Schutzengel: 1200 Jahre Bildgeschichte Zwischen Devotion Und Didaktik

English summary: Currently, depictions of guardian angels have been understood as a phenomenon of the modern period, but this view must be now be revised as depictions have always been found among the faithful since the beginnings of Christian art. Images of surprising depth, between "magic," devoti [...]
Visa längre beskrivning

English summary: Currently, depictions of guardian angels have been understood as a phenomenon of the modern period, but this view must be now be revised as depictions have always been found among the faithful since the beginnings of Christian art. Images of surprising depth, between "magic," devotion, and didacticism all place this popular motif in a new light. The research in this book follows the development of the image of guardian angels through the first twelve centuries and through various types of artistic genres including paintings, sculptures, book illustration, popular graphic prints, jewelry, pilgrim badges, and magic amulets. This development extends from Late Antiquity and leads through the psalters of the early Middle Ages that depicted various scenes of divine support and finally to the "Book of Hours" genre and altar images, by which time a real "iconography of the saints" had been established. This study is based in the scholarly study of images and religious icons and investigates image types, levels of meaning, and historical contexts as well as the function of such images and the relationship between image and viewer. A deeply emotional connection, rooted in the wide boundaries between private devotion and "magic," lends itself to specific cultivation among practitioners. The image of the guardian angel finds its functional determinacy between devotion and didacticism. German description: Galten Schutzengelbilder bislang als Phanomen der Neuzeit, so muss dieses Urteil nun grundlich revidiert werden: Sie begleiten Glaubige seit den Anfangen christlicher Kunst. Bilder von erstaunlicher Tiefsinnigkeit, zwischen "Magie," Devotion und Didaktik, stellen ein populares Motiv in neues Licht. Die Untersuchung verfolgt die Entwicklung des Schutzengelbildes durch die ersten zwolf Jahrhunderte und durch alle bildschaffenden Gattungen: Malerei und Skulptur, Buchillustration und populare Druckgraphik, Schmuckstucke, Pilgerzeichen und magische Amulette. Der Weg beginnt in der Spatantike und fuhrt uber den Psalter des fruhen Mittelalters zu vielfaltigen Tragerszenen, bis sich in Stundenbuch und Altarbild schliealich eine echte "Heiligenikonographie" etabliert. Die ikonologisch angelegte Studie fragt nach Bildtypen, Bedeutungsebenen und historischem Kontext ebenso wie nach der Bildfunktion und dem Kontakt zwischen Bild und Betrachter. Eine tiefe emotionale Bindung, angesiedelt im breiten Grenzbereich zwischen privater Frommigkeit und "Magie," bot sich dabei fruh zur gezielten Nutzbarmachung an. Das Schutzengelbild findet seine funktionale Bestimmtheit zwischen Devotion und Didaktik.