Devotional Objects

Chap. 13. The end of the donor portrait in the Dutch Republic left a gap in the artistic repertoire of spiritual self-imagination. The absence of portraits in ecclesiastical environments, as part of a commemorative cult, has stimulated the rise of the autonomous biblical portrait historié in secular spaces. Since the rise of the Modern Devotion, being portrayed in a religious scene was a way to testify in person of one’s search for forgiveness, mercy and rapprochement to God. The primacy of Scripture and the “Word-oriented” visual culture of the Reformation, in connection to the Dutch Israel imagery, attested to the popularity of the biblical portrait historié in civic context. Biblical portraiture could be theologically legitimised on the basis of guidelines in commentaries on catechisms, although this does not explain its practical purpose. It has been argued that secularized mentality penetrated devotional art and destroyed it from within. It remains unclear whether or not a family portrait with a biblical subject a for private home actually differs in use from an altarpiece or other devotional works of art containing portraits. To attend to this matter, general questions about functionality and devotional practice of portraits need to be studied first. The debates about the Andachtsbild and the differences between private and public art also complicate an overall interpretation of the portrait historié.

Before the Reformation, Dutch artists were already aware of the symbolic relationship between subject matter and form (or function) of religious paintings. In the autonomous biblical portrait historié – i.e. the secularised type – form, figuration and fashion were often linked to the discussion on the functionality of religious art. Often one finds critial references to pious practises: e.g. the pseudo-donor portrait in Delff’s Jacob and Esau: a criticism on intercession of saints; or the fact that Fabritius’s centurion before Peter does not kneel in veneration of the apostle. Catholic defenses against the reproach of idolatry and reactions from Protestants make clear how portraiture and remembrance were viewed from a religious perspective. According to the Reformed view, there is an essential distinction between paintings in the church and those at the home because of a difference in use. Portraits were allowed at home according to Ursinus’s guidelines, that fitted seamlessly with Calvin’s approval of representations of visible creatures. In the Reformed restrictions of art, one can find further explanation for the success of the biblical portrait historié. Not only does this type of portrait only have a civic use, but it also meets all the requirements that were set for art. For it serves as a remembrance, not only of the portrayed, in the Paulinic sense, but also of the biblical story, while the image as a rule also contains a moralistic message.

The reasons given for portrayal as a specific biblical figure or participant in a biblical scene, mainly explain the choice of subject rather than the motivations for that identification. Reformed critiques of the phenomenon portrait historié have not been handed down, and its assessment can only be interpreted indirectly. In some catechetical texts dramatically performed roles are discussed, which may offer some insight into how this kind of role play in religious art was judged – though views differ widely. Biblical parallels and comparison between persons were often justified in an euhemeric way, because of the conformity with God. Both the perfectionist pursuit of conformity with Christ and the imitation of exemplary figures in calvinist sanctification can be seen as adaptations of the medieval imitatio Christi to the Reformed theology of predestination. By following in the footsteps of Old Testament forerunners, and by being portrayed as patriarchs and the people elect, the Dutch placed themselves, as it were, in the succession from the Old to the New Covenant. In the biblical portrait historié, the Christian actually portrays himself as a Christian; in Old Testament scenes without risk of a personal glorification, so as to disprove allegations of vainglory and idolatry. The analogy in Old Testament portraits histories was seldom based on individual parallels. The choice of subject seems to have been as important as the identification with a biblical figure. The autonomous biblical portrait historié is a painterly representation of the personal empathy of the people portrayed with the Dutch Israel. Inherent to the doctrine of predestination is that biblical figures, as representatives of the contemporary persons, are not actually the acting figures of the story, but God, who works in the form of the Holy Spirit, who reveals himself in Grace who remains invisible to the believer and the spectator.

13. Religieuze portretkunst in context 579
13.1. Het bijbelse portrait historié als gedachtenis 579
13.2. Nog één maal de bijbelse rol 598
13.3. Euhemerisme en gelijkvormigheid aan Christus in de zeventiende eeuw 601
13.4. Nawoord 605

de Lisboa (1195-1231), português de nascimento, é um alvo popular deste fervor religioso. O seu culto é um fenómeno popular na Igreja Católica. Para além de celebrações regulares no calendário da igreja, as suas imagens estão em muitos altares de oração e são alvo de cultos festivos. Os missionários portugueses introduziram o catolicismo no Sri Lanka em meados do século XVI. Pode, portanto, presumir-se que a devoção a Santo António de Lisboa neste país foi introduzido juntos dos nativos cristãos pelos missionários portugueses. Esta suposição é suportada pelas crónicas do período da expansão portuguesa, onde Santo António é identificado como o «Santo de Lisboa» e o «Santo português». Há muitas igrejas no Sri Lanka contemporâneo dedicadas a Santo António de Lisboa, o que revela claramente a popularidade deste santo no país. Este estudo pretende traçar os factores históricos adoptados para espalhar a devoção a Santo António de Lisboa, no Sri Lanka, durante os séculos XVI e XVII, o período durante o qual os portugueses evangelizaram as Províncias Marítimas do país, e também tentar compreender o progresso da devoção ao longo das diferentes conquistas temporais e espirituais.

In 1878, the founder of the Christian Museum in Esztergom, Hungary, Prince Primate and Archbishop János Simor (1813–1891) purchased an entire picture collection from the heirs of a private Roman collector, Canon Raffaele Bertinelli (1802–1878). This "galleria di classici sacri" consisted almost exclusively of Italian Renaissance paintings with religious subjects. The sixty paintings now form the core of the Italian collection in the Christian Museum and are well known to scholars of Italian art.
However, Bertinelli and the history of his gallery remain unknown to art historians. The present book, which is based primarily on archival research and 19th-century publications, provides a biography of the collector, and emphasizes his artistic interests and commissions. A discussion of the picture gallery follows, and it treats the formation of the collection as well as its later history. It establishes with greater precision than heretofore its original contents and defines the concept that guided the collector’s acquisitions.

Aspects of Mary’s presence in Islam. From Koranic references to popular devotion and from mysticism to iconography. The figure of Mary is certainly the scriptural and theological point where Christianity and Islam converge. It has raised the scholars’ interest only since the mid XIX century which has seen a flourishing of translations and researches which has increased in the last years. There is still much to say in the field of spiritual and mystic theology – even on comparative terms – when we observe the key role Mary has assumed in Islamic Sufism.

"Representations", N. 129, Winter 2015.

The essay analyzes the project of maintaining the body of V. I. Lenin in the Mausoleum in Moscow for the past ninety years, focusing on the unique biological science that developed around this project, and the unexpected political role this body has performed.

Pourquoi le chapelet a-t-il cette forme ? Ce nom ? Ce nombre précis de perles ? Pourquoi répéter, en les comptant, les mêmes prières ? Quels bénéfices obtenait-on par-là ? Telles étaient mes premières questions. Je fus surpris de la difficulté d’y trouver des réponses...Médité depuis plus de 20 ans, cet ouvrage propose de découvrir ou redécouvrir l’histoire de cette dévotion fondamentale, autant pour son immense signification dans le développement de l’Occident chrétien que par ses multiples résonances anthropologiques. Il est destiné à tout lecteur curieux d’histoire, de religion, de culture, d’ethnologie et des sciences sociales.

Devotional objects found during the 2016 archaeological survey of the Warsaw Citadel, [in:] Unknown history of the cemetery from the territory of Warsaw Citadel, eds Wojciech Borkowski, Marzenna Zieleniewska-Kasprzycka, Warszawa 2018, pp. 171-201, with summary in English

