According to the letters of the apostle paul, the path of man from damnation, sin and the law to eternal life, faith and grace is shown. Since for martin luther sin is inseparably linked to the human being, the believer needs the mosaic law to become aware of his sinfulness. He must recognize that he will fail and despair because of the commandments of the punishing old testament god. This despair is a prerequisite for salvation through christ and the gospel. In accordance with the differentiation made by luther, the tree in the middle of the picture separates the opposing events from the old and new testaments. On the left half of the picture of the law, the tree of life is dried up, on the right side of the gospel it has green branches. On the left, death and the devil chase sinful man into the fires of hell, while to the right he looks at moses, who, in a group of prophets of the old testament, points to the tablets of the ten commandments. Representations of the fall of man and the last judgement in the wide landscape show the origin and punishment of human error. The scene of the bronze serpent from the old testament, which is important to luther, typologically points to the crucifixion and shows the rescue of the israelites from poison by following god's instructions. Directly to the right of the tree trunk, john the baptist can be seen together with the naked man on the left. For luther, john, as the last prophet before christ, stands between the law and the gospel, which is why he takes on the role of mediator here. He draws the attention of the naked man, who stands completely calmly with his hands folded, to the crucified man on the right edge of the picture. A stream of blood emanates from christ's side wound, which extends across almost the entire width of the right half and falls on the naked man's chest. The dove of the holy spirit appears in the stream of blood. Here it is clear that only christ, who died on behalf of man and whose good news is conveyed by the holy spirit, can lift the condemnation of the law. Only through his faith, sola fide, does man receive divine forgiveness in the form of the redeeming stream of blood. Through the risen christ, who rises into heaven above the grave behind the cross, death and the devil, who pursued the sinner on the left, are banished: both lie defeated in front of the cross, beneath the lamb of god, who, like the risen christ, carries the banner of victory. The sinner on the side of the law is, however, a righteous man, whereby the gotha painting illustrates the aspect of simul iustus et peccator. In front of the gates of the city of bethlehem, the annunciation to the shepherds appears in the background on the right-hand side. Like the raising of the brazen serpent, which the viewer's eye finds directly next to it on the other side of the tree, this scene shows man's recognition of god's word. For the viewer, it is made clear that the law and the gospel proclaim the same good news, which always leads to christ. Quotations from the old and new testaments in the lower part of the panel underline the statement and also provide biblical legitimacy for the depiction. Object Type: painting. Genre: religious art. Date: 1529. Dimensions: height: 82.2 cm (32.3 in); width: 118 cm (46.4 in). Medium: tempera on lime. Collection: Herzogliches Museum Gotha. Lucas Cranach d.Ä. - Verdammnis und Erlösung (Schloss Friedenstein)
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