A szepesbélai középkori templom és újonnan felfedezett falképei
The medieval church of Spišská Belá and its newly discovered murals

Author(s): Béla Zsolt Szakács
Subject(s): Museology & Heritage Studies, Architecture, Visual Arts, History of Art
Published by: Pécsi Tudományegyetem Művészeti Kar Művészettörténet Tanszék
Keywords: Spišská Belá; medieval church; wall paintings; Gothic architecture; monument conservation; Early Gothic; High Gothic; Spiš region; medieval frescoes; architectural heritage
Summary/Abstract: The study examines the medieval parish church of Spišská Belá (Szepesbéla) and the significance of its newly discovered wall paintings uncovered in 2020 behind the side altars. The article argues that the church is one of the most important medieval monuments in the Spiš region because it preserves architectural elements from several crucial stylistic phases of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The author reviews the restoration history of the church, including nineteenth-century Neo-Gothic interventions and the later twentieth-century “de-restoration” process that removed historicist additions in pursuit of modern conservation principles. Particular attention is devoted to the earliest phase of the church, characterized by a square sanctuary, rib vaults, and sculpted capitals reflecting the transition from late Romanesque to Early Gothic architecture. The study analyzes the stylistic development of the western portal and compares its decorative carving with churches in Ľubica, Vrbov, Batizovce, and other Spiš settlements to establish regional artistic connections after the Mongol invasion of 1241–42. The author emphasizes that Spišská Belá occupies a key transitional position between the earlier Early Gothic traditions of Spišská Kapitula and the emergence of a distinctive regional High Gothic style. The newly uncovered frescoes are interpreted not as part of the original thirteenth-century building phase, but more probably as products of a fourteenth-century expansion that included the enlargement of the sanctuary and the addition of the northern aisle. The article proposes that the paintings formed part of a rare medieval altar arrangement combining painted side figures with a central sculptural image placed before the wall surface. Szakács also discusses the conservation dilemma created by the discovery, since preserving and displaying the frescoes may conflict with maintaining the nineteenth-century Neo-Gothic altar ensemble that has become historically significant in its own right. Overall, the study demonstrates how architectural analysis, stylistic comparison, mural research, and conservation theory together contribute to a deeper understanding of the medieval artistic heritage of the Spiš region.

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