"Production processes of small pewter objects in the High and Late Middle Ages

The find of a thirteenth century complex of stone molds in Magdeburg increased our knowledge of the casting of pewter objects in the Middle Ages. Molds and casting waste can tell us more about the various production methods than the cast objects themselves. The same casting methods for pewter objects were used for centuries, namely full casting, core or hollow casting and the slush casting, i. e. the casting of three-dimensional objects by pouring out the metal that had not yet solidified (Vollgieß-, Kerngieß- and Sturzgießverfahren). The full casting method was most commonly used. In order to make a
successful cast the mold had to fulfill certain requirements. The mold was brushed with soot, lime water, or chalk slip. It also had to be heated so that the hot metal could flow freely to all parts and not solidify immediately. Another condition was the presence of vents by which air could escape from the mold and so prevent air bubbles forming in the cast. A great change in the thirteenth century was the enormous increase in pewter products. It was in this period that mass pilgrimage developed and the demand for cheap, quickly produced souvenirs grew. The opening of the tin mines in the Erzgebirge in the first half of the thirteenth century met this need. Tin was no longer a Cornish monopoly: it was a cheap alternative for gold and silver and became available to much more of the population. The lower costs led to a bigger market in west and north-western Europe, to the development of pewter/tin molding as an independent craft and the emergence of the tin molders gilds in Paris (1268) and Nuremberg (1285)."

This paper is devoted to a series of
single-sided round icon pendants with a representation
of mounted Saint George. Saint George was one of
the most revered Christian saints in the Middle Ages
as demonstrated by finds from archaeological sites in
Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Poland. The group under
consideration consisting of over 30 examples can be
divided into two subgroups originating from a single
prototype. The subgroups differ in their style and details
of their iconography: a cloak of the horseman, the degree
of abstractness in the representation of the dragon and
the elaboration of the horse muzzle. Analysis of the
representation on the pendants shows that they imitated
the amulet medallions with a representation of Medusa
(zmeevik) on one side and a representation of Saint
George on the other side. Most of the pendants have
been found in Novgorod and Novgorod lands (6), two
in each of Smolensk and Bryansk oblasts, in Drisvyaty
and their closest surroundings, one in each Tver, Old
Ryazan, Serensk, Polotsk and Volkovysk. The finds
of these medallions are datable to the period from the
second half of the 12th to the mid-13th century. Similar
small icons have been found in Poland and Latvia. As
to Latvia, they indicate Orthodox missionary activities
marking the route from Pskov and Polotsk.

Святой великомученик Георгий – один из наиболее почитаемых христианских святых в Древнерусское время. Статья посвящена серии однотипных односторонних иконок-привесок со святым Георгием, происходящих из археологических памятников России, Белоруссии, Латвии и Польши.
Группа, включающая в себя более 30 изделий, может быть разделена на две подгруппы, восходящие к единому прототипу. Анализ изображения на подвесках показывает, что они были изготовлены в подражание змеевикам с изображением святого Георгия на одной из сторон. Наибольшее число привесок было найдено в Новгороде и Новгородской земле (6), по 2 - в Смоленской и Брянской областях, в Дрисвятах и их ближайших окрестностях, по одной в Твери, Старой Рязани, Серенске, Полоцке, Волковыске.
Находки медальонов могут быть датированы второй половиной XII – серединой XIII столетия.
Серии аналогичных иконок найдены в Польше и в Латвии. В последней, по мнению латышских археологов, они свидетельствуют о православной миссионерской деятельности и маркируют пути из Пскова и Полоцка.

The article offers a reconstruction of a chapel, set up in England in the 1470s to commemorate a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The reconstruction follows information drawn from the founder’s will. Made up of architectural components, paintings, wooden models, stones, maps, and a manuscript narrative, the composition was designed to evoke the Holy Land in England. A map of the Holy Land preserved in the Bodleian Library seems to be the only component to have survived. The article studies the installation in relation to the widespread European tradition of relocating the Holy Land to Europe, and discusses in greater detail the incorporation of a map of the Holy Land into the category of fifteenth-century devotional imagery. The first section of the article outlines the principal layout of the chapel as it emerges from the formulation of the rubrics. The second section details the collection of objects deposited in the chapel. A comparison with fifteenth-century devotional and pilgrimage imagery enables us to specify the exact composition of items. The third section focuses on the map of the Holy Land, discussing several features exclusive to MS Douce 389 as well as general features of the format. The last section presents the installation as an elaborate mimesis of the Holy Land.

