Religious debate and visual compromise : interpreting Byzantine murals in Lithuania and Poland

The Byzantine-style murals which adorned the interiors of Lithuanian castles and churches and were "exported" to Poland during King Wladislas II's reign are regarded as reflecting religious debates. This discussion highlights the Orthodox and Catholic interference in the display and iconography of these wall paintings and constructs hypothetical roles for those who commissioned, painted and supervised the content of the interior decoration. From the late fourteenth century, attitudes towards these paintings changed over a hundred years: from passivity towards their content, to religious alterations either by Orthodox masters or by Catholic patrons or supervisors, and ended with the murals being labelled as the style of the Jagiellonian house.