The tradition of depicting sufferance in the Catholic and Protestant art

When the Reform established its place in a part of Europe, the Protestant churches chose a rather iconoclast aspect, sometimes without any painting. This austere interior was a reaction to the lavishing adornments of the Papal cathedrals and a reminder of the emphasis Martin Luther and Calvin put on the text of the Gospel and on the moral life.
The passion of Christ is almost a taboo theme in the East, where the representation of a suffering and temporarily defeated God is considered a disturbing scene. In an Eastern church it is much likely to find the representation of an imperial Christ sitting on His throne (the Pantokrator, or the Almighty, is almost a mandatory representation in the highest point of the inner dome). Here the Byzantine heritage manifests itself both by this royal like representation and by incorporating the speculative tradition of ancient Greek philosophy and oriental mysticism in art and the way of thinking.
In the West, Francisc of Assisi brought to attention the stations of the cross and the sacrifice of our Lord as a price for redeeming our sins. The legends of miracles performed by a large number of martyrs completed the mental landscape of the Christian in the Middle Age and beyond. The ordeal of Saint Sebastian, Saint Benedict and many others shook the sensibility of newly Christians, converted from barbaric tribes of Europe, that lacked the subtlety of the former Greco-Roman world.
The representation of the scene of Nativity using figurines or reenactments of the road of the cross are still used as an act of faith in many Catholic countries. In some Latin-American countries, even the crucifixion itself is reenacted during a bloody ritual that is to signify devotion to the extreme. In the same time, this remember of the sacred history takes the form of Gregorian hymns in the Eastern Church, which does not favor visual representation of the human nature of Christ, in favor of His divine nature.
Where symbols could not be used as a code and as a stairway to higher meanings, powerful images started to emerge: flagellation, wounds and miracles made obvious. Albrecht Durer, Diego Velazquez, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Giovanni Bellini, Titian, Rembrandt, Andrea Mantegna are just some prominent artists who impressed or even shocked the public with their views.
The Catholic church Johann Nepomuk in Vienna, near Prater, displays a collection of 14 frescoes by Joseph von Fuchrich on the passion of Christ. (The last two pictures in the above photo gallery are from the Vatican Museum.)
The church is dedicated to John Nepomuk, one of the saint patrons of Czech people and has an interesting story. It all started with an icon, Rosa Mystica, now exposed in the church. The icon was the only thing that survived from a fire that burnt the house it was in. So neighbors built a small wooden chapel for it on the spot. After the wooden chapel was in its turn destroyed by a storm, the believers finally decided to build a real church to host the icon that is said to have protected the neighborhood from the black plague.