Renaissance Religions: Modes and Meanings in History (Europa Sacra, Vol. 26)

Several decades of cultural and inter-disciplinary scholarship have yielded, and continue to yield, new insights into the diversity of religious experience in Europe from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Revisionist approaches to humanism and humanists have led to a re-evaluation of the framing of belief; the boundaries between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are seen to be more fluid and porous; a keen interest in devotion and materiality has lent new voice to 'subaltern' elements in society; sermon studies has emerged as a distinct discipline and a preacher's omissions are now understood to be often more telling than what was said; under the influence of the 'spatial turn' art and architectural history is generating new understandings of how belief and devotion translated into material culture; the emphasis in defining early modern Catholic culture and identity has moved from emphasizing reactions to Protestantism towards exploring roots and forms in fifteenth century reform movements; globalization, mass migration and issues surrounding social inclusion have re-positioned our understanding of reform in the late medieval and early modern period. The essays in this volume reflect these historiographical and methodological developments and are organized according to four themes:Negotiating Boundaries, Modelling Spirituality, Sense and Emotion, and Space and Form. This organization underscores how analysis of religious life clarifies the questions that are at the core of Renaissance studies today. Front Matter 1 Peter Howard. Approaching Renaissance Religions 13 Sabrina Corbellini. Urban Laity and the Construction of Religious Identities in Renaissance Italy 47 Tamar Herzig. Rethinking Jewish Conversion to Christianity in Renaissance Italy 63 Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby. Creating Early Modern Martyrs in the Venetian–Ottoman Encounter 81 Constant J. Mews and Marika Räsänen. Remembering Thomas Aquinas and the Saints of Dominican Renewal: Tommaso of Siena and the Cividale Legendary 109 Francesca Mattei. Architecture and Religion in Renaissance Palaces: Patronage, Humanism, and Reformation in Northern Italy 127 Grace Harpster. Sacred Images in Carlo Borromeo’s Instructiones: Between Liturgy and the Antique 155 Daniel M. Unger. Iconography and Visual Hagiography: Saint Carlo Borromeo’s Portrayal in Bolognese Churches (1611–1618) 175 Steven F. H. Stowell. Purging the Eye: Images and the Cure for Lust in Catholic Reformation Italy 207 Gioia Filocamo. Sins, Emotions, and Sounds: Dealing with Death in the Laudario of the Bolognese Confraternity of Santa Maria della Morte 231 Xavier Torres. The Beginnings of the Musical Oratorio in Bologna (1660–1699): Between the Church and the Academy 255 Rebecca M. Gill. Early Experiments in Catholic Reformation Architecture: Galeazzo Alessi and the Church of Santa Maria Assunta di Carignano, Genoa 277 Sally J. Cornelison. Art and Religion in Late Renaissance Arezzo: Reconsidering Vasari’s Church Renovations 301 Giorgio Caravale. Pulpits on Trial in Renaissance Italy: Some Methodological Issues Concerning Preachers, Inquisitors, and Historians 325 Serena Quagliaroli. The Artistic Decoration of Organ Shutters: Hearing and Seeing Redemption in the Renaissance 343 Nicholas Terpstra. Renaissance Religions – Afterwards? 365 Index 375 Several decades of cultural and inter-disciplinary scholarship have yielded, and continue to yield, new insights into the diversity of religious experience in Europe from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Revisionist approaches to humanism and humanists have led to a re-evaluation of the framing of belief; the boundaries between Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are seen to be more fluid and porous; a keen interest in devotion and materiality has lent new voice to 'subaltern' elements in society; sermon studies has emerged as a distinct discipline and a preacher's omissions are now understood to be often more telling than what was said; under the influence of the 'spatial turn' art and architectural history is generating new understandings of how belief and devotion translated into material culture; the emphasis in defining early modern Catholic culture and identity has moved from emphasizing reactions to Protestantism towards exploring roots and forms in fifteenth century reform movements; globalization, mass migration and issues surrounding social inclusion have re-positioned our understanding of reform in the late medieval and early modern period. The essays in this volume reflect these historiographical and methodological developments and are organized according to four themes: Negotiating Boundaries, Modelling Spirituality, Sense and Emotion, and Space and Form. This organization underscores how analysis of religious life clarifies the questions that are at the core of Renaissance studies today