The book ‘Passion of Christ and the Antichrist’ originated in Wittenberg in 1521, when the reformation movement had formulated its anti-papal orientation.

In close cooperation, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon and Lucas Cranach the Elder created this book, understandable even to those illiterate. Almost the entire page is occupied by an image with a few lines of text. 26 engravings are combined in pairs: the left side represents a scene from the life of Christ; the right one demonstrates an act of the Pope. The Pope is depicted not as the Vicar of Christ, but as his opposite, the Antichrist, mired in sin.

The publication was issued twice in German and once in Latin. Unlike many topical pamphlets of past epochs, the meaning of which is now difficult to guess, this early example of ‘illustrative propaganda’ is still easily understood today because of the clarity and accessibility of its visual language.