ROMÁNSKY PORTÁL KOSTOLA SV. EGÍDIA V ILIJI: PRÍSPEVOK K INTERPRETÁCII JEHO IKONOGRAFICKÉHO PROGRAMU

The Romanesque portal of the church of St. Aegidius in Ilija near Banská Štiavnica, which dates back to 1254, is a unique architectural and sculptural work, and its significance transcends the borders of medieval Hungary. Andrej Kmeť and Václav Mencl significantly deepened the knowledge about the history of the portal and its stylistic classification as well as historical research and restoration from the recent period. The portal shows common features with the so-called Norman style spreading from Western Europe to its eastern parts, which persisted until the middle of the 13th century. The architecture of three-recessed jambs with inserted columns with pear-shaped profiling of the corners of the recesses passing into an entire arch above the tympanum with a three-circle border is complemented by rich sculptural equipment of capitals and cornices. The asymmetry of the relief decor forms on the northern and southern parapets follows a distinctive iconographic program unique even within the European context. The capitals of the northern lintel with zoomorphic motifs of dragons united by one head, the heads of outcasts incorporated into a tangle of vegetation, represent the world of diabolical powers attacking the human soul in an attempt to seize it. In contrast, the southern jamb is decorated with a balanced composition of double-row tongue leaves and a cornice capitalising paradise in its harmonious expression. The two linings are a materialized expression of instruction serving as the Biblia pauperum, one of the most important missions of medieval art.