Philosophy

The spread of Reformation ideals during the Renaissance and the rise of Nationalism during the Romantic Era gave way to various ideological and cultural changes that especially contributed to the way people of the modern age think. Although the two developed on a time scale far from each other, both, nonetheless, conceived equally important changes in the social and cultural fabric of their times. Social thinkers contributed much to the spread of the two movements. And together with the proliferation of ideas associated with both, there happened various changes in the field of humanities   visual arts and music were greatly defined by the ruling social ideals of the times. This is evident on the way paintings are presented and on its subjects and the content of musical compositions and its arrangements. This paper will look into this changes as well as the philosophers that gave rise to the Reformation and the Romantic Nationalism.

    The Reformation movement was spearheaded by an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther in 1517 when he nailed to the Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral (Cunningham  Reich, 2006, p. 327). The theses pertains to the indulgences sold by the Roman Catholic Church of which Luther did not approve. The reaction of the Church to this provocation by the Augustinian monk to a scholarly debate on the issue was rather unexpected   the pope ex-communicated Luther. This move from the Catholic hierarchy propelled Luther to break with the Church of Rome and undergo the purging of the Christian Church of what he perceived to be the corruption of the teachings of Jesus the Christ as well as to testify to the corruption of the Church officials at the time. Luther wanted to bring the people closer to God and better understand the Word thus he supported moves to translate (he personally translated the Bible to his native German) the Latin or Vulgate Bible into the vernacular (p. 330). This efforts was provided with further impetus with the invention of the printing press. Also, the reformation ideals equally shun  monasticism, the decadent character of popular devotion to the saints, the low intellectual preparation of the clergy, especially the papal curia  (p. 330).

    The aversion of the Reformists to these Church practices lead to a change in the artistic expression of the time, especially in those regions where the Reformation movement was particularly successful. Paintings and statues of saints and Biblical passages were regarded as a form of  papist idolatry  and it can be said that most of the Reformists are  militantly iconoclastic  (Cunningham  Reich, 2006, p. 332). Many paintings and statues were defaced or totally destroyed during the early years of the Reformation. This aversion to idolatry likewise manifested in the way artist presented divine subjects, if they ever did at all. Halos and other Catholic symbolisms of the holy were rejected. On the other hand, depiction of secular scenes and everyday settings flourished. Albrecht Durer and Matthias Grunewald, considered  towering figures in the development of European art (p. 335), both adhered to the iconoclastic principles of the Reformation. Durers  Saint Michael Fighting the Dragon  and Grunewalds  Cruxificion  both contained the subtle changes in the presentation of the divine. The two paintings demonstrate the efforts of the artists to subdue the influences of the Catholic Church in the presentation of holy subjects.

    In terms of music, it is said that the reforms done by Martin Luther was so great it created a great impact on the subsequent genius of Johann Sebastian Bach (Cunningham  Reich, 2006, p.336). Luther modified hymnody by simplifying the musical arrangements done in the tradition of the Gregorian chant in order to be able to reach untrained church members as well as for easy retention of the music. The same thing happened within the Church of England (p.336). It is said that the monarchy preferred the old musical style thus all church musicians did was to simplify it to reach a wider audience.   

    The rise of Nationallism during the Romantic Era was attributed to the inspiration provided by the philosophical musings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (Cunningham  Reich, 2006, p. 435) . His ideas of nationhood was further magnified by the ideas of  Johann Gottfried von Herder who argued that territorial boundaries provided by geography dictates the culture as well as the economy of the people thus making them into a single, organic whole (p. 435). From this ideas sprang the prevalence of the ancient folklore and taking pride in everything associated with the ethnicity of the people. Artists likewise embraced the rise in the struggle for nationhood. Many virtual artists during the Romantic period, especially in Europe, started portraying nationalistic and libertarian themes (p. 441). One of the best examples, in fact it is considerably iconic of the Nationalism of the Romantic period, of this kind of visual art movement is Eugene Delacroixs  Liberty Leading the People . In the painting the personification of Liberty, a battered and seemingly war-weary Lady Liberty, was demonstrated as leading the people in the struggle for French freedom amid the bodies of those fallen. This is clearly a dramatic portrayal of the fight for national freedom in the Romantic tradition intended to evoke a feeling of solidarity and patriotism.

    Music was also utilized to propagate the message of Nationalism. In fact, the number of musicians working on the Nationalism movement were comparatively larger than those during the Reformation. The era gave the world the works of musical giants Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt (Cunningham  Reich, 2006, p. 434-437). Both Chopin and Liszt embraced Musical Nationalism and thereby  introduced the music of their native lands into their works  - Chopin with the mazurka and polonaises and Liszt with rhapsodies (p. 436). In Russia there was the famous group of five musicians who purposefully composed music in the Russian style (p. 436).  By intentionally avoiding the prevalent Germanic style and rather adhered to traditional Russian musicology, The Five, as they are famously known, were able to present to the rest of Europe and the world the uniqueness of Russian music.

    All these artist and their works were deeply affected by the cultural movements on the rise during their respective time periods. The Reformation art scene greatly projects an image that intends to distance itself with the purportedly orthodox and corrupted view of the Roman Catholic Church. In this way, most art works are reactionaries or modifications of the traditions  used in the old Catholic styles   this stretches from the visual arts to music. During the period of Romantic Nationalism, arts were used to convey the message of self-rule as well as to evoke the feelings of patriotism and solidarity from the people. Paintings depicts patriotically provocative imagery and personifications and native musical styles were preferred over the Classical. Thus, it can be said that the arts greatly helped the fight for freedom. And all these changes can be attributed to the minds that inspired it   Luther for the Reformation and Rousseau and von Herder for the Romantic Nationalism. Their ideas that were translated into the arts during their time and the years that immediately succeeded their deaths provided the modern world with an admirable array of works. And the ideas behind the artworks can still be felt up to these days.