DOI Artikel:
Kaźmierczak, Joanna: Motyw ikonograficzny Tonącego Okrętu Kościoła w grafice niemieckiej około 1490 – około 1550 roku
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.39128#0020
20
JOANNA KAZMIERCZAK
with the element of water, and is seriously tilting. These woodcuts, which were firmly embedded in the ecclesial pre-Refoimation
reflection in general, and the criticism of the Church’s activities and structures in particular', grew from the background which can be
easily overlooked today, as it cannot be read from the illustrations. This is the astrological context, which this article aims to broadly
outline. Some elements of the then contemporary knowledge of stars and celestial judgments are singled out, which are now considered
the reason for the intr oduction of the iconographic variant of the Ship of the Chur ch. Of particular importance is the connection of the
motif to the so-called Sintflutdebatte, or a “debate on the deluge/flood”, which swept through German literature in the first two decades
of the 16th century. The basis for the astr ological forecast of the deluge, predicted for the year 1524, was the theory of the gr eat con-
junctions. The latter referred to the processes of great transformation observable in the history of mankind, such as the origins and the
fall of empires, religions or cultur es. A discussion on the properties attributed to some celestial bodies (primarily Satum, Jupiter, and the
constellation of Pisces), whose influence pertained to the apocalyptic nature of these prophecies, captures the more universal character
of these illustr ations, and are not only associated with the anti-ecclesial mood.
trans. Katarzyna Krzyżagórska-Pisarek
JOANNA KAZMIERCZAK
with the element of water, and is seriously tilting. These woodcuts, which were firmly embedded in the ecclesial pre-Refoimation
reflection in general, and the criticism of the Church’s activities and structures in particular', grew from the background which can be
easily overlooked today, as it cannot be read from the illustrations. This is the astrological context, which this article aims to broadly
outline. Some elements of the then contemporary knowledge of stars and celestial judgments are singled out, which are now considered
the reason for the intr oduction of the iconographic variant of the Ship of the Chur ch. Of particular importance is the connection of the
motif to the so-called Sintflutdebatte, or a “debate on the deluge/flood”, which swept through German literature in the first two decades
of the 16th century. The basis for the astr ological forecast of the deluge, predicted for the year 1524, was the theory of the gr eat con-
junctions. The latter referred to the processes of great transformation observable in the history of mankind, such as the origins and the
fall of empires, religions or cultur es. A discussion on the properties attributed to some celestial bodies (primarily Satum, Jupiter, and the
constellation of Pisces), whose influence pertained to the apocalyptic nature of these prophecies, captures the more universal character
of these illustr ations, and are not only associated with the anti-ecclesial mood.
trans. Katarzyna Krzyżagórska-Pisarek