Art History dept.

The article deals with the specific aspect of the iconography of Personified Death in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. There are many examples in the Late Medieval Art depicting Death as a imitator of the leisure activities of humans, or more often being their alter ego or counterpart (in the chess play for example). Dances of Death often depict Death playing musical instruments or carrying children’s toys as well as other attributes of living, their vanishing social and individual identity. Very popular was also image of Death playing a chess game as an allegory of a medieval society, world and social order as well as of the relationship between man and woman. The checkmate executed by Death therefore doesn’t only symbolize the perish of all social strata and the world order but also a mortal sin andeternal damnation. Such images reflect complex understanding of death by the late medieval society especially in the period moral discourse.

The book represents second collective monograph dedicated to the Friars Minor and Poor Clares double convent in medieval Český Krumlov. The monograph contains fourteen chapters in total dealing mainly with the Český Krumlov female religious communities – Poor Clare sisters and Franciscan tertiary nuns (beguines). Their court – the third cloister – was situated in immediate proximity to the double monastery. The main chapters of the book are dedicated to the visual culture and everyday life of Poor Clare nuns in the Český Krumlov convent as well as bring the results of latest research on monastic church sacristy, medieval murals discovered in the area of unpreserved western gallery as well as offer the new interpretation of the 15th century mural paintings situated in the house of tertiary nuns. Other chapters are dealing with Poor Clares communities in Poland and with double monasteries in Switzerland or focus on the book culture of Friars Minor in Middle Ages, the Český Krumlov monastic libraries and reflect the literature dedicated to medieval female religious communities.

The Český Krumlov Poor Clares Monastery in the Middle Ages
and its Visual Culture

The Český Krumlov monastic foundation represents a unique case of a double monastery with added third or so called “small cloister” in architectonical and spiritual sense incorporating a neighbouring community of religious lay women – probably beguines or more likely Franciscan tertiaries. As none of the panel paintings or altarpieces held in the Český Krumlov Poor Clare monastery has survived, we can only speculate about the character of the paintings and altars held by both female religious communities. The first part of the article focuses on five artworks – panel paintings from about the mid 15th century and of South Bohemian origin: the Virgin Mary in Sun from the Vojtěch Lanna Collection (so called “Assumpta Lannova”, housed today
in the National Gallery in Prague); Madonna with baby Jesus (so called Lanna Madonna); a similar panel today deposited in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna (so called Madonna of Vienna); the altar fragment from Kugelweit with Visitation (and Noli me tangere scene on the reverse side of the panel), and, finally, a large so called Reininghaus Altar. All above mentioned paintings show remarkable iconography convenient to the late medieval female spirituality. The panel depicting the Virgin Mary in Sun in its painted frame shows a donor, an unknown Poor Clare sister adoring St. Clare.
The female donor demonstrates that the painting was originally used by the South Bohemian Poor Clare community – most likely in Český Krumlov as the double monastery here represents the only Poor Clare community in South Bohemia. The painting is also interesting from the point of the monastic religious practice, helping to understand the practical use of similar art objects within the enclosed female
community as it has two metal handles attached to the both sides of the frame plus two holes drilled underneath into the panel bottom. The painted panel was obviously not used for private devotion, as formerly assumed, but carried around, attached to some kind of structure (perhaps a holder or stretcher?) and manipulated within
the (para-)liturgal use, worshiped, and perhaps placed in the sisters’ western choir. Another two panels (both Maddonas) were produced by the same (Český Krumlov?) workshop and show similar iconographic themes typical for medieval female religious groups (virgo inter virgines, absence of male saints, hierarchy within the female holy virgins and saints, vita contemplativa and vita activa aspects etc.) together with strong presence of Mary Magdalene, who is depicted in a remarkable
way in the central panel of the Reininghaus Altar. The main panel of the large Reininghaus triptych shows a unique iconography of The Crucifixion. It depicts Mary Magdalene stained on her head by Christ’s blood and collecting in her hand the blood flowing from the body of Christ on the cross. Like Magdalene, there are also other holy women stained with Christ’s holy blood as a sign of their consanguineous (spiritual) relationship to Christ himself. The choice of blood-stained figures is not accidental as they are in fact the true “blood” relatives of Christ (Virgin Mary, Mary Salome, Mary of Cleopas), or those, marked by Christ’s blood as a sign of their spiritual awakening and penance. The main iconographic programme of the altar suggests the subject of Christ’s blood and spiritual (direct) communion following penance, modelled on Mary Magdalene as a symbol of monastic life (vita contemplativa), as well as the concept of “holy dynasty” particularly popular in female monasteries with prominent (aristocratic) members such in Český Krumlov. It is possible that the altar was commissioned and used by the South Bohemian female spiritual community, perhaps the Poor Clare Sisters in Český Krumlov or the neighbouring Franciscan tertiaries.

