Devotional image
Devotional images are mostly painted or carved representations from Christian iconography with events and contents that are intended to serve the devotion of the faithful. Themes from the life and suffering of Jesus Christ , Mary and the saints are typical . A distinction is made in general between devotional pictures , which can also be sculptures, and small-format devotional pictures .
term
The term devotional image was coined in German art history after 1900, especially by Georg Dehio and Erwin Panofsky . In contrast to the art-historical term devotional picture, religious folklore describes small-format works, mostly created without special artistic demands, which serve to promote popular piety and private edification, as "small devotional pictures" (in the vernacular, devotional pictures ). The term was coined by Adolf Spamer , whose work is the standard work on the history and forms of the small devotional image. However, this term is not in common use; often the word devotional picture is used synonymously for the small devotional picture.
The medieval devotional image
Most of the devotional pictures in use since the early 13th century are small wooden sculptures that were created by removing certain motifs from conventional scenes. Hans Belting assumes that important impulses for the devotional image came from the icons that came to the West - especially after the occupation of Constantinople (1204) .
Frequent motifs of devotional images are themes of the Passion , namely the standing Christ with the crown of thorns ( Ecce homo ), the seated Christ with the crown of thorns ( Christ at rest ), the Christ-John group ("Johannesminne"), Christ as Man of Sorrows ( Erbärmdebild ), Mary or angel with Jesus' body ( Pietà ) or ( Engelspietà ) and individual depictions of Mary such as the Mater Dolorosa and the Crescent Madonna .
The origin of the devotional images goes back to changes in mysticism and popular piety , which no longer saw Christ primarily as a shining victor and king, but as a sufferer and sought to achieve an inner relationship. This development stands in the broader context of a subjectification of religiosity in the 13th century and was reinforced by experiences with pain and death in the years of the plague (see Entombment of Christ (image type) ). They are significant in terms of art history primarily because they show a shift away from the didactic character of the iconographic portraits of the 12th and 13th centuries towards a more emotional, affective representation. The image type of the devotional image is also continued in modern art.
Man of Sorrows, Erbärmdebild
The small devotional picture (devotional picture)
The small devotional picture was also created in the first half of the 14th century in women's convents from the need to own and carry such pictures personally, for example as a decorative inlay in the prayer book . The pictures were also distributed outside the monastery by traveling preachers to support their preaching. The demand was soon so great that a brisk trade developed, which provided the monasteries with welcome income. The pictures were first painted by hand in small formats on parchment, paper or fabric. Typical motifs are the baby Jesus, the passion of Christ, the mother of God Mary and the saints. Sufficient to meet the need for personal popular piety, simple motifs such as signs of the cross, monograms of Christ and Mary as well as copies of images of grace were used as amulet notes and the smallest formats as swallow pictures - the prerequisite was that they were consecrated and thus sanctified. Devotional pictures found widespread use in the 14th and 15th centuries as simple stamps and rubbing prints , bread dough prints and in paper mache , which also enabled a slight relief. With the invention of woodcuts and copper engravings , the increasing demand for saints could be satisfied. They also document the progress in printing technology. Especially during the Dürer period , the portraits also achieved a high artistic quality.
Small, mostly framed treasures were the paper cut pictures (lace pictures) that appeared at the beginning of the 17th century, the elaborate production of which was paid for with three-digit sums even then. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they were replaced by the cheaper stamping and embossing technology and, similar to other devotional items, they were mass-produced articles without formal requirements. The Association for the Dissemination of Religious Images , which was founded in 1841 and sold many millions of devotional images as steel engravings , endeavored to improve the artistic quality of these articles . Also of high artistic quality were the devotional pictures from the Paris publisher Verlag für Religious Druckkunst Bouasse-Lebel . With the invention of photography and chromolithography in the 19th century and multi-color raster printing in the 20th century, it was also possible to reproduce high art paintings and portraits in the miniature format of the small devotional picture and enjoy great popularity.
At high feasts of the church year , especially Easter , small pictures are distributed to the faithful as a reminder of Easter communion or they serve as a souvenir on certain occasions, such as pilgrimages , canonizations , first communion , religious professions , priestly ordination , primacy , or on consecration days and anniversaries, about the diocesan bishop . The pictures are simple or folded and their size is suitable as an insert in the hymn or prayer book . On the back there are prayers and occasions.
Devotional pictures often serve as death pictures , memorial or death notes , which are given out at funerals in memory of the deceased. They have a similar format and are also used as an insert in prayer books. The dates of life and death are printed on the back.
Man of Sorrows, woodcut 1746, format 8.5 × 14.5 cm
St. Francis of Rome , chromolithography 1861, format 8 × 12 cm
Madonna, chromolithography with gold print 1895, format 5.5 × 9 cm
St. Arnold Janssen , raster print 1938 with touch relic , format 7 × 11 cm
Individual evidence
- ↑ Karl Schade: Devotional picture: the history of an art-historical term publishing house and database for the humanities, Weimar 1996.
- ^ Adolf Spamer: The small devotional picture from the 14th to the 20th century, Bruckmann 1930.
- ↑ a b c Vera Romeu (from right): Devotional pictures attract glances . In: Schwäbische Zeitung from August 1, 2011
- ^ Manfred Brauneck : Religiöse Volkskunst , Dumont-Verlag, Cologne 1979
- ↑ Heinrich Fülbeck Collection. Folk graphics - devotional and friendship pictures (catalog for the exhibition Kurhaus Meran October 1973), Ferrari-Auer Meran 1973
literature
- Adolf Spamer: The small devotional picture from the 14th to the 20th century , Bruckmann 1930.
- Article "Andachtsbild" in the ABC on Austrian folklore
- Manuela Beer, Ulrich Rehm: The small devotional picture, graphics from the 16th to the 20th century , selection catalog, Museum Schnütgen, Olms, Hildesheim 2004.
- Horst Appuhn: The private devotional picture, a suggestion on art history and folklore terminology , in: Museum und Kulturgeschichte; Festschrift for Wilhelm Hansen; ed. by Martha Bringemeier (Writings of the Folklore Commission for Westphalia 25), Aschendorff, Münster 1978, pp. 289–292.
- Hans Gärtner: devotional pictures. Jewels of private piety culture. Verlag Sankt Michaelsbund, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-920821-45-9 .
- Wolfgang Brückner : devotional pictures In: Christa Pieske: ABC of luxury paper, production, distribution and use 1860-1930. Museum for German Folklore, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-88609-123-6 , pp. 79–81
