Spectacular Miracles Transforming Images in Italy from the Renaissance to the Present

Author/creator Garnett, Jane Author
Other author Rosser, Gervase Author
Format Electronic
Publication InfoLondon : Reaktion Books, Limited Chicago : Chicago Distribution Center [Distributor]
Description320 p. ill 09.800 x 07.500 in.
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Ebook Central - Public Library Complete
Subjects

Summary Annotation Spectacular Miracles confronts an enduring Western belief in the supernatural power of images: that a statue or painting of the Madonna can fly through the air, speak, weep, or produce miraculous cures. Although contrary to widely held assumptions, the cults of particular paintings and statues held to be miraculous have persisted beyond the middle ages into the present, even in a modern European city such as Genoa, the primary focus of this book.Drawing upon rich documentation from northwest Italy and elsewhere, Spectacular Miracles shows how these images "work" in a range of historical contexts. Jane Garnett and Gervase Rosser vividly evoke ritual animation of the image and the phenomenology of the beholder's experience. These images, they demonstrate, have the subversive potential of the miraculous image to bypass clerical and secular authority, a power enhanced by reproducibility--devotion is hard to control when a copy of a venerated image is held to carry the same supernatural potential as the original, even when in a digital form mediated by the Internet. Engaging with the history, anthropology, and visual culture of images and religion, Spectacular Miracles is a convincing study of the continuing power of faith and art.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
ISBN9781780231051
ISBN1780231059 (Trade Cloth) Active Record
Standard identifier# 9781780231051
Stock number00314465

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Electronic Resources Access Content Online ✔ Available