Lengyel László (szerk.): Devóció és dekoráció - 18. és 19. századi korolstormunkák Magyarországon - Studia Agriensia 7. (Eger, 1987)
Summary
DRESSABLE STATUES OF MARY The decoration activity of the nuns are well represented by different church vestments, which were prepared with great care and many centuries experience. A special branch of this theme sphere — which flowered until the last third of the 18th century — was the preparation of the clothes for dressable Mary statues. For celebration days the statue of Mary which was placed on the altar could be dressed in many différant ways. Sometimes original women’s clothes were placed on the statue or sometimes only a cope (111. 49 — 50.). A beautiful example of a dressable statue of Mary from the end of the 18th century is a painted wooden figure without garments which holds in its moveable arms the Infant Jesus and a gilded sceptre (111. 51.). The creation of the whole statue well illustrates the characteristic of the dressable statues of Mary. The visible limbs are finely worked and painted in contrast with the parts which are covered by clothes and are only partly formed. AMULETS The people of the age who possessed amulets and talismans felt shielded from illness, destructive forces, natural diseases, disasters and from various problems. Due to this they asked and hoped for the help and active force of special relics and saints in almost all areas of life to provide a beneficial effect. The amulets which were made for personal use also cam la many different varieties. The “Breverkes” which were well known from the 17th and 18th centuries refer to the memory of the archaic relic cult. The devotional picture the so-called ÍUhluckbild, which could be swallowed occupied a special position in the sphere of amulets. 1 ..e belief in the medical offectiveness of the swallowable devotional pictures which were as big as stamps and printed on paper, ensured the spread of their popularity. 145
