Description
Book Synopsis‘Quid est sacramentum?’ Visual Representation of Sacred Mysteries in Early Modern Europe, 1400–1700 investigates how sacred mysteries (in Latin, sacramenta or mysteria) were visualized in a wide range of media, including illustrated religious literature such as catechisms, prayerbooks, meditative treatises, and emblem books, produced in Italy, France, and the Low Countries between ca. 1500 and 1700. The contributors ask why the mysteries of faith and, in particular, sacramental mysteries were construed as amenable to processes of representation and figuration, and why the resultant images were thought capable of engaging mortal eyes, minds, and hearts. Mysteries by their very nature appeal to the spirit, rather than to sense or reason, since they operate beyond the limitations of the human faculties; and yet, the visual and literary arts served as vehicles for the dissemination of these mysteries and for prompting reflection upon them. Contributors: David Areford, AnnMarie Micikas Bridges, Mette Birkedal Bruun, James Clifton, Anna Dlabačková, Wim François, Robert Kendrick, Aiden Kumler, Noria Litaker, Walter S. Melion, Lars Cyril Nørgaard, Elizabeth Pastan, Donna Sadler, Alexa Sand, Tanya Tiffany, Lee Palmer Wandel, Geert Warner, Bronwen Wilson, and Elliott Wise.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Illustrations Notes on the Editors Notes on the Contributors 1 Quid est sacramentum?: Introduction Walter S. Melion Part 1: Representing the Sacraments 2 Counterfeiting the Eucharist in Late Medieval Life and Art Aden Kumler 3 Vestments in the Mass Lee Palmer Wandel 4 ‘In the Flesh a Mirror of Spiritual Blessings’: Calvin’s Defence of the Lord’s Supper as a Visual Accommodation AnnMarie M. Bridges 5 ‘Mystery’ or ‘Sacrament’: Ephesians 5:32, the Sacrament of Marriage in Early Modern Biblical Scholarship, and Nicolas Poussin’s Visual Exegesis Wim François 6 Hoc Est Corpus Meum: Whole-Body Catacomb Saints and Eucharistic Doctrine in Baroque Bavaria Noria K. Litaker 7 Staging Sacramental Consolation in Vienna Robert L. Kendrick Part 2: Sacramental Modes of Representation 8 Seeing beyond Signs: Allegorical Explanations of the Mass in Medieval Dutch Literature Anna Dlabačová 9 Representing Architecture in the Altarpiece: Fictions, Strategies, and Mysteries Elizabeth Carson Pastan 10 Orchestrating Polyphony at the Altar: Passion Altarpieces in Late Medieval France Donna L. Sadler 11 God’s Design: Painting and Piety in the Vida of Estefanía de la Encarnación (ca. 1597–1665) Tanya J. Tiffany 12 Amber, Blood, and the Holy Face of Jesus: the Materiality of Devotion in Late Medieval Bruges Elliott D. Wise and Matthew Havili 13 Anchoring the Appearance of the Sacred: the Abbot of Choisy & His Translation of the Imitatio Christi (1692) Lars Cyril Nørgaard 14 Spiritual and Material Conversions: Federico Barocci’s Christ and Mary Magdalene Bronwen Wilson Part 3: Representing Divine Presence and the Mysteries of Faith 15 The Fine Art of Dying: Envisioning Death in the Somme le Roi Tradition Alexa Sand 16 Christ Child Creator David S. Areford 17 Lady Scripture’s Sacred Commitments: Dialogic Understanding in Dutch Religious Literature of the Late Fifteenth Century Geert Warnar 18 Coemeterium Schola: the Emblematic Imagery of Death in Jan David, S.J.’s Veridicus Christianus Walter S. Melion 19 The Limits of ‘Mute Theology’: Charles Le Brun’s Lecture on Nicolas Poussin’s Ecstasy of Saint Paul Revisited James Clifton 20 A Private Mystery: Looking at Philippe de Champaigne’s Annunciation for the Hôtel de Chavigny Mette Birkedal Bruun Index Nominum