Mural Paintings in the Český Krumlov Cloister of Franciscan Tertiaries – Beguines

The presence of a lay semi-enclosed community of religious women in Český Krumlov has been nearly ignored by Czech research so far, mainly due to a significant lack of written sources. Therefore, we know very little from the preserved records – in fact, only that the female lay community in Český Krumlov was founded in 1375 by Anne, a member of the powerful Rosenberg house and sister of the double monastery
founders. After her death (in 1388) she dedicated her house (a court) to the group of lay women from all social strata. Her court was then (after 1400?) rebuilt to suit their semi-enclosed cohabitation in the immediate proximity of the double monastery of Poor Clare sisters and Friars Minor, who were responsible for the education and pastoral care of both Poor Clares and the tertiary sisters.The oldest mural painting in the tertiary convent (from c. 1380) has survived from the original house of Anne of Rosenberg and depicts a popular theme of so called weibermacht – a morality warning against the power of women. The painting was probably repainted during the second third of the 15th century with figures of the Franciscan tertiary nuns. The new concept of cloister mural decoration was probably related to its architectonic adaptation. In addition to anonymous female members of the local Franciscan female tertiary community, its new painted decoration also depicts prominent male members of the church and Franciscan order (some of them are identified as St. Bonaventura, pope Nicolas IV, St. Luis of Toulouse,
St. Antoine of Padua and St. Francis) plus theologians and teachers of the Franciscan order. The mural paintings in the “third cloister” in the Český Krumlov double monastery represent a unique document of the visual culture of the local tertiary community, its collective, “deindividualized” memory and “disciplined” identity; simultaneously proclaiming the official incorporation of the local female tertiaries into the Franciscan order.

Death represents a universal and omnipresent topic in a philosophy and art of all cultures and civilisations. Also due to this universality the visual presentations of Death offer a unique opportunity to examine late medieval man’s understanding of his own earthly as well as posthumous existence. Late medieval visual arts illustrate the period “culture of death” and allow us to better understand mentality and imagination of people living during the 14th and 15th century – during the period of growing and intensively experienced fear of death. Late medieval Bohemia in the Central European context represents a unique region as the period painting here not only offers the complete repertoire of macabre iconography (The Legend of the three Living and the three Dead, Triumph of Death, Danse macabre) but also its original and iconographically unique adaptation within the new religious and devotional (Utraquist) context. Each of the book chapter deals with a specific macabre motif and describes all preserved examples of personified Death in the late medieval Bohemian art. 129 colour plates in total together with selected medieval literary sources accompany the text of individual chapters being the inevitable part of the book.

Holy Family from Stonava and the Motif of Christ’s Female Genealogy in Late Medieval Art

The study deals with the matrilineal genealogy of Christ in the context of the cult of St. Anne in the Later Middle Ages and Early Reformation. In its first part it describes an iconography of the Holy Kinship in medieval art based on the example of two wooden reliefs from Stonava portraying Christ’s extended family. The second part of the text explores the concept of Christ’s matriliny in period thought and art together with gender aspects of the motif. The major part of the text is dedicated to a reflection of St. Anne as the mother of the Virgin Mary, matriarch of Christ’s family and female model par excellence in moral discourse of the period. As a product of a manipulative, theological construct she served as a paradigm of the perfect wife, mother, educator and the source of holy progeny for all levels of society of the time.

