This woodcut was created during the height of the peasant revolts and, though they were less severe in Nuremberg than in other parts of Germany, the social implications were greatly felt.
Though there is little information on this particular woodcut, it represents much of the political and social aspects of the Reformation, and interpretation provides insight on the artist's perspective of the era.
Christ and the Sheep Shed depicts the radical sentiment of the period in which it was created, and portrays the wide-ranging effects of the Reformation and religion on all aspects of German culture.
"Christ and the Sheep Shed" was created in 1524, several years after Luther's posting, and demonstrates the long-lasting effect this act had.
[4] He was born in Nuremberg in 1502 and it is suggested that he studied in the workshop of Dürer, which had significant influences on his artwork and decisions made in his career.
[6] Barthel used characters in this scene that clearly show the Papacy as the "thieves"; they are climbing the sheep shed and entering through windows in the approach of a thief.
The shed is deliberately shaped by Beham to look like a church, with its steeple and cathedral-like windows, to avoid any confusion of what the scene attempts to depict.
The scene created by Barthel depicts the mood of Germany in 1524 as a conflicted place between Protestantism and Catholicism, as well as the observations of the artist himself.
Gutenberg’s invention allowed the mass production of texts, giving Luther and his contemporaries the opportunity for widespread theology.
Paintings and woodcuts, such as Christ and the Sheep Shed, provided visual interpretations of papal corruption which required no literacy whatsoever.
Johann Herlot wrote a report on the instances: "...the peasants roused themselves... [They] arrived so unexpectedly that the count and his subordinates could not return to the castle..."[16] The radicals of the Reformation are hard to define because they were so large in numbers and occupied a variety of beliefs.
[18] That year Barthel, along with his brother Sebald and painter, Georg Pencz, were exiled from Nuremberg on account of their radical views on religious and political concerns.
"[21] This depicts the mood of Germany at the time of reform and the desire for quick change, which frequently resulted in violent actions to see an outcome.
As a result of Karlstadt's promotion of the defacing of religious artwork and advocation of speedy changes, he and Luther had a falling out after years of companionship.
As his expulsion from Nuremberg illustrates, Barthel was not happy with the reforms that Luther or his equals were enforcing; as a result he denied Christ as legitimate; thus the given name, "the godless painters".
[23] Many feared an overthrow of the existing social order; Barthel's pieces of art facilitated this as he often reflected the oppression of the peasantry and the advocation of uprising against the elite.
In 1527, after returning to Nuremberg following his expulsion, Barthel left permanently to become a court painter to the Catholic dukes in Munich.