Skip to main content

Primary sourcePainting1520

Woodcut Portrait of Luther in Babylonian Captivity

1520

A woodcut portrait of Martin Luther from the 1520 Basel edition of his treatise De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae.

This portrait of Luther was printed alongside his own treatise on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church in 1520.

Ask Martin Luther about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Woodcut portrait of a man with short curled hair, wearing a monastic-style robe with a wide collar, shown within an arched frame. He looks upward to the right and holds a book. Latin verses are printed in a caption below the image, on a book page.
Woodcut portrait of Martin Luther, in De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae, Basel: Adam Petri, 1520. Deutsche Fotothek, Germany.

About this source

What it is

This woodcut portrait of Martin Luther was printed in the 1520 Basel edition of his treatise 'De Captivitate Babylonica Ecclesiae' (On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church), published by Adam Petri. It is held by the Deutsche Fotothek in Germany.

Why it matters

This treatise was one of Luther's major early works attacking Church practices, making it a key document of the Reformation. The portrait placed alongside it helped readers connect the bold ideas inside with the face of the man who wrote them.

Look closer

  • Why might publishers want a portrait of the author printed with a controversial text?
  • What does Luther's pose and gaze suggest about how he is presented here?
  • What is left out of this image that you might want to know about Luther's life at this time?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Martin Luther on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Martin Luther sources

Meet the AI Martin Luther →
Printed 1517 broadsheet page of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, in black letter type with red paragraph marks and a title header at top. Dense two-column Latin text, numbered theses, and a date near the bottom.Document

Primary source

Ninety-five Theses

Martin Luther · 1517

Black and white engraving of an interior room with coffered ceiling and four framed portraits on the wall. A man in dark robes and cap plays a lute at a table while a young boy with a tankard listens. On the right, a woman and a child sit by a window and an older man reads. Two children sit on the floor reading a book, and a dog lies near the left chair.Painting

Secondary source

Domestic Life of Martin Luther at Wittenberg

Pierre-Antoine Labouchère (design); J. D. Nargeot (engraving) · 1800-1899

Woodcut portrait of Martin Luther with a dove above his head in a radiating halo, wearing a monastic robe, hands resting on a closed book. Above the image is the title Martinus Luther; below are verses and a coat of arms seal.Painting

Primary source

Martinus Luther Woodcut Portrait

Unbekannt (Formschneider)

Scan of a printed page with a black-and-white woodcut portrait of a man with short curly hair in a monastic-style robe with a high collar, holding a book with a decorated cover. Architectural columns frame him, and the date 1520 is printed at upper right.Painting

Primary source

Woodcut Portrait of Luther in Sermon Pamphlet

1523

An open, worn leather-bound book lying on a dark background. The right page shows a woodcut title page reading 'Biblia, das ist: die gantze Heilige Schrifft Deudsch, Mart. Luth. Wittemberg' with the date MDXXXIIII. The left page has a small woodcut and handwritten notes.Book

Secondary source

Luther Bible

Martin Luther · 1534

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Martin Luther now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions