Deliberate damage to polychrome church interiors

Abstract

Introduction Works of art have always been exposed to anthropogenic changes and iconoclastic interventions. On April 10, 1524, the Reformation movement reached a pinnacle in Stralsund, a town of the Hanseatic League, when a mob raided the town’s parish church of St. Nikolai. [Michalski 2000] Even five hundred years later, the traces of this eventful day are to be seen on the doors of the choir screen. Today, the faces of the saints are scratched, and numerous scores and other marks are visibl...