DOCSLIB.ORG

Jacopone Da Todi's Mystical Pathology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jacopone Da Todi's Mystical Pathology BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL VOLUME 285 18-25 DECEMBER 1982 1803 Br Med J (Clin Res Ed): first published as 10.1136/bmj.285.6357.1803 on 18 December 1982. Downloaded from Jacopone da Todi's mystical pathology LEONARD J BRUCE-CHWATT With St Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) a new element entered known as Franciscan Tertiaries was remarkable.' They willingly into the spirit of the Catholic church. It took the form of an accepted the rule of voluntary poverty and became, like the experience of divine presence and gave rise to a wave of Fran- master, "twice-born souls." One of them, Jacopone da Todi, ciscan mysticism, with its dramatic sense of mystery, its desire holds a special place, not only in the Catholic hagiography but for a union with the Infinite, its relation to all living things, and, also in the history of Italian literature.2 above all, its emphasis on humility and poverty. Mysticism, in To a medical historian some aspects of his life and work are the sense of a direct communion with God and in the conviction of particular interest because of the extraordinary morbid streak that all things in the universe are manifestations of the eternal of his penitence, through sickness and pain, before the dissolu- being, reflects the ancient ideas of Buddhism and Hinduism. It tion of his bodily form in the metaphysical absolute. found its European sources in Plato and in Plotinus, the founder Jacopone da Todi (Jacopo de Benedetti) was born in Todi, of Neoplatonism. According to this philosophy, various forces Umbria, in 1230 into a noble family. He was a successful and including the human soul, shape the matter, and man should ambitious lawyer, married to the young and beautiful Lady return to the union with God by rejecting from his life all that Vanna. The two led the gay and carefree life of the rich con- is worldly before reaching the final exaltation of spiritual temporary society until a tragic accident, when a wooden fulfilment. The early Christian mystics headed by St Paul and platform collapsed under the dancing crowd and Vanna was St Augustine took the example from the Judaic tradition of killed. On his wife's dead body Jacopone discovered under the Isaiah and Ezekiel. elegant gown a penitent's hairshirt. This event led to Jacopone's Among the disciples and followers of St Francis the group conversion and changed his whole life. He devoted his remaining De l'Infermitd e Mali che Frate Jacopone Demandava per Eccesso de Caritd O Signor, per cortesia, O Signore, per cortesia, O Lord! of Thy courtesy, mandame la malsania! mandami la cattiva salute! Send me ill-health! A me la freve quartana, A me (venga) la febbre quartana Let me have quartan fever, la contina e la terzana, la continua e la terzana The continuous and the tertian, la doppia cotidiana, la doppia quotidiana The double quotidian colla grande idropesia. con una grande idropisia. With a great hydropsy. A me venga mal de dente, A me venga mal di denti, May I have toothache, mal de capo e mal de ventre, mal di capo e mal di ventre, Headache and belly-ache, a lo stomaco dolor pungente, allo stomaco dolor pungente, In my stomach sharp pains, en canna la squinantia. e in gola t'angina. And in my throat angina. Mal de occhi e doglia de fianco Male agli occhi e dolor al fianco, Pain in my eyes and in my flank, e l'apostema al lato manco; e t'ascesso al lato sinistro, With an abscess in my left side, tiseco me ionga en alco 1'etisia mi si aggiunga inoltre, Phtisis be added furthermore et omne tempo la frenesia. e in ogni tempo la frenesia. And at all times frenzy. Agia el fegato rescaldato, Abbia ilfegato riscaldato, May I have a burning liver, la milza grossa, el ventre enfiato, la milza ingrossata e il ventre An enlarged spleen and a swollen belly, lo polmone sia piagato il polmone sia piagato, [gonfio, My lungs be plagued a gran tossa e parlasia. con gran tosse e paralisi. By a great cough and paralysis. A me vengan li fistelli A me vengano le fistole, Grant to me fistulas, http://www.bmj.com/ con migliaia de carboncelli, con migliaia di pustole, With thousands of pustules, e li granchi sia quelli e i cancri siano tali And so many cankers che tutto pieno ne sia. che io ne sia tutto pieno. That I am covered