The Eucharist Mill in the Czech Gradual from Lucerne – An attempt at an iconological interpretation

The article is dedicated to a title illumination in a Czech Gradual, today on deposit at the Central Library in Lucerne, depicting the image of a Eucharist Mill. The author tries to demonstrate how this iconography, rare in Bohemia may well reflect the specific religious and intellectual situation in Bohemia at the beginning of the 15th century. Besides the iconographic tradition and the complex theological thoughts on the Eucharist, the iconography of the Lucerne Eucharist Mill was influenced by the alchemistic idea of the Opus Magnum common at the court of Wenceslas IV. In this context we can assume Konrad of Vechta, the later Prague archbishop and alchemist, to have been the potential initiator of this manuscript and its iconography. We know that the workshop where the author of the Lucerne illumination – the Master of the Antwerp Bible worked, was not employed only by this important personality of the king´s court, but also by the Cistercian monastery at Sedlec near Kutná Hora, with which Konrad was in close contact. The question of whether this manuscript could have been originally dedicated to the Sedlec Cistercians remains open. However, the hermetic, intellectually demanding and theologically conservative iconography of the Eucharist Mill in the Lucerne Gradual and frequent use of this image in later Cistercian art do not contradict this hypothesis.

Renaissance Mural Paintings in St. Wenceslas’ Church in Moravská Ostrava

The wall paintings in the St. Wenceslas town church of Moravská Ostrava were discovered by restorers in 1963 and their contemporary appearance represents the result of relatively frequent acts of restoration.

The interior of the town church was decorated in 1555 with wall paintings of a quality which does not exceed the regional relevance of the monument. The state of the paintings does not allow proper stylistic analysis, and unfortunately only very general conclusions in the area of hypothesis.  In spite of these circumstances we can however refute a theory ascribing authorship to some of the Italian artists working in the 1530’s for the aristocratic family of Sedlničtí from Choltice in Polish Ostrava. The stylistic character of the paintings in the presbytery, almost certainly created during the 1530’s, demonstrates a more plausible artistic relationship to German countries or Silesia, though this statement cannot be verified further.

The paintings in the presbytery and also in the church naves can, from the point of view of quality be considered average or below average. The painting of the best quality is the Adoration of the Magi with its monumental three-plan composition probably inspired by Dutch and German graphic art. The understanding of landscape in the Ostrava paintings (Adoration of the Magi; Meeting of the Three Magi and their Retinues; Allegory of the Old and New Testaments and of Sin and Salvation) is however very schematic and really still medieval, dividing the landscape into individual plans with a use of atmospheric perspective. This approach can be regarded as very conservative for the mid-16th century, as if without deeper interest in the study of natural detail and with resignation towards a more sophisticated expression of special relationships. Landscape is still regarded here in the medieval sense as a “stage set” where the action takes place, as can be seen, for example, in the allegory painting in the church’s north nave though our judgment can be partly distorted by the poor condition or the absence of the top layers of the paintings.

The interior of the church was decorated by a narrative Christological cycle (of unknown scope). Its part also contained a passion cycle. From the entire cycle only two monumental paintings survive till today – the Adoration of the Magi, the continuing scene of their retinues on the side wall and the fragment of painting depicting Christ before Pilate. 

Paintings on other parts of the walls are sadly almost unreadable so it is impossible to distinguish precisely their iconographic meaning.

