Voices from altarpieces: Making sense of the sacred

Abstract: The article is a cultural-philosophical response to Ivan Gerát’s Legendary Scenes and his art history interpretation of the function of Slovak hagiographic pictorial art of the Late Middle Ages. The thrust is on paintings of Christian ethical extremism, reflected in the principle of imitatio Christi. It led to the deaths of martyrs and saints in the name of the Faith. The preponderance of brutal scenes involving the tortured human body in this period art is examined in detail and it is suggested that these portrayals are disincentives that put off the mass culture beholder. The contextualist art history method employed in Gerát’s book is gradually explored, along with its potential to transform the uninterested postmodern beholder into an intelligent beholder and art tourist. Attention is paid to the educational and national branding aspects of Legendary Scenes.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Voices from altarpieces: Making sense of the sacred ; volume:28 ; number:1 ; year:2018 ; pages:88-97 ; extent:10 ; Human affairs ; 28, Heft 1 (2018), 88-97 (gesamt 10)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Nežinská, Emma

Further information

• DOI: 10.1515/humaff-2018-0008
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022111813391753238692
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:40 AM CEST