with them. A me venga la podagra; A me venga la podagra, Send me podagra, [podagra-gout] mal de ciglia si m'agrava, il male alle ciglia aggravi il mio With painful eyelids [stato, Aggravating my condition, la disinteria sia piaga la dissenteria sia una piaga, Let dysentery plague me, e l'emoroide a me se dia. mi tocchino anche le emorroidi. Likewise haemorrhoids. A me venga el mal de l'asmo A me venga il mal dell'asma, May I also suffer asthma, e iongasece quel del pasmo, ci si aggiunga lo spasimo, To which be added spasms, on 24 September 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. como al can venga rasmo come al cane mi venga il prurito Like a dog let me have rabid pruritus; [rabbioso; And in my mouth gangrene. ed en bocca la grancia. e in bocca la cancrena. A me lo morbo caduco A me venga il morbo caduco, Let me have the falling sickness, de cadere en acqua e 'n foco, tale da farmi cadere nell'acqua e So as to make me fall into the water and [nelfuoco, [the fire, e giamai non trovi loco e gzammai non trovi luogo And let there never be one spot ch'io afflitto non ce sia... in cui non sia afflitto.... In which I am not afflicted. Glie demonia enfernali I demoni dell'inferno The devils of hell shall be my nurses, essi sian mei ministrali, siano i miei infermieri, To make yet more sharp, che m'exerciten li mali che rendano piui acuti i mali The pains which my folly has earned me. c'ho guadagnati a mia follia. che ho guadagnati colla mia pazzia. Enfin del mondo a la finita, Fino alla fine del mondo, Until the end of the world, si me duri questa vita, cosi duri per me questa vita, Make hard for me this life, e poi, a la sceverita, e poi nella separazione (dell'anima And at the final separation, [dal corpo), Grant me a hard death. dura morte me se dia. mi si conceda una dura morte. Elegome en sepultura Scelgo per mia sepoltura Choose for my burial, ventre de lupo en voratura, un ventre di lupo che mi divori The belly of a wolf who shall devour me, e le reliquie en cacatura e le reliquie (si riducano) That my remains be reduced to dung en spineta e rogaria. in sterco tra gli spini e i roveti.... Among the thorns and the rocks. (Translated from the Italian by Joan M Bruce-Chwatt.) 1804 BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL VOLUME 285 18-25 DECEMBER 1982 Br Med J (Clin Res Ed): first published as 10.1136/bmj.285.6357.1803 on 18 December 1982. Downloaded from years to prayer and penance, having renounced all worldly goods. conventuals and the spirituals. He sided with the spirituals, who He became a wandering friar, preaching ascetism for the love of followed the stricter rules, and denounced the degeneracy of the Christ, and composed a number of religious poems (laude Roman authority. His laude exalting poverty were written when spirituali) which he sang along the roads of Umbria.4 Laude spirituali Many of Jacopone's laude are considered the best examples of Italian poetry of the thirteenth century. They pass through all emotional phases of suffering, obedience, and ecstasy. Of exquisite beauty is his Lauda La Donna del Paradiso (or Pianto della Madonna de la Passione del figliolo J7esu Cristo), a dramatic description of the Virgin Mary's lament at the Crucifixion. This religious play is still performed in Italy.5 One mystical poem of particular medical interest and almost intolerably morbid pitch of self-denial on the way to martyrdom has as its title: De l'Infermiti e Mali che Frate J7acopone ...... ... Demandava per Eccesso de Carita (Of the afflictions and sicknesses that brother Jacopone desired from an excess of charity). The original text written in medieval Italian is given in the first column to show its composition in quatrains with irregular rhyming. The first two lines form a refrain (ripresa) after each stanza.6 Excommunicated and beatified One might have expected that the author of such an intense, almost macabre poem inviting some 22 different diseases or afflictions would be inclined to join the processional "flagellanti," Monument commemorating the ife of Jacopone da a movement that originated about 1260 in Perugia in the midst Todi close to the church of San Fortunato at Todi, of the misery of wars between the Guelfs and the Ghibellines, Umbria. aggravated by the disastrous epidemic of plague.7 But there is no evidence that Jacopone da Todi, for all his mysticism, ever joined this group, which was eventually forbidden by the Holy Pope Celestine V protected him, but with the accession of See in 1261, though it revived again a century later. In 1278 Boniface VIII to the Papacy Jacopone was excommunicated and Jacopone entered the Franciscan order of Minor Friars when imprisoned for five years. He was granted absolution and there was a serious conflict between the two fractions, the released by Benedict XI but died three years later in Colazzone, Umbria.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Virgin and the Basilisk - a Study of Medieval Women and Their Social Roles in Iacopone Da Todi’S (1230/36-1306) Laude.1
