Holy Organ or Unholy Idol? : The Sacred Heart in the Art, Religion, and Politics of New Spain

'Holy Organ or Unholy Idol?' focuses on the significance of the cult of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and its accompanying imagery in eighteenth-century New Spain. Lauren G. Kilroy-Ewbank considers paintings, prints, devotional texts, and archival sources within the Mexican context alongside issues and debates occurring in Europe to situate the New Spanish cult within local and global developments. She examines the iconography of these religious images and frames them within broader socio-political and religious discourses related to the Eucharist, the sun, the Jesuits, scientific and anatomical ideas, and mysticism. Images of the Heart helped to champion the cult’s validity as it was attacked by religious reformers. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Figures and Tables 13 Abbreviations 18 Introduction 19 Chapter 1 Shaping the Devotion 41 Chapter 2 Matters of the Heart 80 Chapter 3 Reading, Meditating, Fixating 124 Chapter 4 The Eucharistic Heart 169 Chapter 5 Christ’s Heart as the Sacramented Sun 213 Chapter 6 Divine Champions 239 Chapter 7 Politicizing the Heart after 1767 264 Conclusion: Forming a New History of the Sacred Heart 292 Bibliography 299 Index 333 Acknowledgments vii List of Figures and Tables xi List of Abbreviations xvi Introduction 1 1. Shaping the Devotion 23 2. Matters of the Heart 62 3. Reading, Meditating, Fixating 106 4. The Eucharistic Heart 151 5. Christ’s Heart as the Sacramented Sun 195 6. Divine Champions 221 7. Politicizing the Heart after 1767 246 Conclusion: Forming a New History of the Sacred Heart 274 Bibliography 281 Index 315