From the iconographical point of view the most interesting and also best preserved is a monumental painting on the facing wall of the north nave which represents the visual pendant of the Adoration of the Magi. It is an allegory of the Old and New Testaments and of Sin and Salvation. The iconography of the painting was inspired by the Lutheran iconography of the Law and the Gospel illustrating Martin Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ. However, the Ostrava painting varies greatly from the original Lucas Cranach iconography of this theme. The scenes of manna falling from heaven and Moses smiting the rock bringing forth a spring, the Virgin Mary with Child and Hell in the form of a Leviathan’s maw have been added here. Also, motifs adopted from the Law and the Gospel are not in logical order as the author of the iconographic conception of the painting would not have understood or have been familiar with the original theological idea of this theme. This fact is also expressed by the artistic uncertainty of the painter noticeable in the scene of the sinful man with John the Baptist, probably painted without any graphic model or other kind of exemplum. There is also the marked absence of a Crucifixion from the Ostrava allegory. We can only hypothetically assume its presence on the crown of the Tree of Life as compositional opposition to Moses with the Tables of Law who represents the dominant motive of the entire visual representation of the allegory. One can argue that the painting expresses the Utraquist understanding of the sacrament of the Eucharist especially through the use of the motifs of manna falling from Heaven and Moses bringing forth the spring as Old Testament pre-figurations of both elements of the sacrament, together with the scene of John the Baptist and the sinner on to whom the spring of Christ’s blood, the source of salvation is flowing. The blood which flowed from Christ’s side while he was on the cross is the same which Christians receive in the form of consecrated wine during the sacrament of the Eucharist. If this scene can also be interpreted as a representation of the doctrine of transubstantiation with regard to iconographic analogies with the Law and the Gospel and Luther’s opinions on the Eucharist  we presume as questionable also the entire idea of the painting itself which, it could be argued, does not represent Lutheran Law and Gospel though it was nevertheless inspired by it. On the contrary, the figure of Moses (representing lex Mose) together with Old Testament scenes understood in the sense of biblical parallel typology seem to be more suited to the traditional spirit of Czech Utraquism albeit expressed in such a way that believers of all creeds entering a town church where both liturgies, Catholic as well as sub utraque were served, could feel free to express their devotion.

The author of the iconographic conception of the Ostrava allegory can be identified as the Ostravian Catholic priest Jan Jilovský who was known to have served the local aristocracy sub utraque specie. For the conception of the painting he derived his inspiration from the Lutheran theme Law and Gospel which, however, he enriched with other motifs in a very original way. Jilovský could have come into contact with such a Lutheran representation in Bohemia (we know of only one such representation of this theme in Moravia which was from a later period) or, more likely, in neighboring Silesia where this theme was used on Protestant bourgeois epitaphs. Furthermore, we know that the town of Moravská Ostrava maintained frequent business contact with the Polish Těšínsko region which in the mid-16th century was already completely Lutheran.

Such a derivated iconography of the allegory inspired by the Law and the Gospel might well have been a result of the priest Jilovský’s poor theological knowledge and also of the chaos of orthodoxy which manifested itself in this case in a chaotic assimilation of new theological ideas or their misunderstanding. Jilovský would certainly seem to have been one of those “confused and married” priests about whom the Olomouc bishop Marek Khuen complained in his letter of 1561  “during the holy masses do not keep any ceremonies, and sacraments do not keep at churches as anyone preaches as he or the land lord likes and all these are hiding themselves under the sub utraque way…” Therefore it is also possible that the Ostravian allegory may be primarily expressing, under the veil of sub utraque, the Lutheran idea of justification only by faith, though in a way that would not be too obvious in a bishopric church and accompanied by traditional Catholic iconography (like the Man of Sorrows and Our Lady of Sorrows) and such an iconographical presentation was suitable for the ostravian bourgeois as well as for the aristocracy - of Catholic as well as of Utraquist and Lutheran creeds. If the paintings were really painted over at a later stage as is evident from the restoration investigations, this was certainly  not done because of any potential heretical content in the painting but rather for technical or aesthetic reasons (for example, the humidity of the church walls due to which they were regarded as unsuitable for artistic decoration), otherwise similar themes would not have been met in a purely Catholic environment where additionally we would assume a certain level of quality theological fundament - in the Dominican monastery of České Budějovice, for example.

