| Popis: |
“Art, Ritual, and Reform” is the first comprehensive study of the social history, devotional practices, and art patronage of the Arciconfraternita del SS. Crocifisso di San Marcello a Roma, one of the most prominent lay religious associations in sixteenth-century Italy. Divided into four main chapters, the dissertation first develops the innovative theory of conspicuous devotion through a documented examination of the company’s religious rituals and urban processions during the Catholic Reformation. The following chapters apply the theory to analyses of the confraternity’s commissions in the Cappella del Crocifisso in San Marcello and the nearby Oratorio del Crocifisso, in which Perino del Vaga (1501–47), Daniele da Volterra (1509–66), Giovanni de’ Vecchi (ca. 1536–1615), Cesare Nebbia (ca. 1536–1614), and Niccolò Circignani (ca. 1517/24–after 1596) painted. Challenging traditional interpretations of Central Italian painting from 1520 to 1590, the object-focused project argues that conspicuous meaning and form served conspicuous devotion to both instruct and inspire, in accordance with the reforms of the Catholic Church. A final chapter explores the archaism of paintings produced by Jacopino del Conte (1510–98) and Marcello Venusti (ca. 1512–79) for Santa Chiara a Monte Cavallo, a Capuchin convent founded by the confraternity on the Quirinal Hill. Reinforcing the assertions of the preceding chapters, the discussion demonstrates the company’s keen art historical, or stylistic, understanding, which enabled it to choose between different artistic modes to suit different subjects and contexts, as required by the Council of Trent (1545–63). Recovering both the variety and the devotional significance of lay festive performance and art patronage in sixteenth-century Rome, this crucial research offers a much needed critical reassessment of art, ritual, and reform in the Catholic Reformation. |
