3-074-731 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Luther Celebration in Germany: the statue of Luther at Eisleben, 1883. 'The four-hundredth anniversary of the birth of [German priest, theologian and author Martin Luther (1483-1546)], at Eisleben, in Prussian Saxony, was celebrated last Saturday, not only in that little town, where our Special Artist, Mr. W. Simpson, attended for this Journal, but in almost every city of Germany...the ceremony of unveiling a statue of Luther was performed in the Market-place. The statue is of bronze, 9 ft. high, standing upon a pedestal of polished green Swedish granite. The sculptor, Professor Rudolf Siemering, has represented Luther holding the Pope's Bull with the seal of Leo X., which he is about to cast into the fire, while his left hand presses the Bible to his heart. On four sides of the pedestal are bronze bas-reliefs, which represent, in front, the conflict of an armed Angel with a figure beaten down, symbolical of Antichrist; and on the other sides, Luther disputing with Dr. Eck, Luther translating the Bible, and Luther with his wife and children.' From "Illustrated London News", 1883.