    THE VIRGIN AND THE BASILISK - A STUDY OF MEDIEVAL WOMEN AND THEIR SOCIAL ROLES IN IACOPONE DA TODI’S (1230/36-1306) LAUDE.1 Annamaria Laviola Lund University During his lifetime, the Franciscan Iacopone da Todi (1230/36-1306) wrote a number of poems now known under the collective name of Laude. Influenced by different literary styles, such as Sicilian-Tuscan and differentiating itself from the Franciscan literary production of its time, Iacopone’s Laude discuss both religious and secular matters.2 This article is a study of the collection and the information for the modern reader about urban Italian women and their social roles in the thirteenth century, focusing on the following research questions: What are women’s different social roles according to the Laude? How are these roles constructed and described? In what ways does a study of the Laude help the historian to understand the ambivalent relation(s) within and between women’s roles in medieval society? Historiography Italian scholars writing during the second half of the twentieth century studied the Laude in order to answer questions of theological and literary character. Alvaro Bizziccari’s article on the concept of mystical love in the Laude, Franco Mancini’s focus on the variety of themes discussed by Iacopone and Elena Landoni’s study of the different literary styles that can be found in the Laude are but a few examples of this tendency.3 Even though much of the (Italian) scholarly interest for Iacopone da Todi has focused on subjects related to theology and literature, in recent years both Italian and international scholars have started to analyse other aspects of the texts.
    [Show full text]
  • CONCLUSION in a Rather Famous Lauda by the Franciscan Poet
    CONCLUSION In a rather famous lauda by the Franciscan poet Jacopo Benedetti (c. 1236–1306), better known as Jacopone (Big John) da Todi, he assails his brethren in Paris who he says “demolish Assisi stone by stone.” “That’s the way it is, not a shred left of the spirit of the Rule! […] With all their theol- ogy they’ve led the Order down a crooked path.”1 It is a complaint to which Jacopone returns many times in his writing.2 “Assisi” in this case seems to reflect the spiritual or, as David Burr says, a rigorist’s view of Franciscan virtue, which was basically centered on the ideals of evangelical poverty, charity, and penance. “Paris,” on the other hand, represents the arrogance of educated Friars—“an elite with special status and privileges” who looked down on their brothers.3 The conflict of the 1290s, when most of Jacopone’s laude were written, sing of struggles within the Order that go back to the 1220s, to a time when the friars were first grappling with their identity; and, as I have shown, this involved their chanting and preaching—the two aspects of the Franciscan mission of music that I have examined in this study. In Chapter One we saw that while the Regula non Bullata (Earlier Rule) of 1221 required all Franciscan friars to celebrate the Divine Offices, albeit in distinctive forms, the Regula Bullata (Later Rule) of 1223 privileged the clerical brothers as singers of the rite according to the Roman church.4 The Earlier Rule would not exclude the lay brothers from preaching, so long as they did not preach against the rites and practices of the Church and had the permission of the minister.5 But this was emended in the Later Rule, making preaching incumbent only on friars who had been properly examined, approved, and had “the office of preacher […] 1 “Tale qual è, tal è;/ non ci è relïone./ Mal vedemo Parisi,/ che àne destrutt’Asisi:/ co la lor lettoria messo l’ò en mala via.” [That’s the way it is—not a shred left of the spirit of the Rule! In sorrow and grief I see Paris demolish Assisi, stone by stone.
    [Show full text]
  • CATHERINE of GENOA-PURGATION and PURGATORY, the SPIRI TUAL DIALOGUE Translation and Notes by Serge Hughes Introduction by Benedict J
    TI-ECLASSICS a:wESTEP.N SPIPlTUAIJTY i'lUBRi'lRY OF THEGREfiT SPIRITUi'lL Mi'lSTERS ··.. wbile otfui'ffKS h;·I�Jmas tJnd ;·oxiJ I:JOI'I!e be n plenli/111, books on \�stern mystics ucre-.trlfl o1re -bard /(I find'' ''Tbe Ptwlist Press hils just publisbed · an ambitious suies I hot sbu111d lnlp remedy this Jituation." Psychol�y li:x.Jay CATHERINE OF GENOA-PURGATION AND PURGATORY, THE SPIRI TUAL DIALOGUE translation and notes by Serge Hughes introduction by Benedict j. Grocschel. O.F.M. Cap. preface by Catherine de Hueck Doherty '.'-\1/tbat I /ltJt'e saki is notbinx Cllmf'dretltowbat lfeeluitbin• , t/Hu iJnesudwrresponden�.· :e /J/ hwe l�t•twec.'" Gtul and Jbe .\ou/; for u·ben Gfltlsees /be Srml pure llS it iJ in its orixins, lie Ill/(.� ,1( it ll'tlb ,, xlcmc.:c.•. drau·s it llrYIbitMIJ it to Himself u-ilh a fiery lfll•e u·hich by illt'lf cout.lunnibilult' tbe immorttJI SmJ/." Catherine of Genoa (}4-17-15101 Catherine, who lived for 60 years and died early in the 16th century. leads the modern reader directly to the more significant issues of the day. In her life she reconciled aspects of spirituality often seen to be either mutually exclusive or in conflict. This married lay woman was both a mystic and a humanitarian, a constant contemplative, yet daily immersed in the physical care of the sick and the destitute. For the last five centuries she has been the inspiration of such spiritual greats as Francis de Sales, Robert Bellarmine, Fenelon. Newman and Hecker.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Study of Amir Khusrau and Jacopone Da Todi
    “MYSTICISM, LOVE AND POETRY” A Comparative study of Amir Khusrau and Jacopone da Todi Dissertation submitted to Jawaharlal Nehru University for award of the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY Marta Irene Franceschini Centre for Historical Studies School of Social Science JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY New Delhi – 110067 2012 I am the only enemy that stands between me and salvation. Jacopone da Todi Poetry became my plague. Too bad Khusrau never observed silence, never quit talking. Amir Khusrau CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 POETRY, MYSTICISM AND SAINTHOOD a) Poetry and Communication b) Poetry and Mysticism c) Poetry and Islam in the Thirteenth Century d) Poetry and Christianity in the Thirteenth Century e) Saints, Shaikhs and Sainthood Chapter 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND a) Medieval Italy: Socio-Economic Setting b) Jacopone da Todi c) Medieval India: Socio-Economic Setting b) Amir Khusaru Chapter 3 LYRICAL FEATURES: DIFFERENCES AND ANALOGIES. a) The Works b) The Style c) The Language d) The Music Chapter 4 POEMS TO POEMS: THE METAPHYSIC OF LOVE a) The spiritual masters b) Poems to poems CONCLUSION INTRODUCTION Amir Khusrau and Jacopone da Todi lived in the same century but in very distant places. The former in the splendour of Delhi, the capital of the Delhi Sultanate, the latter in a small town of central Italy, under the sovereignty of the Catholic Church. However, both were men of mystical orientations whose work gave birth to an everlasting genre of sacred music: qawwali for Khusrau and Stabat Mater for Jacopone. Not only are both these musical genres still played and sung today using the two poets’ original verses but, over the ensuing seven centuries, have also managed to maintain their prestige and popularity.
    [Show full text]
  • Stabat Mater Dolorosa by Jacopone Da Todi (1230-1306) a Reflection
    Stabat mater dolorosa by Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306) A Reflection by Canon Jim Foley The liturgical hymn known as Stabat Mater is another example of the great medieval tradition of religious poetry which has enriched the church for a thousand years. Unfortunately, it has suffered much the same fate as the Dies Irae and Vexilla Regis. It has quietly disappeared from the public liturgy of the Church since Vatican II. If it has survived longer than most, it is probably because of the Stations of the Cross, a devotion still popular during Lent and Passiontide. One verse of our hymn is sung between the reflections associated with each Station. The verses are usually sung to a simple, but attractive plainsong melody, as the congregation processes around the church, pausing before each Stataion. The devotion itself, like the Christmas Crib, is attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi (1181- 1226). It was certainly promoted by the Franciscan tradition of piety to the extent that, for many years, the Franciscans alone had the faculty to dedicate the Stations of the Cross in places of worship. The Franciscans also pioneered research and excavations in the Holy Land in the hope of discovering the original Via Dolorosa across Jerusalem to Calvary. However, research by rival Jesuit and Dominican scholars in the Holy City has led to the promotion of other possible routes for the Via Dolorosa! While a student in Jerusalem I was surprised to see a citizen carrying a heavy wooden cross on his shoulders as he made his way, evidently unnoticed, along a busy street.
