Heilsmedialität im Frühdruck

Abstract This article examines processes of shaping religious role models within the hagiographic discourse by example of the block book of the Meinrad legend (Basel, ca. 1460). Its texts and images are based on the ›Jüngere Vita‹ (14 th century), in which the origins of Einsiedeln Abbey and the murder of Saint Meinrad are linked with the ›Engelweihe‹, a narrative of the miraculous consecration of the chapel at Einsiedeln by angels and the Salvator. The block book was probably created in connection with the ›Große Engelweihwallfahrt‹ of 1466. It incorporates traditional motifs from ascetic legends of the Desert Fathers, such as the tame ravens that Meinrad raises in his hermitage. By combining texts and images, the innovative reproduction techniques of the block book facilitate new connections: here the ravens pursue and punish the two murderers, contributing to the dramatization of the events within the sequence of images. Thus, the hermit legend is reproduced in modern shape, the block book functioning as a medium of both salvation and representation.