Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė (PDF)
https://doi.org/10.53631/DIS/2016.7.1
The definitions of images dedicated to piety are sacredness, religious image, sacral art and religious art. They are often used but interpreted differently, and their perception changes with time. Philosopher Tomas Sodeika was the first in Lithuania to ask a rhetorical question about whether the concept of sacral art can be an oxymoron. In the history of Christianity, material images, their purpose, benefit and importance in the visual tradition were not once discussed and defined as doctrines by the Church Councils. However, the character of their perception and sensation could differ greatly depending on the time and percipient. The article attempts to figure out what happened back then when sacral art, criticised by philosophers, reached its climax. With the limits set on the Baroque Epoch and based on the techniques and methods of prayer formed during it, the article aims to measure the tension between the images created with human hands and the inner images inspired by godly love.
The spiritual teachers St Ignatius of Loyola, St Bonaventure and St John of the Cross held an approach to artistic creation similar to that of modern and contemporary philosophers. It is impossible to deny its influence on Baroque art. However, the author of the Spiritual Exercises gave absolutely another meaning to imagination and images. On the other hand, the research revealed that thirty years ago, the history of art proved that spiritual and pious experiences determined the sacralisation of the iconography of images, for instance, created in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Images designed to intensify prayer were shown to be important because of their suitability for meditation and the miraculous power and godly grace experienced through them. The images designed to intensify the prayer were shown to be important because of their suitability for meditation and the miraculous power and godly grace experienced through them. The climax of meditation is perceived as a touch of God, who can never be defined, measured or especially pictured.
In conclusion, the ambivalent experience of religious practices, which involve feeling God with all five human senses and applying imagination to create a place liberated from any real image, is a prerequisite for Christian contemplation.
Keywords: image, history of Christianity, philosophers, St Ignatius of Loyola, meditation