Spectacular Miracles

Transforming Images in Italy from the Renaissance to the Present

Nonfiction, Art & Architecture, Art History, European, General Art
Cover of the book Spectacular Miracles by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser, Reaktion Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser ISBN: 9781780231426
Publisher: Reaktion Books Publication: June 15, 2013
Imprint: Reaktion Books Language: English
Author: Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
ISBN: 9781780231426
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Publication: June 15, 2013
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Language: English

Winner of the ACE / Mercers' Book Award 2014

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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Winner of the ACE / Mercers' Book Award 2014

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.

More books from Reaktion Books

Cover of the book Tango by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Bridge by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Korean Art from the 19th Century to the Present by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book The Good Brexiteers Guide to English Lit by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Salad by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Albrecht Altdorfer and the Origins of Landscape by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Posters by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Igor Stravinsky by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Michel Foucault by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book City and Cosmos by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Landscape and Englishness by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book A Philosophy of Boredom by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Reflections on Baroque by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book Jan van Eyck by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
Cover of the book The Destruction of Memory by Jane Garnett, Gervase Rosser
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy