The images analyzed in this book give each viewer the possibility to
interact with Saint Elizabeth's unique spiritual way, which was nurtured
by various sources, including moments of spontaneous inspiration. The
religious leaders who went on to imagine and commission a visual image
understood the enormous potential associated with the religious zeal of
the extraordinary noble lady as a shining example offering new paths
towards Christian charity. The images represent an important testimony
of what happened, or rather how the artist or the patron imagined events
from the saint's life. Elizabeth's extraordinary individual charity has
been a source of inspiration to many of her admirers, but the artists
and their patrons must have experienced and considered the needs and
desires which characterized their period and the communities they were
serving. There has been a significant interval between the over-temporal
needs or values and contingent historical situations with changing
constellations of interests, medial landscapes and rules of political
game. The medieval cult of saint Elizabeth awakened the interest of the
most influential political figures of the time. Their individual
dialogues with the saint connected resonant spiritual messages, which
were valid for the duration of any individual's lifespan, with transient
concerns about political struggles, military fights, or materialistic
considerations. As a result, the images are multilayered products
reflecting human needs and longings on several levels. This book offers
a minuscule testimony from this endless flux of feelings, observations
and meditations in an effort to broaden slightly the limited range of
human experience.
