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Vol. 82 (1994): Our Past

Articles

"Mulier amicta sole" in Gothic art in Poland

  • Andrzej M. Olszewski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.1994.82.35-95  [Google Scholar]
Published: 1994-12-30

Abstract

The first verse of Revelation 12 speaks of a sign in heaven: "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." This woman was often depicted as one of the characters illustrating this biblical book. During the period when the Gothic style was developing in Poland, the Marian interpretation of women became popular in visual arts, and the mentioned attributes were associated primarily with the Virgin Mary and Child. The most commonly used motif was the moon, usually in the shape of a crescent, sometimes with a human face. The "covering of the sun" was shown several times by surrounding the figure of Mary with a mandoria of rays, while the "wreath of stars" was replaced by an ordinary crown. A representation of the Virgin and Child, with attributes representing a woman from the Apocalypse, was sometimes placed in the central part of the triptych, among the saints. Sometimes the figure of Our Lady with attributes from the Apocalypse appears in connection with the motif of the tree of Jesse. Shown on epitaphs with the attributes of the Apocalypse and saints interceding for the dead, Mary can express hope for eternal salvation. Figures kneeling before Our Lady with the same attributes also appear in illuminations, e.g. in the so-called Władysław Warneńczyk's prayer book or in the missal from the Augustinian monastery in Żagań. Mary with apocalyptic attributes also appears in the construction of monstrances and on church bells.

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