The iconographical conception of the decoration in the interior of St. Wenceslas’ church is traditional. Yet it cannot be regarded as purely Catholic in view of the presence of Utraquist symbolism and inspiration by Lutheran iconography in the allegory of the north church nave that must be regarded as unique in context of Czech, Moravian (and also Silesian) art of the 16th century. The allegory is not polemic even through its Utraquist Eucharistic symbolism and therefore it represents rare evidence in the field of Fine Arts of not only the religious chaos and orthodox vagueness but also religious coexistence and tolerance “by necessity” in the Moravia of the 16th century that had already been appreciated by contemporaries.

Oculos tuos ad nos converte: Paraliturgy and Visual Communication as a Means of Salvation?

Number of late-medieval artworks are often formally designed not only for adoration but also for direct communication with believer trhough their prayer, gestures and gaze. Those images themsleves invite reciprocity by returning the recipient's gaze. In a mystical sense, this mirror principle of "gaze exchange" prefigures the redeeming look and appears in communication both within the image and between the external recipient and the image. Late-medieval artworks in particular carry a distinct soteriological symbolism expressed among others by their reciprocal gaze of the image. This gaze tends to be closely connected with Eucharistic symbolism and appears not only in art objects desihned for mystical contemplation in a monastic environment but also in those in the public space.

The Man of Sorrows and the Visual Manifestation of praesentia realis in Late Medieval Art. The article deals with the image of the Man of Sorrows in Central European Art of the 14th and 15th centuries as a specific iconographic type closely related to the Feast of Corpus Christi. The Man of Sorrows served as a suitable motif for expressing the central dogma of the Corpus Christi feast – the praesentia realis Christi in the Eucharist. Besides visualisation of the complex theological ideas on the two substances of Christ´s body and his presence, the motif allowed greater emotional involvement of the believer in devotion of the new feast. The artists of the Late Middle Ages dedicated to this visual theme great attention not only from an iconographical point of view but also in the purely formal manner of its representation. They often used an illusionistic, naturalistic or even corporeal artistic style that was designed, on the basis of empirical experience, to visualise to corporeal eyes the mystery of the Eucharist, unreachable otherwise by either the intellect or the senses.

"The King hath brought me into his Chambers..." Female monastic spirituality and Art in Late Medieval Bohemia.

In the context of Bohemian Art of the Late Middle Ages a number of important as well as less prominent visual objects have survived until today, displaying a number of interesting iconographic modifications and forms relating to specifics of female monastic devotion and mysticism. Rarely can we identify visual objects which we know to have been commissioned by a woman or which were created with a female audience in mind.  From the fragmentary surviving art production of the 14th and 15th centuries dedicated to female monasteries in the Bohemian Lands, liturgical books comprise the greater part of what remains. The study introduces selected illuminated manuscripts related to or directly commissioned by Bohemian and Moravian female monasteries and attempts to present and interpret selected illuminations related mainly to the Benedictine nunnery of St. George at Prague. In the context of Bohemian Art of the Late Middle Ages a number of important as well as less prominent visual objects have survived until today, displaying a number of interesting iconographic modifications and forms relating to specifics of female monastic devotion and mysticism. Rarely can we identify visual objects which we know to have been commissioned by a woman or which were created with a female audience in mind.  From the fragmentary surviving art production of the 14th and 15th centuries dedicated to female monasteries in the Bohemian Lands, liturgical books comprise the greater part of what remains. The paper will introduce selected illuminated manuscripts related to or directly commissioned by Bohemian and Moravian female monasteries and will attempt to present and interpret selected illuminations. Besides the famous Passional of Abbess Kunigunde and three breviaries there are two Books of Hours used by the noble women from the Prague court environment.

