Stigmatics and Visual Culture in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy

Stigmatics and Visual Culture in Late Medieval and Early Modern Italy

This book places the discourse surrounding stigmata within the visual culture of the late medieval and early modern periods, with a particular focus on Italy and on female stigmatics. Echoing, and to a certain extent recreating, the wounds and pain inflicted on Christ during his passion, stigmata stimulated controversy. Related to this were issues that were deeply rooted in contemporary visual culture such as how stigmata were described and performed and whether, or how, it was legitimate to represent stigmata in visual art. Because of the contested nature of stigmata and because stigmata did not always manifest in the same form - sometimes invisible, sometimes visible only periodically, sometimes miraculous, and sometimes self-inflicted - they provoked complex questions and reflections relating to the nature and purpose of visual representation.
  • Cover
  • Table of Contents
  • Acknowledgements
  • List of Illustrations
    • 1. Sassetta (Stefano di Giovanni), Ecstasy of Saint Francis, 1437–1444, tempera on wood, 190 x 122 cm, Villa I Tatti, Florence.
    • 2. Reliquary of Saint Francis of Assisi, circa 1330, Limoges enamel (gilded copper, champlevé enamel on gilded copper, crystals), Louvre, Paris, inv. OA 4083.
    • 3. Penitence, the third way of praying, from De modo orandi, folio 7r, MS Lat. Rossianus 3, fifteenth century, Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican City, Rome.
    • 4. Master of the Dossal of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Francis with Stories of His Life (Orte Dossal), circa 1260, tempera and gold on wood, 173 x 83 cm, Museo di Arte Sacra, Orte.
    • 5. Master of the Dossal of Saint John the Baptist, Saint Francis with Stories of His Life (Orte Dossal), detail showing the episode with Canon Ruggero, circa 1260, tempera and gold on wood, Museo di Arte Sacra, Orte.
    • 6. Crucifix of San Damiano, twelfth century, tempera on wood, 190 x 120 cm, Santa Chiara, Assisi.
    • 7. Crucifix of the Stigmata of Saint Catherine of Siena, twelfth century, tempera on wood, Oratory of the Crucifix, Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, Siena.
    • 8. Rutilio Manetti, Saint Catherine Receiving the Stigmata, 1630, oil on canvas, Oratory of the Crucifix, Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, Siena.
    • 9. Giovanni di Paolo, Saint Catherine Receiving the Stigmata, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, 27.9 x 20 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975, 1975.1.34.
    • 10. Giovanni di Paolo, Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, painted surface 28.9 x 28.9 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann, 1996,
    • 11. Giovanni di Paolo, Saint Catherine’s Prayer and Christ resuscitating her Mother, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, painted surface 27.9 x 21.9 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975, 1975.1.33.
    • 12. Giovanni di Paolo, Miraculous Communion of Saint Catherine, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, 28.9 x 22.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931, 32.100.95.
    • 13. Giacomo Pacchiarotti (attrib.), Saint Catherine of Siena receiving the Stigmata, early-sixteenth century, fresco, Oratorio della Tintoria, Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, Siena.
    • 14. Domenico Beccafumi, Saint Catherine of Siena receiving the Stigmata, 1513–1515, oil and gold leaf on wood, 28.6 x 41.6 cm, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 97.PB.25.
    • 15. Matteo Balducci or Giacomo Pacchiarotti (attrib.), Stigmatization of Saint Francis, Pietà, Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata, sixteenth century, tempera on panel, 37 x 193.5 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, n. inv. 406.
    • 16. Andrea di Bartolo, Five Dominican Beatae, 1394–1398, tempera on wood, 56 x 97 cm, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice.
    • 17. Bernardino Fungai, Stigmatization of Saint Catherine of Siena, 1495–1497, Oratory of the Confraternity of Santa Caterina in Fontebranda (Oratorio della Cucina), Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, Siena.
    • 18. Domenico Beccafumi, Stigmatization of Saint Catherine of Siena, 1514–1515, oil on wood, 208 x 156 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, n. inv. 420.
    • 19. Giovanni di Paolo, detail of Saint Catherine Receiving the Stigmata, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975, 1975.1.34.
    • 20. Giovanni di Paolo, Saint Catherine and the Beggar, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, 28.7 x 28.9 cm, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust, 1966.3.
    • 21. Giovanni di Paolo, Saint Catherine of Siena Exchanging Her Heart with Christ, circa 1447–1465, tempera and gold on wood, 29.8 x 24.1 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann
    • 22. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Stigmatizations of Francis of Assisi, Helen of Hungary, Walter of Strasbourg, Catherine of Siena, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 81, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intron
    • 23. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Stigmatizations of Francis of Assisi, Helen of Hungary, Walter of Strasbourg, Catherine of Siena, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, folio 29r, cod. Lat. 1574, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Universitaria, Bo
    • 24. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Saint Dominic, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 56, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena.
    • 25. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Catherine of Siena, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 57, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena.
    • 26. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Henry Suso, Bridget, Mark, Pietro Petroni, James, Tarsilla, and Catherine of Siena, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 57, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena.
