LANDLADY FROM HELL. THE ICONOGRAPHY OF THE MEDIEVAL WALL PAINTINGS IN RIMAVSKÉ BREZOVO AND LIPTOVSKÉ SLIAČE

The text deals with the iconography of the medieval wall paintings in the churches in Rimavské Brezovo and Liptovské Sliače. Both of these paintings of female figures holding vessels and beset by demons represent the specific motif of a landlady or tavern keeper suffering in Hell. Depictions of the figure of the landlady in combination with demons can be found throughout medieval Europe from the early 14th century until the early modern period, and negative portrayals of the character appear in numerous literary sources of the period. The preserved paintings in Rimavské Brezovo and Liptovské Sliače are valuable evidence of eschatological concepts and the ways in which they were disseminated in the 14th and 15th centuries.