In Czech art history, the Krumlov miscellanea have traditionally been linked with the Utraquist milieu at the start of the Hussite uprisings. The codex includes a number of texts directed at monks: in addition to the Speculum Humanae Salvationis, these include tracts by Albert the Great and Heinrich Suso, and mystical treatments of the perfection of the monastic life by St Bonaventure. The tract that can be attributed to Jan Hus, On the seven mortal sins (in the miscellanea it is presented as an anonymous work), and Tomáš of Šítný's Booklets on the death of a wanton youth were, by contrast, intended for a lay readership. They were included in the collection as thematic complements to the moralising mystical texts by Bonaventure and Albert the Great about the perfect spiritual life. The manuscript was probably commissioned in 1417 in Prague by the young Oldřich of Rožmberk himself for the Franciscans of Krumlov. The manuscript may have served them as a 'handbook' for pastoral care in the lay community as well as with the neighbouring Poor Clare nuns. The two well-known 'Hussite' illuminations in the miscellanea, King David with a chalice in his shield (pag. 40) and the Adoration of the chalice and monstrance (pag. 190), reflect the contemporaneous situation in Bohemia and on the Rožmberk estate in 1417. In that year, the Prague university declared its support for the chalice and Oldřich of Rožmberk instituted communion in both kinds on his estate. In particular, the depiction of the group of believers worshipping the chalice and Host on the altar mensa (pag. 190) corresponds to this state of affairs. The fact that the scene does not apostrophise active lay communion sub utraque, but rather the passive ostensio and adoratio, suggests a vague conception of the liturgical practice associated with the lay chalice. The blue field in the shield of King David provides a key for dating the manuscript. It differs from the colours used by the Hussites and suggests rather the ecclesiological and eschatological significance of the chalice in general.

Reality, Illusion or Vision? Depicting the St. Gregory Mass in Art of the Late Middle Ages.

The article deals with one of the most popular images of the Late Middle Ages, the St. Gregory Mass, and tries to answer the question of its function in Late Medieval devotion especially in connection with Eucharistic dogma, focusing on the theory of Christ’s real presence and transubstantiation. The image of the St. Gregory Mass was not, however, a visual representation of the Eucharist dogma but of the philosophical and theological complexity of Christ’s presence as well as his visual and physical absence in this world. Through the visual multiplication of Christ’s body in the picture, the viewer is invited to contemplate the image with his bodily as well as intellectual eye and served a function as a practical object of devotion, decreasing the number of years in Purgatory, as well as an instrument for mystical exercise for practising imaginatio and contemplation, leading to the final visio Dei and union with God.

The article introduces two Bohemian parish churches and their mural paintings depicting didactic-dogmatic images that are unique in the Czech context. The article analyses the possible function of the images, their meaning and use within the pastoral practice (cura animarum) in the context of religious reform, and the devotional – moral transformation initiated by the Lateran Council IV. The first example is the image of scutum fidei painted shortly after the mid-fourteenth century in the former chapel of the Hradec Králové parish church, painted next to the prominent Bohemian saint and Přemyslid dux St Wenceslaus. The scutum fidei in Hradec Králové represents the oldest known example of such Trinitarian diagram in ​central Europe and it is placed here in the original visual context. The scutum in the Hradec Králové chapel needs to be understood as a multi-layer image with strong pastoral-educational potential. It is “Bohemianised”, as being the protective attribute of the Czech holy patron, St Wenceslaus, and part of his arma virtutum. The second case represents the All Saints parish church in Zdětín. Its presbytery is decorated with two unique monumental paintings depicting the Seven Sacraments and the Seven Works of Mercy together with a scene with preaching Christ and Mary Magdalene accompanied by the Czech-Latin text of the Decalogue. The iconographic conception of the Zdětín paintings is unique within Bohemian medieval art, inspired by the period’s catechetic handbooks.

The Rosenberg Family founded in Český Krumlov (South Bohemia) a triple monastic complex. The double monastery of sacrosante dei genitricis perpetueque virginis Mariae was founded in 1350 right below the family castle and across the Vltava River from the town centre. The monastic church was completed in about 1358, and the community of nuns entered the new monastery in 1361, arriving from the Poor Clare nunnery in Opava, Silesia.  The quasi-monastic female community was founded “by the walls of the Franciscan monastery” in 1375 by Anne of Rosenberg  and, as is obvious from the architectural plan of the monastery, the existence of a third religious community was planned by the Rosenberg founders from the very beginning representing in the Central Europe an unique architectonic and spiritual complex also reflected by its artistic decoration.