Lucas Van Leyden's Dance Around the Golden Calf: The Northern Triptych in the Age of the Reformation

Authors

Jennifer R. Pease, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Abstract

This paper focuses on Lucas van Leyden's 1530 triptych Dance Around the Golden Calf. It is shown through a stylistic and iconographic analysis of the painting that it is a piece reflective of the tensions and upheaval prevalent during the Reformation-era society in which it was produced. This was a time when Northern European artists such as Lucas began an increase in secularism in their work, demonstrating the dawn of a new era in the church. Lucas effectively uses visual contradiction and psychological implication to respond artistically to the tumultuous age of the Reformation.

Recommended Citation

Pease, Jennifer R. (2006) "Lucas Van Leyden's Dance Around the Golden Calf: The Northern Triptych in the Age of the Reformation," Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 7, Article 5.

Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/inquiry/vol7/iss1/5