    [Show full text]
  • Mysticism - Perfect Fools: Divine Madness and Holy Folly from Plato to Dostoevsky Paul A
    University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Syllabi Course Syllabi Fall 9-1-2004 RELS 370.01: Mysticism - Perfect Fools: Divine Madness and Holy Folly from Plato to Dostoevsky Paul A. Dietrich University of Montana - Missoula, [email protected] Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi Recommended Citation Dietrich, Paul A., "RELS 370.01: Mysticism - Perfect Fools: Divine Madness and Holy Folly from Plato to Dostoevsky" (2004). Syllabi. 9646. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/9646 This Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Perfect Fools: Divine Madness and Holy Folly from Plato to Dostoevsky RELS 370 Autumn 2004 Mysticism Paul A. Dietrich TTh 9:40-11 :00 LA lOlA; x2805 LA 106 Hours: MWF 9-10 In this course we will consider: Plato's discourse on divine madness in the Phaedrus and the revalorization of Plato's ideas in later medieval and renaissance Platonism (Ficino, Pico, Cusa and Bruno); eros, ecstasy, enthusiasm and metamorphosis in classical literature and the religions of the ancient Mediterranean basin (Euripides, Diogenes, Ovid, Lucian and Apuleius); St. Paul's notion of holy folly in the history of Christianity with emphases on the early Desert Fathers, the Byzantine (Symeon the Fool) and Russian traditions (Dostoevsky and The Way ofthe Pilgrim); knights errant from Parzival to Don Quixote; Franciscans (St.
    [Show full text]
  • The Co-Cathedral of Saint Joseph St. Teresaof Avila
    MASS SCHEDULE Sunday 9:00 AM - Creole 11:00 AM - English 1:30 PM - Spanish THE Weekdays CO-CATHEDRAL 8:00 AM - English 8:30 AM - Creole OF SAINT JOSEPH 9:00 AM - Spanish DECEMBER 20TH, 2020 CO-CATHEDRAL AND ST. TERESA STAFF PARISH RECTOR CHRISTMAS SCHEDULE The Reverend Monsignor Kieran E. Harrington CHRISTMAS EVE [email protected] Thursday, December 24th PAROCHIAL VICAR 4:00 PM - Mass at St. Teresa of Avila (English) The Reverend Israel Perez Midnight - Mass at Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph (Trilingual) [email protected] CHRISTMAS DAY PAROCHIAL VICAR The Reverend Pascal Louis Friday, December 25th [email protected] 9:00 AM - Mass at St. Teresa of Avila (Creole) 10:00 AM - Mass at St. Teresa of Avila (English) DEACON 11:00 AM - Mass at Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph (English) Deacon Fausto Duran [email protected] 1:30 PM - Mass at Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph (Spanish) **THESE ARE THE ONLY MASSES FOR THE DAY** DEACON/RCIA DIRECTOR Deacon Manuel H. Quintana NOCHE BUENA [email protected] Jueves 24 de diciembre PARISH SECRETARY 4:00 PM - Misa en Sta. Teresa de Ávila (Ingles) Fabiola Edmond Medianoche - Misa en la Co-Catedral de San José (Trilingüe) [email protected] DÍA DE NAVIDAD ADMINISTRATOR Bill Slattery Viernes 25 de diciembre [email protected] 9:00 AM - Misa en Sta. Teresa of Ávila (Creole) 10:00 AM - Misa en Sta. Teresa de Ávila (Ingles) CCD DIRECTORS 11:00 AM - Misa en la Co-Catedral de San José (Ingles) Ms. Jessica Figueroa 1:30 PM - Misa en la Co-Catedral de San José (Español) [email protected] **SON LAS ÚNICAS MISAS DEL DIA** Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Christian Mystical Tradition This Course Will Inspire Your Heart and Stir Your Spirit
    The Christian Mystical Tradition This course will inspire your heart and stir your spirit. Called in a special way to listen to God's whispers, the mystics show us the deepest recesses of the human spirit. As great masters of the interior life, they reveal the art of loving God, neighbor, self, and the world. We will explore the passionate varieties of the mystical life by focusing upon eleven significant figures. We will begin with Ignatius of Loyola and his finding of God in all things before looking at the apophatic mysticism of the Cloud of Unknowing. Next, we will explore the classical mysticisms of Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Catherine of Siena, whom many consider to be the apex of the Christian mystical tradition. We will also encounter the intriguing, optimistic, and visionary mysticism of Julian of Norwich. As we move along this mystical journey, we will discover the captivating mysticism of Francis de Sales and Angela of Foligno. We will then explore Karl Rahner's mysticism of everyday life, the masses, and the