This cutting of the Wittenberg City Church Altarpiece was developed for the first West Coast Lutherhostel (for Lutheran Seniors, at Mt. Cross Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains) by request of the speaker for that week, President Tim Lull of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley. Dr. Lull had a study full of art books and is a scholar of Martin Luther and his times, including Luther’s companion the artist Lucas Cranach, a painter of the Reformation.
Knowing that Dr. Lull wanted the altarpiece practically life size, I was worried that all I had of it was a small photo copy, not very clear. In particular, the face of Martin Luther was of concern to me, where it showed on the “predella,” the small panel at the bottom of the central section. I could hardly make it out, the size of my little fingernail, and wanted to do it justice in a large version…. so I “put it out to the universe” that I would like a larger view of that area, did a little research without luck, and forgot about it as I traveled to lead other events.
In Wisconsin, a few weeks before the Lutherhostel, I was leading a workshop for a UCC church near Milwaukee, and stayed with the minister and his wife. On the walls of their home were many “Green Man Faces”, with classic masculine features with foliage coming out of the corners of their mouths and forming their hair. I had seen faces like these before at Renaissance Pleasure Faires. I asked the pastor about them, and he waxed enthusiastic. They were a symbol of “natural religion,” the connection between humans and God, heart to heart, without needing an intervening authority (like the church). They became popular in the Reformation, as a symbol of independence from authoritarian clergy or papal intervention. The pastor pulled a GREEN MAN book off his shelf, and as I paged through it, a 7 inch tall copy of the exact portion of the Wittenberg Citychurch altarpiece that I needed leaped before my eyes! –It was there because on the high pulpit from which Luther was preaching was a foliate boar with curling tusks and a leafy tail that ended….in a Green Man face! (The “green man face” had become a popular symbol in the cathedrals of that time.) In the book, Luther’s face was in far better focus than in any copy I yet had. The pastor duplicated it for me on his home machine. –So I had the image I needed to do my drawing for the Luther hostel.
What are the CHANCES of this happening? –To me, when I see such a “synchronicity” (as Carl Jung calls it) happen, it is evidence of God at work in my life, providing what I need to do the work to which God has called me. I experience it as a powerful affirmation of my path and a humbling blessing!
At the Lutherhostel a few weeks later, I could share this story as the seniors cut the image. Of the panels of that altarpiece (cut separately out of white paper and taped to a black backing), I had them cut only the predella with a double layer of paper, so that two exact copies were created, and I sent the second copy to the Wisconsin pastor, with my thanks. Subsequently, I have had the opportunity to cut him his own “Green Man Face” about 3×4 feet, out of green paper, with leaves modeled from the trees of the farm retreat he and his wife own in eastern Wisconsin. –Great fun, with thanks to God!
In addition to the Altarpiece set, Lutherhostel participants cut a 7 foot wide black paper version of “Jesus with the little Children,” or “let the Children Come to Me”, also painted by Lucas Cranach, with all figures in Reformation garb. In this painting, the family in front of Jesus was the wife and children of Martin Luther, a source of delight to the Lutheran cutters.
