Since its publication, "Hans Belting's Masterpiece" (Werner Hofmann) has provoked a wealth of reactions and sparked a controversial debate about religious and aesthetic experiences that extends far beyond the subject matter and is far from over. On one hand, it is an indication of contemporary longing for the original, and on the other hand, it is evidence of the author's scholarly achievement in skillfully synthesizing previously separate lines of argument from church history, theology, and art history. Hans Belting's book on the form and power of Christian cult images from late antiquity to the 16th century poses the crucial question of the 'Why' of images. In doing so, the reader gains an understanding of the role of images in the East and West, as well as access to the emergence of art at the dawn of modernity.