classical masters. Finally, after considering Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's transposition of mysticism into cosmic and evolutionary terms, we will be moved by the astonishing suffering servant mysticism of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Each of these mystics will deepen your relationship with God. With Fr. Egan as your guide, you will unlock the mystery of mysticism. His teaching is truly outstanding. Let the great mystics of our tradition speak to you today. We shall eleven mystical giants. Before it makes sense to examine individual mystics, it behooves us to first examine Christian mysticism, its goal, its context, and common - but erroneous - conceptions of mysticism in our culture.
    [Show full text]
  • The Franciscan Mariological School and the Coredemptive Movement
    Marian Studies Volume 59 The Cooperation of the Virgin Mary in Article 8 Redemption 2008 The rF anciscan Mariological School and the Coredemptive Movement Peter Fehlner Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies Part of the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Fehlner, Peter (2008) "The rF anciscan Mariological School and the Coredemptive Movement," Marian Studies: Vol. 59, Article 8. Available at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/marian_studies/vol59/iss1/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Marian Library Publications at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marian Studies by an authorized editor of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Fehlner: Franciscan School and the Coredemption THE FRANCISCAN MAmoLOGICAL ScHOOL AND THE COREDEMPTIVE MOVEMENT Fr. Peter Fehlner, EL * Many years ago, during a casual conversation, Fr. Juniper Carol, founder of the Mariological Society of America, men­ tioned to me the three crusades, during the half century between 1927 and 1977, of Fr. Charles Balle, the indefatigable promoter of Mary Immaculate and of the subtle Marian Doctor, Bl.John Duns Scotus.These crusades were 1) the anti-debitist, linked to the promotion of the Immaculate Conception in the speculative realm, 2) the coredemptive, and 3) the assumptionist.1 The first, although now attracting little attention from the­ ologians, surely deserves more, since its objective is to counter tendencies, still very much alive in the Church and among var­ ious groups of theologians, to minimize the essential difference between preservative and liberative redemption, and so the crucial practical import of the dogma.
    [Show full text]
  • Alienata Da' Sensi: Reframing Bernini's S. Teresa
    133 ALIENATA DA’ SENSI: REFRAMING BERNINI’S S. TERESA Andrea Bolland Abstract Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa for the Cornaro Chapel (1647–52) is perhaps the artist’s most sensually- charged creation, and the apparently physical nature of Teresa’s ecstasy is today even acknowledged in survey textbooks. Teresa herself opened the door to this reading when, in describing her spiritual ecstasy, she admitted that ‘the body doesn’t fail to share in some of it, and even a great deal’. Yet the balance between sense and spirit in the sculpture emerges somewhat differently if it is viewed (literally and figuratively) in context: as an altarpiece in a chapel where its presentation is structured as a ‘performance’, complete with spectators or witnesses, and as the central image of the left transept of Santa Maria della Vittoria – a church whose dedication derives from the power of the image (the Madonna della vittoria) displayed above the main altar. If the statue group is read as a divine ecstasy witnessed, rather than a mystic encounter experienced, it engages another discourse, with its own metaphors and meanings. The saint’s swoon has less to do with the erotic capacity of the senses than with their absence, presenting a rather different challenge to an artist celebrated for his ability to transform insensate stone into vulnerable flesh. Keywords: ecstasy, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Cornaro chapel, miracle-working image, Domenico Bernini, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Teresa of Avila DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5456/issn.2050-3679/2015w08 Biographical note Andrea Bolland is associate professor of renaissance and baroque art history at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.
