Melichor_Hubner.jpg |
See Details and Enlargements |
| Back to the Temple de Memoir |
|
Hans Hubner (1485- 1554)
MELICHOR HUBNER
Hans Hubner was a German/Silesian painter who was associated with the religious reform movement centered on the figure of Kaspor Schwenkfeld von Ossig (1490-1561). Hans Hubner and his brother Melichor accompanied Kaspor Schwenkfeld on his visit to Wittenberg in 1519 to see Martin Luther. Luther was not in Wittenberg, having taken refuge with Elector Frederick III of Saxony, in the relative safety of Wartburg; however, other personalities associated with Luther’s Reform Movement were there in Wittenberg to meet with Schwenkfeld and encourage his own "anti-Roman and heretical" leanings.
The visit gave our artist, Hans Hubner, an opportunity to meet Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472 -1553), resident artist in Wittenberg and recorder through portraiture of Martin Luther and his circle. This portrait of his brother, Melichor, reflects the Cranach influence: a portrait style that "while sometimes less than flattering, truly captures the essential physiognomy and thus the personality of his sitters"( Pierre du Colombier) . The personality revealed in this instance is that of a solid , prosperous burgher rather than a pietistic visionary. Kaspor Schwenkfeld, of noble birth and university education, drew has support from a wide social and economic range, including linen manufacturing tradesmen such as Melichor Hubner, as well as intellectual spirits among his fellow nobles. It is of special interest to this writer that Kaspor Schwenckfeld was influential in instituting many social as well as religious reforms. His efforts on behalf of the peasantry are credited with sparing the peasantry of Silesia the violent upheavals of the Peasant Wars of the mid- sixteenth century.
The Schwenkfelders (as followers of Kaspor Shwenckfeld came to be known ) were persecuted by both Rome and Luther for their beliefs. Schwenkfeld’s differences with Luther included an acceptance of good works as aids towards eventual salvation, a seeking for personal revelation and personal incorporation of "the God Spirit", separation of church and state, a questioning of the value of infant baptism and, finally, a radical re-interpretation of the significance of the Sacraments experienced in the service of the Mass.
Descendants of Hans and Melichor Hubner (also spelled "Heebner" by their descendantsts) were amongst those Schwenkfelders who, following years of persecution of the sect, managed to escape their tormentors. In 1734, thirty-four Schwenkfelder families (including Hubners) took passage in a ship named "St. Andrew"from Europe to Philadelphia where they were made welcome by the Quakers and Mennonites of Pennsylvania. Schwenckfelder communities still exist in Pennsylvania as well as in Silesia.
This portrait, part of a considerable literary and artistic heritage preserved by the Schwenkfelder community, was in the possession of a member of the Hubner (or Heebner) family who "married out" of the group in Norristown before the Civil War.
|
Melichor_Hubner.jpg |
See Details and Enlargements |
| Back to the Temple de Memoir |
|