Passional Christi und Antichristi: the emperor kisses the pope's foot (leaf 'Antichristus')
A woodcut leaf from the Passional Christi und Antichristi shows a crowned emperor kneeling to kiss the foot of an enthroned, blessing pope while cardinals and bishops look on. The printed label 'Antichristus' names the pope as Antichrist, and the leaf is one half of a pair set against Christ washing his disciples' feet, so the pairing does the arguing.
Propaganda techniques used in this print
- Date
- 1521
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Wittenberg reform circle (Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, text; Lucas Cranach the Elder, woodcuts; Johann Grunenberg, printer)
Full record
Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Theme, Event, Source, Rights
- Region
- Western and Central Europe
- Country
- Electoral Saxony
- Medium
- Issuer type
- Movement
- Regime
- Electorate of Saxony
- Leader
- Frederick the Wise
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Theme
- Religion
- Event
- Protestant Reformation
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Rijksmuseum, retrieved September 29, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (printed 1521-1522; Rijksmuseum data marks CC0 1.0)
Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder, leaf from Passional Christi und Antichristi, Wittenberg 1521-1522; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-4454(V)
Text on the object
Original (Multiple) · read from the image, not independently checked
vnd Antichristi. Antichristus.
and Antichrist. Antichrist.
Only the printed half-title above ('und Antichristi', completing 'Passional Christi und Antichristi' across the pair of leaves) and the label below survive on this trimmed leaf; the German verse that originally stood under the picture was cut away. 'Antichristus' is Latin, the rest German.