Il volume prende in considerazione la variegata e cospicua produzione di medaglie papali, condotta a Roma durante il regno di Urbano VIII, per indagare il ruolo che rivestì (tanto nella sua portata comunicativa, quanto nella sua valenza storico artistica) la medaglistica pontificia in età moderna. Nel saggio vengono analizzati, in tre distinti capitoli, i processi creativi (dalla scelta dei temi alla stesura dei programmi, dalla selezione dei modelli iconografici all'esecuzione materiale, dal contributo di singoli artisti all'impiego di strumenti meccanici di riproduzione), le funzioni (tanto devozionali, quanto di rappresentanza, sotto il controllo inquisitoriale e in rapporto a precise cerimonie) e la fortuna visiva e letteraria (dall'affermarsi di una valorizzazione in chiave seriale in medaglieri poetici, in riproduzioni ad affresco e nel collezionismo, fino alla creazione di una trattatistica specifica, modellata sui contemporanei interessi antiquari) delle medaglie papali tra Cinque e Seicento, identificando nel pontificato di Urbano VIII il momento in cui questo oggetto venne consapevolmente innalzato a strumento ufficiale di autorappresentazione pontificia. Nel catalogo l'organizzazione dei singoli esemplari per raggruppamenti tematici non solo è funzionale ad una loro più attenta valutazione tecnica (in rapporto allo stato dei conii, al reimpiego di questi in coniazioni arbitrarie, ecc.), ma anche ad una più efficace indagine delle iconografie, sia nel loro dialogo con la medaglistica precedente, sia nel complessivo contesto della produzione artistica urbaniana.

Rad se bavi nabožnim predmetima pronađenim između 2010. i 2013.
godine tijekom arheološkog istraživanja srednjovjekovne crkve sv. Petra
u Rapovinama. Uz srednjovjekovnu crkvu razvilo se groblje s dugotrajnim i još uvijek aktualnim pokapanjem. Nabožni predmeti pronađeni su u
novovjekovnim grobovima kao dio pogrebnih običaja. Među njima su dva
raspela, četiri korpusa raspela, osam medaljica, svi od bronce, te 28 zrna
krunice izrađenih od kosti i staklene paste. Pripadaju razdoblju od 17. do
kraja 19. stoljeća. Medaljice sadrže obostrane reljefne prikaze, često uz
prigodne natpise. Dva raspela su dijelovi krunica, a korpusi su dijelovi
drvenih križeva. Prema prikazima na medaljicama najviše se njegovala
pobožnost prema Blaženoj Djevici Mariji. Većina medaljica potječe iz
marijanskih svetišta (Loreto, Gorica, La Salette), odakle su najvjerojatnije prispjele posredstvom franjevaca koji su ih dijelili vjernicima.
Ključne riječi: Rapovine, crkva sv. Petra, novovjekovni grobovi, nabožni predmeti, marijanska svetišta/
This paper deals with devotional objects found between 2010 and 2013 during the archaeological
research of the mediaeval church of St. Peter in Rapovine. A long-standing and still current cemetery has
developed next to the mediaeval church. Devotional objects were unearthed in modern age graves as parts
of funeral customs. Among them there are two crucifixes, four crucifix corpora, eight medals, all of bronze,
as well as 28 beads of rosaries, made of bone and glass paste. They belong to the period from the 17th to
the end of the 19th century. The medals have relief depictions on both sides, often with commemorative
inscriptions. The two crucifixes are parts of rosaries, while the corpora are elements of wooden crosses.
According to the depictions on the medals, the Blessed Virgin Mary was most revered. Most of the medals
originate from Marian shrines (Loreto, Gorica, La Salette). They were probably brought from there by the
Franciscans, who then distributed them among the faithful.
Keywords: Rapovine, church of St. Peter, modern age graves, devotional objects, Marian shrines

In 2018 Bob Forrest donated his extensive collection of religious medals to the Ashmolean Museum's Heberden Coin Room. The collection, consisting of roughly 3500 objects, is particularly strong in its holdings of medals from nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe, but ranges chronologically from the fourteenth century to the present day and includes material from Africa, the Americas and Asia. While Christian medals comprise the majority of the collection, there are also examples of Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist objects as well. Ranging widely in both form and function, these medals are a fascinating testament to the importance of materiality in everyday devotional practice.

