BASILICA OF SAINT JAMES (BAZILIKA SV JAKUBA)

Slovakia's national cultural monument, the Church of St. James is one of the most beautiful in the country. It was built in stages between 1280 and 1400 in Gothic style, with its tower built in the ^19th century. The exterior pales in comparison to the interior, which is adorned with an 18.6-metre high altarpiece, the largest in the world, carved from limewood in the workshops of Master Paul between 1507 and 1518 - the only work that can be attributed to him with any certainty. It is a perfect synthesis of all the plastic arts practiced at the time. The work was completed in three successive stages: in 1508, the structure of the altarpiece was erected; between 1509 and 1515, the sculptures and painted panels were installed; and in 1517, the polychromy and gilding were added. The arch is distinguished by a skilful three-dimensional structure: the central spire, the five-spire pinnacle in keeping with flamboyant Gothic architecture, and the profiled pillars supporting the arch. The figures and scenes depicted on the altarpiece form a remarkably harmonious and logical whole. It begins with the Last Supper in the predella. Next come the Passion scenes, eight painted panels attached to the fixed side shutters and to the outside of the movable shutters. They depict Christ in the Garden of Olives, the Flagellation, Christ receiving the crown of thorns, the Ecce homo, Christ before Pontius Pilate, the Stations of the Cross, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

On the inside are two reliefs. The upper relief depicts the apostles going out into the world to preach the Gospel, while the other reliefs illustrate the lives of the apostles John the Evangelist and Saint James. The lower left panel depicts the beheading of St. James, while the right panel shows the martyrdom of St. John in front of Rome's Latin Gate. Above, the same saint, having triumphed over torture, is depicted writing the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, when the Virgin and Child appeared to him. In the central niche, the crowned Virgin, Queen of Heaven, symbolizes celestial glory. She is flanked by Saint John and Saint James. What's most striking is the profound humanity expressed in the figures of the apostles. This is a reflection, albeit a distant one, of the ideas of the Reformation, which was gaining followers in the country at the time.