    • 27. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Saint Jerome beaten by an Angel, Catherine of Siena receives the Crown of Thorns from Christ, an Angel removes the Heart of a Hermit, Christ exchanges his Heart with that of Catherine of Siena, Christ transfixes Catherine
    • 28. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Christ exchanges his Heart with that of Catherine of Siena, Christ transfixes Catherine’s Left Hand with a Nail, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 58, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comuna
    • 29. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Catherine of Siena, Clare of Montefalco, and Margaret of Città di Castello, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 59, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena.
    • 30. Cristoforo Cortese (attrib.), Crucified Saints, the Ten Thousand Martyrs, Saint Peter Martyr, from Tommaso Caffarini, Libellus de Supplemento, p. 65, MS Segn. T.I.2, fifteenth century, Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati, Siena.
    • 31. Imploring Divine Power, the sixth way of praying, from De modo orandi, folio 10r, MS Lat. Rossianus 3, fifteenth century, Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican City, Rome.
    • 32. Fra Angelico, Fiesole Altarpiece (Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints Thomas Aquinas, Barnabas, Dominic and Peter Martyr), 1419–1425, tempera and gold on wood, 212 x 237 cm, San Domenico, Fiesole.
    • 33. Fra Angelico (attrib.), Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven, central predella panel from the Fiesole Altarpiece, circa 1423–1424, egg tempera and gold on wood, 31.7 x 73 cm, National Gallery, London, NG633.1.
    • 34. Fra Angelico (attrib.), Virgin Mary with the Apostles and Other Saints, left predella panel from the Fiesole Altarpiece, circa 1423–1424, egg tempera and gold on wood, 32 x 64 cm, National Gallery, London, NG633.2.
    • 35. Fra Angelico (attrib.), Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs, right predella panel from the Fiesole Altarpiece, circa 1423–1424, egg tempera and gold on wood, 31.9 x 63.5 cm, National Gallery, London, NG633.3.
    • 36. Fra Angelico (attrib.), The Dominican Blessed, far left predella panel from the Fiesole Altarpiece, circa 1423–1424, egg tempera and gold on wood, 31.8 x 21.9 cm, National Gallery, London, NG633.4.
    • 37. Fra Angelico (attrib.), The Dominican Blessed, far right predella panel from the Fiesole Altarpiece, circa 1423–1424, egg tempera and gold on wood, 31.6 x 21.9 cm, National Gallery, London, NG633.5.
    • 38. Master of the Dominican Effigies, Christ and the Virgin Mary with Dominican Saints and Blesseds, circa 1340, tempera and gold leaf on panel, 117.8 x 56 cm, Museo e Chiostri Monumentali di Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
    • 39. Unknown painter from the Veneto, Saint Margaret of Hungary, San Nicolò, Treviso, second half of the fourteenth century, fresco.
    • 40. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 41. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Blessed Bartolo Buonpedoni of San Gimignano, detail of the predella panel of Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 42. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Saint Catherine of Siena, detail of the predella panel of Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 43. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Christ as Man of Sorrows, detail of the predella panel of Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 44. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Margaret of Hungary, detail of the predella panel of Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 45. Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Fina of San Gimignano, detail of the predella panel of Virgin and Child with Saints, 1494, tempera on panel, Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
    • 46. Lorenzo di Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, Reliquary Tabernacle with Scenes from the Life of Fina, early-fifteenth century, tempera on panel, Civic Museums, San Gimignano.
    • 47. Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (il Sodoma), Swooning of Saint Catherine of Siena after the Stigmatization, 1526, fresco, Chapel of Saint Catherine, San Domenico, Siena.
    • 48. Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (il Sodoma), Vision of Saint Catherine of Siena after the Stigmatization, 1526, fresco, Chapel of Saint Catherine, San Domenico, Siena.
    • 49. Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (il Sodoma), The Execution of Niccolò di Tuldo, 1526, fresco, Chapel of Saint Catherine, San Domenico, Siena.
    • 50. Carlo Crivelli, Saint Peter Martyr, detail from the Ascoli-Piceno Altarpiece, circa 1476, tempera on poplar, 90.5 x 26.5 cm, National Gallery, London, NG788.13.
    • 51. Cima da Conegliano, Saint Peter Martyr with Saints Nicholas and Benedict, 1505–1506, oil on wood, 330 x 216 cm, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, inv. 177.
    • 52. Bartolomeo Bulgarini, Saint Peter Martyr, detail of the San Gimignano Polyptych, circa 1353–1355, tempera on panel, Asciano, Salini Collection.
    • 53. Giovanni Pietro and Giovanni Ambrogio De Donati, Dead Christ, 1490s, wooden articulated sculpture, Chapel 43 (The Holy Sepulchre), Sacro Monte di Varallo, Varallo, Piedmont.
    • 54. Giovanni Pietro and Giovanni Ambrogio De Donati, detail of Dead Christ, 1490s, wooden articulated sculpture, Chapel 43 (The Holy Sepulchre), Sacro Monte di Varallo, Varallo, Piedmont.
    • 55. Donatello, Crucifix with Articulated Arms, circa 1412–1413, polychromed wood, 168 x 173 cm, Santa Croce, Florence.
