The cancellation of class gave me the opportunity to visit the catacombs and south tower of St. Stephen’s Cathedral that I did not have the chance to see on my first visit. I’m assuming that the large amount of wine consumed the previous night and the cancellation of class are… mutually exclusive events, but either way I was happy to have the chance to revisit St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The catacomb tour started out extremely interesting but I believe the best word to describe it by the end was shocking. I found that the Cathedral is associated with death nearly as much as it is associated with life. This corresponds with the class lecture on Catholicism with the emphasis the faith has on death being a major part of life due to the afterlife that follows. Since Catholics believe in an afterlife that consists of ideas such as purgatory, heaven and hell, and an ultimate judgment, the placement of the catacombs beneath the church and formerly surrounding cemeteries is fitting. It’s interesting that being buried directly under the Cathedral is reserved for famous figures such as Prince Eugene of Savoy who prevented the alliance between Spanish and French ruling dynasties in the War of Spanish Succession and prominent Habsburgs such as Frederick III. Being close to the relics honoring the various saints of the church is another element of Catholicism reflected from the course material. Commoners were not so fortunate as to be buried within the church. They are mostly in mass graves in the surrounding area and were even, during the times of the plague, thrown into a large hole that functioned as a mass grave in the courtyard surrounding the Cathedral. It seems ironic that with the emphasis that Catholics put on death, as a universal element of the religion, those with special societal status are given special treatment. For instance, those that could afford to buy indulgences were put in better standing for judgment and ultimately, the afterlife. The same principle applies, those with a prominent position in society are put closest to the relics of the saints so that they are in the best position for judgment in the afterlife.
Witnessing first hand this impact of social status and Catholic customs on how people deal with the afterlife allowed me to see first hand the objections the Protestant school of thought had with Catholic customs. The power given to figures within the church like the authorization of indulgences to grant better standing for judgment and the power of saints clashes with directly with Protestantism. The platform of Protestantism is based in the power of scripture alone and thus denounces the ability for clergymen of Catholicism to aid salvation. Seeing firsthand the power of the saints channeled through the clergymen I can understand the objections of Protestantism that I could never really grasp from the reading alone. On the surface the catacombs may just be a mass grave, but it serves to exemplify certain elements of the Catholic Church that were discussed in both lecture and the reading and further how they fueled the discontent of the Protestant reformation.
The next stop proved to be a perfect supplement to both the course material and my previous visit. The art of the Reformation and Counter Reformation serves as a reflection of the ideas and religious schism that was occurring within Christianity. The Kunsthistorisches Museum has a vast collection of fine arts that has been accumulating since being opened by Franz Joseph I in 1891. I found that the artwork of Rubens and Rembrandt served as a prime exhibition for the differences between Counterreformation and Reformation art, respectively. Rubens’ portraits seem to feature various allegorical and mythological subjects while Rembrandt’s portraits and scenes from the Bible convey normal people in everyday life. This speaks to the differences in Catholic and Protestant thought. The emphasis put on lavishness and detail in the Catholic churches of the Counterreformation is reflected in the artwork here in the dress while Protestantism’s focus on scripture would lead Rembrandt to portray scenes of the Bible. This art is linked to the décor in the Karlskirche, which is also very baroque and lavish in a celebration of Catholicism and the Counterreformation. While the art of Rubens and the interior decoration of the Karlskirche are very different elements of art there are certain themes of the Counter Reformation preserved through both styles. Rembrandt really seemed to emphasize the human condition, which would also seem to highlight the importance of the individual in religious life, rather than the figures of the church like the Catholics. This tendency seems to emphasize his Protestant belief set as a more simplistic faith with less emphasis on lavishness than the Catholic Church. These were the major differences in their artwork that defined them as Counterreformation and Reformation painters and functioned as a vehicle for the expression of the two schools of thought.
The German word of the day is Beantworten and it means ‘to answer’
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