    [Show full text]
  • L:T ,Lfirq 3,'['. H]'-Tf
    Oat $t-tcl' ry5, 4llg -t Np 7),t'r-l:lrr.*f= -tF [.] i'l {** l:t ,lfirq I 3,'['.H]'[1* i\ l Li !t TuuMooRMAN ConECTroN Sr. Fnlxcts wAsNEVER sENTIMENTAL, BUT RATHER A "TERRIFyING pERsoN" wHo srllt ToDAy"THRowsDowN ACHALLENGEToTHE vALUEs oF A MATERIAtrsrrc soclEry" ACCoRDINGTooNEoFTHE GREATEST scHoLARs or FRlNcrscANHrsroRy lBv Lucv Gononn Library: The Placeto Book Into" waspublished as an "Of Books,Art, and People"essay in ITV ast July, thanksto the generosityof Visit February2006. Britain in New York City, Rail Europe, The purposeof my returnvisit wasto studyin L and the tourist boardfor Ensland'sNorth greaterdepth the MoormanCollection, the Country,as well asthe hospitalityof the warden, largestcollection of memorabilia(2,000 books) the Rev. PeterFrancis, I had the opportunityto concerningSt. Francisof Assisi and early Fran- return to St. Deiniol's Library at Hawardenin ciscanhistory ever to be in privatehands, as well North Wales. asthe life of JohnMoorman, donor to St. Dein- For nearlya decadeI had written extensively iol's Libraryas a bequestin 1989. for a worldwideaudience about this "intellectual "Moormanchose St. Deiniol'sbecause he hospice,"founded at his homeby William Ewart knewour formerwarden, Rev. Peter Jagger, well; Gladstone(1809-1889), four timesprime minis- becausehe wantedhis materialsto be available ter of England,"for the promotionof Divine open-accessto scholarsat a library alreadywell- learning."One of my articles,"St. Deiniol's knownfor its theologicalcontent; and because he INSIDE THE VATICAN February 2007 wantedhis collectionto stayin Britain, but not in a big library wasthe copy; A NewFioretti (1946, a collectionof earlystories with bureaucraticaccess restrictions," Patsy Williams, head of St.Francis previously untranslated); and a biography(1950), librarian.told me.
    [Show full text]
  • Jacopone Da Todi, Poet and Mystic--1228-1306, a Spiritual Biography
    ^^^:^jM~ ' - —r.^550*:=Si^^^rgt 4-4 -7 Z. *•> 3t^^, ^m lark BOUGHT WITH THE IN-COME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE i".'! ':.: ... 1891 Date Due OLIN LIBRARY - CIRCULATION DATE DUE ^fp 42-80- 3L*' 3 1924 027 773 344 JACOPONE da TODI BY EVELYN UNDERHILL THE GREY WORLD THE LOST WORD THE COLUMN OF DUST THE MIRACLES OF OUR LADY ST. MARY. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. MYSTICISM: A Study in the nature and development of man's spiritual consciousness. THE MYSTIC WAY: A psycholo- gical Study in Christian origins. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. PRACTICAL MYSTICISM: A little book for normal people. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. IMMANENCE: A book of verses. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. THEOPHANIES: A book of verses. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. RUYSBROECK. Preface by Evelyn Underhill. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027773344 JACOPONE DA TODI From a manuscript in (he Laurentian Library, Florence JACOPONE da TODI POET AND MYSTIC— 1 22 8-1 306 A SPIRITUAL BIOGRAPHY BY EVELYN UNDERHILL WITH A- SELECTION FROM THE SPIRITUAL SONGS THE ITALIAN TEXT TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE BY Mrs. THEODORE BECK J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. LONDON AND TORONTO. 1919 NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON ^ CO. ' A 4 b^^ 4-1 Amor che dai fonna ad omnia c' ha forma, la forma tua reforma I'omo ch'6 deformato.
    [Show full text]