first edition Hardcover
1523 · Wittenberg
by Luther, Martin (1483-1546); Melanchthon, Philip (1497-1560)
Wittenberg: (Johann Rhau-Grunenberg), 1523. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in modern reversed calf. Light foxing to margins, light soiling, light damp-staining in second gathering, more prominent on the final two leaves. Illustrated with two full-page woodcuts of the sensational monsters that inspired the pamphlet (see Koepplin & Falk, Lukas Cranach p. 361ff., Nr. 246, plates 200 and 201). In 1497 a monstrosity resembling a donkey -but with scales, mismatched limbs of other animals, and other bizarre attributes- reportedly washed up on the banks of Tiber in Rome, causing a sensation. Later, in 1522, a deformed calf resembling a monk with a cowl was born in Freiberg, Saxony. In 1523 Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon, inspired by these portents, wrote vitriolic polemics comparing the Pope to the Roman donkey-monster (“Papstesel”, i.e. Pope-Ass), and the monks and nuns to the deformed calf (“Mönchskalb”, i.e. Monk-Calf.) Lucas Cranach provided a striking woodcut of each monster. The Pope-Ass is shown standing on the banks of the Tiber, with the Papal fortress Castel Sant’Angelo in the background.
“In January 1523 the two men jointly published a work, illustrated by Lucas Cranach, entitled ‘Interpretation of the two Horrible Figures, the Pope-Ass in Rome and the Monk-Calf found in Freiberg in Meissen’. Luther hoped that the monk-calf might be an omen of the last day. He refrained from giving it a prophetic or eschatological interpretation, however, and simply applied the freak to monasticism. Its coat obviously resembled a cowl, but under it was a calf, the symbol of idol worship in the Old Testament. The calf eats grass, just as monasticism directs its attention to earthly things. The holes in its coat symbolized the disunity among the orders. Luther packed his entire criticism of monasticism into his explanation of the details . . . and the work concluded with an earnest appeal for monks and nuns to repent and become Christians. But to the nobility went an appeal to remove their children from the monasteries, for not all could be willing and chaste virgins.” (Brecht, “Martin Luther”, Vol II 98-99)
Melanchthon’s “Roman monster was a chimerical image based on the story of a monster that reportedly washed up on the banks of the Tiber after a disastrous flood in 1496. In the woodcut that Lucas Cranach the Elder made to illustrate Melanchthon's pamphlet, the creature has the head of an ass, a right hand like an elephant's foot, a human left hand, the right foot of an ox, the left foot of a griffon's claw, a naked female's belly and breasts, a tail in the form of a dragon's neck and head, and, except for the midriff, skin covered with fish scales.
“The metaphorical meanings that Melanchthon imposes on the preexisting image of the Roman monster are consistent with the formulaic content and rhetorical tropes of the late medieval papal Antichrist. Both ‘The Pope-Ass Explained’ and the early 15th c. Hussite treatise ‘Anatomy of the Antichrist’ explicate the papacy as an animalized Antichrist. The metaphors in the two documents are strikingly similar. The head stands for the pope's claim to be head of the church militant; the hands represent papal jurisdictional claims over spiritual and secular affairs; the feet symbolize the clerical servants of the pope; the belly and breasts depict the gluttony, greed, and carnality of the clergy; the skin of scales stands for a treacherous defense of the papal regime; and the tail represents the false teaching of the pope's supporters.” (Buck, “Anatomia Antichristi" 349-366). (Inventory #: 5140)
“In January 1523 the two men jointly published a work, illustrated by Lucas Cranach, entitled ‘Interpretation of the two Horrible Figures, the Pope-Ass in Rome and the Monk-Calf found in Freiberg in Meissen’. Luther hoped that the monk-calf might be an omen of the last day. He refrained from giving it a prophetic or eschatological interpretation, however, and simply applied the freak to monasticism. Its coat obviously resembled a cowl, but under it was a calf, the symbol of idol worship in the Old Testament. The calf eats grass, just as monasticism directs its attention to earthly things. The holes in its coat symbolized the disunity among the orders. Luther packed his entire criticism of monasticism into his explanation of the details . . . and the work concluded with an earnest appeal for monks and nuns to repent and become Christians. But to the nobility went an appeal to remove their children from the monasteries, for not all could be willing and chaste virgins.” (Brecht, “Martin Luther”, Vol II 98-99)
Melanchthon’s “Roman monster was a chimerical image based on the story of a monster that reportedly washed up on the banks of the Tiber after a disastrous flood in 1496. In the woodcut that Lucas Cranach the Elder made to illustrate Melanchthon's pamphlet, the creature has the head of an ass, a right hand like an elephant's foot, a human left hand, the right foot of an ox, the left foot of a griffon's claw, a naked female's belly and breasts, a tail in the form of a dragon's neck and head, and, except for the midriff, skin covered with fish scales.
“The metaphorical meanings that Melanchthon imposes on the preexisting image of the Roman monster are consistent with the formulaic content and rhetorical tropes of the late medieval papal Antichrist. Both ‘The Pope-Ass Explained’ and the early 15th c. Hussite treatise ‘Anatomy of the Antichrist’ explicate the papacy as an animalized Antichrist. The metaphors in the two documents are strikingly similar. The head stands for the pope's claim to be head of the church militant; the hands represent papal jurisdictional claims over spiritual and secular affairs; the feet symbolize the clerical servants of the pope; the belly and breasts depict the gluttony, greed, and carnality of the clergy; the skin of scales stands for a treacherous defense of the papal regime; and the tail represents the false teaching of the pope's supporters.” (Buck, “Anatomia Antichristi" 349-366). (Inventory #: 5140)
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