The Spread of the Cult and Iconography of St Barbara in Lithuanian Sacred Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Abstract

The article addresses the spread of the cult of St Barbara in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the period following the Council of Trent and the diversity of her iconography in sacred art. The image of this saint, which became extremely popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, became frequently encountered after the spread of St Barbara’s fraternities; however, so far it has not been analysed in detail from the artistic aspect. The aim of the study is to delve into the spread, change, and iconographic methods of the extensive cult of this saint during the period following the Council of Trent in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set: to find out how the cult emerged and spread and to explore its nature in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; to review some of the surviving images of the saint in the altars of Lithuanian Catholic churches and in Lithuanian museums, classifying them according to typical and specific iconographic ways of representation. Theoretical-descriptive, empirical, and iconographic-iconological research methods were applied, which allowed to fully investigate, evaluate, and reveal the meaning and importance of the content of sacred art in the Christian community at that time.