Page 58 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(1) (2025)

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studia universitatis hereditati, letnik 13 (2025), številka 1 / volume 13 (2025), number 1

Figure 4: The idea structure of plague altar in the church of St Andrew in Makole, Slovenia (mind map created by
Mojca Ramšak (2025))

ligious institutions played an important role in deeper religious truths by connecting the mate-
f3 plague epidemics. rial and spiritual levels. The viewer can identify
The depiction of real, sensory scenes of the with the scenes of suffering and at the same time
plague and the supernatural world, such as an- seek solace in supernatural symbols. This inter-
gels and saints, on the plague altar serves as a action between the viewer and the art can lead
link between the spiritual and the material. It to a personal spiritual experience. The plague al-
is no coincidence that the real world with the tar as a work of art not only presents the spiritual
plague scenes is depicted in the lower part of the aspect, but also offers the viewer psychological
painting, because in a religious context, everyday support in difficult times. The artistic expression
life, human experiences and emotions, which acts as a therapeutic tool that has helped people
the viewer can understand and experience on a deal with fear and uncertainty in times of plague
f4 physical level, are metaphorically ‘below’, while epidemics.
the metaphysical level of the depiction with pro- Many altars with patron saints against the
tectors against the plague and guardian angels plague were erected in the surroundings of Ma-
is ‘above’. In art and religion, real-life scenes can kole (e.g. in many places on Pohorje and at its
be used to illustrate moral values (in this case, foot, such as St Barbara (in Malahorna), St Blaise
helping others) or historical events that are im- (in Slovenska Bistrica), St Francis Xavier (in Vi-
portant to the community (in this case, plague tanje, Slovenska Bistrica, Kot and Slovenske
epidemics). By combining real scenes with super- Konjice), St George (in Slovenske Konjice, Rito-
natural symbols such as angels and saints, a space znoj, Slovenska Bistrica and Hoče), St Roch (in
for reflection and spiritual experience is created Vitanje, Janževski Vrh, Kovača vas and Prihova),
that encourages the viewer to think about their St Sebastian (in Vitanje, Slovenska Bistrica, Pr-
place in the world and their relationship with ihova and Golika), and St Valentin (in Gorenje
higher powers. It could be said that the depiction pri Zrečah and Prihova) (Ramšak 2019, 45–52,
of real plague scenes in the context of art and re- 104–106; 2022, 670).
ligion serves as a means of communication, en- In the parish of Makole, which includes
abling the viewer to understand and tap into 13 villages, there are 16 chapels and three signs,