How is a Baroque legend to be read? : The Legend of St Wenceslas (1643-1644) Aegidius of St John the Baptist in word and image
2021
Abstract
The aim of the study is to cast doubt on the exposition of the second quarter of the seventeenth century as a time when emigration deprived the Czech lands of readers with higher literary requirements. Proof of this thesis includes the artistic and literary activities of the Prague Monastery of the Barefoot Augustinians at Zderaz, especially a book about St.
Wenceslas, published in Czech (1643), German (1643), and Latin (1644). Addressing the question of the adequate narrative representation of the past, the book adopts an even-handed position on the visual and textual components.
Moreover, every part of the three-part structured chapters calls for different modes of reception. A more proficient reading literacy is also required.