What Is A "Devotional Image" in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period?
(2024) Renaissance Society of America Conference - Session “Images, Literature, Spirituality. Attempts on Terminologie(s)” — Location: Chicago (21.March.2024)
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- Abstract
- This paper presents the initial results of a research carried out within a group devoted to the terminology used to address the relationship between image and spirituality in the late medieval and early modern period. I aim to question our uses of terms relating to spirituality as applied to the field of imagery, starting from the observation that these uses vary, sometimes greatly. Depending on the period, region or corpus considered, different terms are frequently used to characterize similar practices and images. Moreover, within a single historiographical tradition, it's common to observe variations in the vocabulary used to determine the images and their uses within a vast array of spiritual practices (devotion, piety, meditation, contemplation...). Based on a cross-analysis of secondary literature and primary sources, my aim is to define our research objects more precisely and to propose better-informed terms for them. I will focus more specifically on the notion of "devotion" and devotional image: which devotional practices are documented around images? How do researchers define/use the notions of devotion and devotional image? Particular attention will also be paid to the need to return to primary sources, acknowledging that past usage of the terms does not necessarily cover the meaning we give them today.
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Falque, I. (2024). What Is A "Devotional Image" in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Period? Renaissance Society of America Conference - Session “Images, Literature, Spirituality. Attempts on Terminologie(s)”, Chicago. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/235857