The Emblematic Decoration of the Staircase at the Former Jesuit College of Győr in the Context of Jesuit Marian Iconography

Abstract

This article contextualizes the emblematic decoration of the main staircase at the Jesuit College in Győr, northwestern Hungary. Painted in 1697, this fresco cycle visualizes the prayer of Salve Regina. The staircase emblems were designed as a visual aid to the Jesuits who wished to meditate on the significance of the Virgin Mary. Earlier scholarship has connected the decorative scheme to Jesuit emblem literature in general. In this article, I argue that the visual source of the program can be identified as the Salve Regina print series by Anton Wierix (1598). The emblems and their program, key examples of applied emblematics, demonstrate how and to what degree Jesuit meditative praxis underlay the decoration of Győr college. Focusing on the practical function of the decorative program also expands our knowledge of early modern practices of emblematic meditation in religious communities. This article is part of the special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies on Jesuit emblems and emblematic edited by Walter S. Melion.