The Cults of Saints in Latin Americarenaissance Art in Europe

Apr 25–July 16, 2006 at the Getty Center

From the fall of the Roman Empire in nearly 476 until the advent of the Lutheran Reformation in 1517, the "cult of saints" was one of the central forms of religious expression in Western Europe. Saints were petitioned for assistance in times of need and provided models of pious behavior. The true-blue sought contact with the bodily remains of saints (relics) in the hopes of miraculous cures, built churches in their names, and fashioned their images in sculpture and painting. This exhibition explores this important phenomenon, focusing on manuscripts in the Getty Museum'due south drove that contain devotional images of saints and illustrations from their lives. Saint Anthony, seen above, led a solitary, ascetic life in the late 200s. In the late 1100s he became known as a protector of both animals and humans from disease. Here St. Anthony is depicted with his followers, who are gathered at his anxiety.

The Celestial Court Medieval Christians believed the saints resided with God in heaven but were listening to the prayers of the faithful on earth who asked for their assistance and intercession. Inside the heavenly ranks there was both a bureaucracy and a categorization of saints. The apostles and John the Baptist were first in rank. And then came a number of postbiblical types: martyrs (those who died for their faith), confessors, and virgins. The virgin saints depicted hither hold prayer books in their laps equally they sit humbly on the ground with flowing golden locks and creamy complexions that heighten their desirability. The battle against desires of the flesh was an important theme in many saints' lives, but it was especially significant among female saints.

Miraculous Interventions 1 of the criteria for being a saint was beingness able to work miracles. Oftentimes this came in the form of healing the ill or saving people in trouble. Sometimes these miracles included visionary experiences. Medieval believers understood that saints frequently received divine interventions through works of fine art that came to life. This miniature depicts a vision that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153) experienced before a statue of the Virgin. While reciting a prayer to the Virgin Mary, the Ave Maris Stella (Hail, Star of the Ocean), he uttered the phrase written above the Virgin's head: Monstra te esse matrem (Testify yourself to be a mother). The statue came to life, and drops of milk, representing the gift of life, vicious from the Virgin'due south breast onto his lips.

Death and Devotion Death was primal to the cult of saints. Non just did saints answer prayers from their position in sky, just their human remains still existed on world. Known every bit relics, these remains of a saint's body (such as a finger or a jawbone) were believed to represent the whole saint. Enshrined in gilt, relics were thought to take miraculous powers, making the graves of saints the focus of pilgrimage. In this image, we see Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris who was beheaded around the year 250. Accompanied past angels, he carries his own head to his burial site where the church of St. Denis was later congenital. The artist gave the saint two halos, one behind his decapitated caput and some other backside the stump of his neck, emphasizing the Saint's full presence in each part of his body and the incorruptibility of his physical remains.

Piety and Practice Saints were also important equally models of piety whose behavior could be imitated. Diverse religious orders were founded by men or women who became such role models. Here we see Saint Bernward, the founder of the Abbey of Saint Michael at Hildesheim and a role model for his monastic community. The monks who lived at Saint Michael's generations after his decease, when this manuscript was fabricated, are shown at Bernward's anxiety and in the frame around him. The illumination depicts Saint Bernward as protector of the monks of his monastery. In a higher place, an angel gives the saint a cantankerous. The Latin text on the scroll over his arm reads, "No danger endures before this sign." The kneeling monk who touches Bernward's feet, pleads, "Remember your congregation."

Patronage and Prayer In the belatedly Center Ages (most 1300–1550) the book of hours was the most pop blazon of devotional book. A section in these books contained short prayers to the saints. Saints included were often the saintly patrons of the book's owner. Saint Christopher, an enormously popular saint, is depicted in this book of hours. According to legend, he was assigned the task of helping travelers cantankerous a river. One mean solar day, a child asked to be ferried. Christopher had difficulty because of the male child'southward boggling weight. The kid then told him that he was conveying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Information technology was Jesus who rode upon his back. Thus, Christopher became the patron saint of travelers. The exhibition is located at the Getty Centre, Museum, North Pavilion.

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Source: https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/cult_saints/

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