    • 56. Donatello, detail of Crucifix with Articulated Arms, circa 1412–1413, polychromed wood, Santa Croce, Florence.
    • 57. Fabio Angelucci da Mevale, Madonna and Child with Saints Joseph, Anthony of Padua, Francis of Assisi and the Archangel Gabriel, 1577, fresco, San Francesco, Trevi, Perugia.
    • 58. Nikolaus Tzafouris, The Diamond Triptych (Mandylion, Saint George Slaying the Dragon, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anthony of Padua, the Deësis), detail of open triptych with Deësis (middle), Saint Francis (left wing), Saint Anthony of Padua (right
    • 59. Nikolaus Tzafouris, The Diamond Triptych (Mandylion, Saint George Slaying the Dragon, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anthony of Padua, the Deësis), detail of closed triptych with Mandylion (external right wing), after 1453, egg tempera on wood, 27.3 x
    • 60. Tobias, Stimmer (attrib.), Saint Francis ‘anatomized’ by his Fellow Criminals, circa 1570–1571, woodcut, 13.3 x 23.7 cm, from Johann Fischart, Der Barafuesser Secten und Kuttensteit, British Museum, London, 1880,0710.887.
    • 61. Tobias, Stimmer (attrib.), detail of Saint Catherine of Siena, from Saint Francis ‘anatomized’ by his Fellow Criminals, circa 1570–1571, woodcut, from Johann Fischart, Der Barafuesser Secten und Kuttensteit, British Museum, London, 1880,0710.887.
    • 62. Paolo Uccello, Crucifixion Triptych, mid-1450s, gold and tempera on wood, 45.7 x 55.5 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J. Heinemann, 1996, 1997.117.9.
    • 63. Paolo Uccello, Saint Bridget of Sweden, detail of the left wing of the Crucifixion Triptych, mid-1450s, gold and tempera on wood, 45.7 x 14.3 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of Lore Heinemann, in memory of her husband, Dr. Rudolf J.
    • 64. Maso da San Friano (attrib.), Saint Bridget of Sweden, circa 1545–1585, oil on wood, 116.2 x 45.1 cm, York Art Gallery, York, presented by F.D. Lycett Green through The Art Fund, 1955.
    • 65. Paolo Uccello, Profanation of the Host, first scene from the predella of the Communion of the Apostles, 1467–1468, tempera on wood, 41 x 58.5 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.
    • 66. Joos van Ghent, Communion of the Apostles, 1473–1475, oil on wood, 331 x 335 cm, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.
    • 67. Joos van Ghent, detail of the Communion of the Apostles, 1473–1475, oil on wood, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino.
    • 68. Luca Signorelli, Communion of the Apostles, 1512, oil on wood, 232 x 220 cm, Museo Diocesano, Cortona.
    • 69. Woman exchanging the Host for her Garment, from Giovanni Villani, Cronica, folio 149v, MS Chigi L.VIII.296, late-fourteenth century, Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican City, Rome.
    • 70. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Monument to Maria Raggi, circa 1647–1653, marble and gilt bronze, Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome.
    • 71. Workshop of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Model for the Monument to Maria Raggi, circa 1647, papier-mâché, Palazzo Venezia, Rome, inv. PV 10374.
    • 72. Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Pen and Ink Sketch for the Monument to Maria Raggi, circa 1647, Arch. Chigi, Cartella A, inv. 24910, Vatican Apostolic Library, Vatican City, Rome.
    • 73. Plautilla Nelli (attrib.), Saint Catherine of Siena with a Lily, sixteenth century, oil on panel, 39 x 28.5 cm, Museo Diocesano San Rufino, Assisi.
    • 74. Bartolomé Carducho, Stigmatization of Saint Francis, 1600, oil on canvas, 263 x 173 cm, Colegio Fundación de Santamarca, Madrid, inv. 228.
    • 75. Camillo Procaccini, Stigmatization of Saint Francis, 1593, etching, 51 x 33.8 cm, British Museum, London, U,5.133.
    • 76. Carlo Crivelli, Virgin and Child with Saints Francis and Sebastian, 1491, egg and oil on poplar, 175.3 x 151.1 cm, National Gallery, London, presented by Elizabeth Mary, widow of the second Marquess of Westminster, 1870, NG807.
    • 77. Carlo Crivelli, Saint Francis, detail from the Ascoli-Piceno Altarpiece, circa 1476, tempera on poplar, National Gallery, London, NG788.6.
  • 1. Introduction: Stigmata and Visual Culture
  • 2. Saint Francis of Assisi as Image
  • 3. Representing the Invisible: Saint Catherine of Siena’s Stigmatization
  • 4. The Stigmatic Spectrum and the Visual Arts
  • 5. Gregorio Lombardelli, Invisibility, and the Representation of Saint Catherine of Siena’s Stigmata
  • 6. Performing Stigmata
  • 7. Painting, Printing, Sculpting, Forgery (and Washing)
  • 8. Conclusion: The Timidity of the Visual Arts
  • Complete Bibliography
  • Index

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