crises were social and political.

People attacked objects as a substitute for, or in addition to, attacking individuals and institutions.

For the icon destroyers, it was a way to express hostility towards a world they could no longer accept.

Furthermore, numerous Protestant pastors and ministers opposed the destruction of these images -- for two reasons.

One, because they wanted to avoid for Calvin's theology to be erroneously portrayed and perceived as iconophobic, which it wasn't, as we learned earlier;

and two, because it is a paradoxical response.

After all, if you believe that images are devoid of magical or intrinsic powers, then why attack them?

In a way, iconoclasm reveals a sort of superstition toward images whose power needs to be nullified.

We also know, thanks to a wealth of historical documents, both textual and visual

-- such as the paintings of Pieter Saenredam, one of which you are seeing now --, that Protestant churches, many of which were converted Catholic churches,

contained fragments or traces of the old Catholic artwork, as if Protestants, by displaying the remnants of the

religion theirs came to replace, were symbolically celebrating the victory of the Reformation.

The second objection might be stated as follows:

if Calvin was not after all a resolute and systematic opponent of visual representation, how can we explain the existence of an authentically Protestant art?

Can the idea be refuted that in northern Europe in particular,

and in the United Provinces -- predominantly Reformed areas --, there arose a specifically Reformed, Protestant form of art,

characterized in particular by an ever-increasing number of landscapes, portraits and scenes from everyday life?

My answer is: yes, this notion can be refuted -- for several reasons.

First of all, this trend toward specialization of subject, rather than genre, greatly predates the Reformation.

In this respect, the Reformation was merely paralleling an earlier movement.

Furthermore, the 17th century continued to produce a wealth of overtly religious paintings.

Emblematic of this is Rembrandt, most of whose works found their subject in the Old and New Testaments.

We also need to understand that choosing these subjects often represented a way for the artist to free himself from the yoke of

Calvinist doctrine -- more on that in a moment.

Granted, many of these artists were inspired by some of Calvin's precepts and guidelines, particularly

as relates to his criticism of idolatry -- this was the case of many Dutch artists of the 17th century, like Salomon Koninck.

These artists were interested in exploring subjects relating to preaching and parables -- as expressed in countless paintings of the time.

That being said, I believe it would be excessive to claim the

existence of a uniformly and absolutely Protestant art, a claim that amounts to

over-interpreting these works and systematically seeking out traces of Calvinist precepts and tradition.

When Jacob van Ruisdael painted this landscape, placing a large

windmill on a hill, was his intent to represent the cross of Christ

and call to mind to the presence of sin in the world, as a certain number of

art historians have argued, or was he trying, more straightforwardly, to glorify

the national territory by representing one of its most powerful symbols?

In fact, there is a widespread tendency to over-interpret the paintings of this time and to see any representation of nature as a representation of God himself.

When you look more closely at how artists viewed the relationship between their faith and their profession, it is clear that there is no such mechanistic connection.

Sébastien Bourdon was a Protestant,

but that didn't stop him from making his career in Rome or Paris -- he even painted St Peter the Martyr for Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

On the other hand, the painter Jacob Jordaens, who was born and lived in Antwerp, a Catholic area,

converted late in life to Protestantism, thus opening up a new market for himself: the wealthy United Provinces, where artwork was in high demand.

Finally, it is important to highlight that Calvin was not the spiritual mentor of 17th century Dutch painting.

Very often, these artists contravened his guidelines.

I'll give two examples. Calvin said that no representations should be made of

the sacred mysteries of religion, yet some Protestants artists did it anyway.

The most significant example is the pilgrims of Emmaus -- a subject presumably impossible to represent, since Christ disappeared from sight

as soon as the disciples recognized him -- a miraculous event.

Yet some artists tried to represent this scene, like Rembrandt, whose Pilgrims of Emmaus

represents Christ as a shadow, as if to place him somehow between the visible and the invisible;

or Jan Steen, whose Christ is depicted as a sort of mist or vapor rising from the table at which he was sitting.

Calvin also called on painters not to glorify or idolize pastors and theologians themselves.

Yet there is an abundance of 17th Dutch paintings portraying preachers and pastors.

One famous example is Rembrandt's depiction of Cornelis Anslo interpreting a biblical passage for his wife and moving

her to tears. In many Protestant churches, you'll also see

paintings of ministers surrounded by their flock,

which always seems, it must be said,

more engrossed in the pastor's words than

in the image he procures and produces of the Reformed church.

André Gide, a Protestant writer, once said that art is born of constraint, thrives on struggle, and dies from freedom.

The Calvinist tradition could very well be viewed as one of the constraints imposed on 17th century artists --

a constraint that proved difficult to bear, that limited the scope of their work and subjects, but that also led to reflection on the limits artists might place on their representations.

In a way, then, it encouraged them to develop new formal and iconographic solutions.

From this standpoint, Calvinism, rather than an absolute prohibition,

can be seen as a new form of freedom for artists, allowing them to develop art in new directions.

We've reached the end of today's sequence. Thank you.

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