Abstract
The article deals in with the iconography of the murals in the Emmaus Monastery cloister. Unlike most present literature, it proposes the hypothesis that the layout and topics of the typological cycle were chosen on the basis of Benedictine spirituality rather than on the basis of imperial representation of Charles IV.
In this sense, the cycle accentuates associations with the Benedictine monastic rule and texts of Saint Jerome, patron saint of the monastery. The article analysis various facts that support the hypothesis: the choice of specific triads used in the decoration of the, visual links inside them and differences between the triads and the visual tradition of Speculum humanae salvationis, a manuscript that must have been used by the conceptors as well as the painters of the cycle.
Finally, the issue of of the destroyed paintings in the so-called Imperial Chapel is discussed. The division of the images between the cloister and the sacristy resulting in hiatus of the chronological order of the cycle is explained by the prefiguration of the mass offering on the outside wall facing the cloister and the direct illustration of this offering in the scenes related to the Crucifixion inside the chapel.
Indirect evidence is sought in historical sources and surviving literary texts from the monastic production. According to these sources, the monastery was an important intellectual center where monks translated Latin literary texts into vernacular and spread them.
That means that they could even have created the concept of the paintings themselves without any direct interaction with the King.