This Thesis deals with the iconographic type of the Sunday Christ as a potential historical source. To be able to access its content, the methodology for analysing a work of art, as developed by Erwin Panofsky, prescribes that it be studied together with its historical context. Saint Sunday is the historically documented term for this image, which was being depicted most commonly on murals and at least from the middle of the 14th to the 3rd quarter of the 16th century. The Late Middle Ages were a troubled period for Europe, which was reflected in strengthened devotion, during which the iconographic type of the Man of Sorrows gained in popularity. From it, the Sunday Christ developed through the addition of familiar tools and scenes. It reminds the observer to honour the Sunday and other holy days, principally by abstaining from work, when dictated by the medieval liturgical calendar. In the 15th century, when preaching of the Third Commandment was very common, the Sunday Christ reached its prime. Due to the danger of
misinterpretation, the post-Tridentine Church ceased to sanction it. In as far as it can be determined, images of the Sunday Christ were most commonly commissioned for village communities, who sought to display their ideal of Sunday rest. The implements and scenes depicted on the image of the Sunday Christ can be used as a document of late medieval material culture, with respect to the limitations of the medium. What the Sunday Christ can reveal about
the rural milieu is demonstrated by the example from Crngrob, where the author relied on templates such as German illustrated calendars. A list of examples of the Sunday Christ in Europe is included.
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