Mars and Pomona 1539 - 1591

Jost Amman made this pen and watercolor drawing, Mars and Pomona, sometime in the 16th century. It depicts Mars, the Roman god of war, and Pomona, the goddess of fruitful abundance, in a moment of peace and apparent harmony. Made in Germany during the Reformation, the image evokes a complicated set of cultural values. Amman worked in Nuremberg, a city that adopted Lutheranism in 1525. The art produced there in this period tends to reflect the new emphasis on piety, order, and moral rectitude. Yet, paradoxically, in representing pagan deities, Amman borrows from the visual traditions of the Italian Renaissance, whose values might seem in tension with those of the Reformation. Note how Mars, for instance, casts an assured glance, as his hand gestures towards Pomona's cornucopia, a symbol of nature's bounty. Images like this are invaluable to historians. By studying them alongside the literature, theology, and social history of the era, we gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of the past.