Advance Private Viewing of "Word and Image: Martin Luther's Reformation" Exhibit at the Morgan Library and Museum

Lutheran Social Services of New York is happy to invite you to join us in celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation with exclusive access to this once-in-a-lifetime exhibit!

Five hundred years ago a monk in a backwater town at the edge of Germany took on the most powerful men in Europe: the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope…and he won. Martin Luther's Reformation is one of the most successful media campaigns in history and an event that completely altered the course of western history. To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther posting the Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, this exhibition explores how the Reformation was launched and propagated through Luther's strategic use of media: printed books, prints, paintings, and music.

Luther's thoughts on Scripture and man's relationship to God were revolutionary, but the way that text and art were employed to disseminate his message was equally ground-breaking. The inception and development of the Reformation will be illustrated in Word and Image with ninety works of art and objects, the majority of which are from museums in Germany and which have never been seen before in North America. Exceptional highlights include one of the five existing printed copies of the Ninety-Five Theses, nearly forty paintings, prints, and drawings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Luther's manuscript draft of his Old Testament translation, Conrad Meit's exquisite statues of Adam and Eve, and over thirty of Luther's most important publications and the ones that led the pope to excommunicate Luther and make him the most successful heretic in history.

Word and Image: Martin Luther's Reformation is made possible with the support of the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany within the framework of the Luther Decade in cooperation with the Luther Memorials Foundation of Saxony-Anhalt, the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, and the Schloss Friedenstein Foundation, Gotha, under the leadership of the State Museum of Prehistory, Halle, and in coordination with the Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

It is also made possible with generous support from the Johansson Family Foundation and Kurt F. Viermetz, Munich, and assistance from the Arnhold Foundation and the Federal Foreign Office.

Since 1886, Lutheran Social Services of New York has been strengthening individuals, families and communities. Our programs care for 7,000 New Yorkers each day, helping them reach their full potential.