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„US, CATHOLICS, WE WORSHIP HOLY IMAGES”: ON THE OLD POLISH CULT OF IMAGES IN THE LIGHT OF THE TRADITION OF MIRACULOUS SALVATIONS OF SOUTH-EASTERN POLISH CITIES DURING THE KHMELNYTSKY UPRISING Iconolatry had for centuries spread controversies among Christian communities. Nevertheless, in the early modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, adoration of images became one of the most common forms of popular and official religion. The article starts with a confrontation of modern anthropological theories (Tokarska-Bakir, Gadamer) with early modern sources to examine the ontological status of holy images and their relation to what they represented. The next part focuses on the origin myths of paintings coming from South- -Eastern Poland that emerged or gained popularity during the Khmelnytsky uprising (1648-1654). Elaborating on these legends, I investigate the “invention of tradition” (Hobsbawm, Ranger) and the way in which the supernatural causes gradually replaced more prosaic ones. In the last part, I indicate the possible functions of iconolatry and its role in early modern society. |
