“있음”의 예술: 르네상스 시대 종교화의 기능적 특성에 대한 연구사적 검토 = Rethinking the Ontological Status of Religious Images in the Renaissance: A Historiographical Perspective

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The distinguished German art historian Hans Belting contends that the Renaissance marked a transition from “the Age of the Image” to “the Age of Art.” In the medieval period, religious images were seen as receptacles of divine presence and served as objects of worship. With the advent of the Renaissance, however, veneration shifted toward the artist’s creativity and the image’s aura as an artwork. Belting’s thesis has shaped scholarly discourse over the past thirty years. Yet recent scholarship increasingly emphasizes continuity rather than rupture between medieval and Renaissance religious imagery. These studies argue that the traditional function of the image—as a mediator of divine presence—persisted into the Renaissance.
Admittedly, Renaissance religious images differed from their medieval predecessors in their emphasis on inventive concepts and technical mastery, which created the visual illusion of encounters with the sacred. A central aim was to render holy figures with lifelike presence through naturalistic techniques. Some works even depicted inanimate images coming to life. Artists also constructed convincing spatial settings—using techniques such as linear perspective and depicting architectural elements like windows and curtains—to make the divine appear present here and now. Figures shown interacting with the sacred offered viewers emotional entry points, particularly when physical contact was depicted. In light of these developments, it is difficult to regard the Renaissance as a complete break from the medieval tradition, as Belting suggests. Rather than a wholly new era, the Renaissance should be understood as a dynamic period of negotiation between continuity and change, between religion and art.