Godless Painters

[1] The epithet was coined in derision of the three painters during an inquest conducted by the Lutheran dominated city council of Nuremberg in 1525, which concerned the artists' protestant heterodoxy.

The term is a double entendre alluding both to the content of the "godless painters'" works and to the doctrinal views for which they were condemned.

The "godless painters" are also considered to be leading representatives of the group of little masters.The inquest consisted of numerous interrogations concerning matters of baptism, the Eucharist, and the role of secular authorities.

[2][3] The inquiries took place during the German Peasants' War, which involved theological controversies between Martin Luther and Thomas Müntzer on the matters at issues in the inquest into the beliefs of the painters.

Historical accounts regarding the painters have often been cursory, and sometimes confused due to the lack of availability of primary sources.