Ariberto ha legato il proprio nome a due capolavori di arte orafa, il primo tuttora conservato -la preziosa legatura di evangeliario destinata alla «sancta mediolanensis ecclesiae» (Milano, Tesoro del Duomo)-, l'altro perduto a seguito delle requisizioni napoleoniche ma noto da incisioni settecentesche -l'analoga legatura offerta negli anni dell'esilio monzese (1042-44) alla basilica di San Giovanni Battista-. Ad un'analisi accurata i piatti della coperta milanese si rivelano realizzati in due distinti momenti dell'episcopato aribertiano. Il più antico, in argento sbalzato e dorato, pare eseguito in apertura del suo mandato, forse proprio per la cerimonia dell'ordinazione episcopale (marzo 1018), cui rimanda il programma iconografico imperniato sulla chiamata di Ariberto alla cattedra che era stata di Ambrogio; con una datazione precoce si accorda il linguaggio stilistico, che ripropone modelli della contemporanea miniatura ottoniana di destinazione imperiale nell'asciutto rigore disegnativo degli ateliers già attivi sotto il predecessore Arnolfo II. Il secondo piatto, sontuosamente rivestito di lamine d'oro, pietre preziose e smalti, seguirebbe a non molta distanza di tempo e sarebbe stato allestito per arricchire l'oggetto liturgico già in uso in occasione della cerimonia di incoronazione a re d'Italia di Corrado II (primavera del 1026), in vista della quale Ariberto restaura anche l'Altare d'oro della basilica santambrosiana. L'eccezionale ciclo degli smalti dedicati agli eventi pasquali, in particolare, illustra tematiche liturgiche di antica tradizione ambrosiana con una maestria tecnica che lascia trasparire il retaggio dell'arte di corte costantinopolitana, entrata a far parte del bagaglio artistico dei maestri milanesi a seguito della legazione di Arnolfo II (1001-1002).

En este trabajo realizamos una aproximación a los objetos devocionales cotidianos tanto en el espacio doméstico como en el ornato en la vestimenta. La presencia de estos en las escrituras notariales, su valor y la comparativa de las advocaciones permite indagar, no exclusivamente en la práctica religiosa, sino también en las formas de consumo y, finalmente, en la sociología de un grupo de artesanal como es el de los plateros, cuyas pretensiones de ascenso llevaron a la representación de un estatus superior del que verdaderamente tuvieron.

The thesis undertakes the issue of the Infant Jesus of Prague in the counter-reformation era. The first part contains genesis of the cult of saints, as well as the history of the sculpture. In the further parts Infant Jesus has been analysed from three views: aesthetic, social and economical. It has been described how the sculpture influenced it's faithful followers during the counter-reformation period and how it is linked to the religious kitsch. The thesis also contains the matter of religious fetish and connection between religion and making money.

Quinter, David. 2018. “Mantras and Materialities: Saidaiji Order Kōmyō Shingon Practices.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 45, no. 2: 309-40.

Mantra of Light (kōmyō shingon) practices have been among the most popular esoteric Buddhist rituals in Japan since the thirteenth century. Chinese scriptures recorded that reciting the mantra and distributing sand empowered by it could erase transgressions and ensure rebirth in the Pure Land. Subsequently, teachings on the significance of the sand empowered by the mantra received a strong boost from lectures and commentaries by Myōe (1173–1232), which many scholars have emphasized in assessing the mantra’s spread. This article argues, however, that focus on the sand and such commentarial literature obscures another key to the mantra’s popularization in medieval Japan: the annual Mantra of Light assemblies implemented by Eison (1201–1290) at Saidaiji in 1264. In particular, based on both premodern sources and ethnographic observations, the article investigates the Saidaiji order’s use of contributor rosters for fundraising, recitation, and iconographic adornment to help illuminate the intertwined social, ritual, and material culture of the assemblies.