500 years of the Reformation, Korea (2016)
Min, Kyeong Ah
Artist Statement: "In the background of the painting appears the 1938 edition of the Korean Bible--especially, Romans 1:17 ("the righteous will live by faith"). The cross of Jesus Christ stands in the middle between Martin Luther [(1483-1546)] on the left and Philipp Melanchton [sic][(1497-1560)] on the right. The cross and the three persons beneath it--John the Baptist, Chranach [sic], and Luther-- originally appeared in the alter painting entitled Law and Grace. It is supposed that Lucas Cranach [the Elder (1472-1553)] drew the first draft of the painting and then his son Lucas Cranach the Younger ([1515]-1586) completed it in 1555. Interestingly, a Korean woman next to them is overhearing the gospel. The building beneath Luther is Jangdaehyeon Church, where the revival movement of the Korean church startedin 1907. Meanwhile, the other building beneath Melanchton [sic] is Wittenberg Castle Church. Luther is portrayed as translating the Bible on the right of the bottom. On the left of the bottom the image of children studying in a Korean traditional schoolhouse was borrowed from Hong-do Kim's Seondang, as if they were studying the Bible. This painting portrays the historical process in which the gospel that Luther rediscovered was appreciated by native Koreans." (from the guide for Min's exhibition, "500 jähriges Reformationsjubiläum, Korea," which ran from July 5-10, 2017, at the Gasthaus Ökumene in Wittenberg and from July 12-August 1, 2017 at the Kreuzkirche Alte Bibliothek in Dresden)
