British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
14TH BRITISH ACADEMY POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP SYMPOSIUM
Abstract
'The Crucifix replied to him in a loud voice': Sculptural Interactions in Late Medieval Italy
Dr Peter Dent
In the Life of Blessed Giacomo da Bevagna, the thirteenth-century Dominican friar sets out for Perugia in search of a new habit, but ends up buying a wooden crucifix instead. Later, standing in devotion in front of this image, he asks Christ for a drop of his precious blood as a sign of his salvation. Miraculously, the sculpted figure replies, and a spurt of blood and water hits the friar full in the face. Out of piety, he chooses to go for some time without washing. This extraordinary event stimulates at least four of the five traditional senses: vision, through the sight of Christ Crucified; hearing through the sound of a voice issuing from the sculpted mouth; touch, via the impact of the blood and water; and taste in the sweetness of the drops that fall on his lips. Remarkably, in this case the wooden crucifix that may have been the object of the friar's devotion still survives in the church of SS. Domenico e Giacomo at Bevegna in Umbria.
In this paper, Peter Dent will examine a number of such encounters. Some of them, like Fra Giacomo's, purport to record actual interactions with sculpted objects, while others, such as Dante's famous description of the marble reliefs on the mountain of Purgatory in the Divine Comedy, are the product of literary invention. But in all of these accounts, the beholder experiences a range of sensory stimuli. What can the nature of these events tell us about the role of sculpted images in late medieval Italy? What expectations did viewers bring to such experiences? And, what responses were sculptors seeking to provoke?
Having explored these issues, Peter will bring the paper to a conclusion by considering some of the broad methodological questions raised by engaging with material of this sort. While the dynamics of such encounters can often be explained through careful reconstruction of the relevant cultural and historical contexts, for example, is there anything to be gained by moving beyond such close contextual study to draw on insights derived from other fields of study, such as perceptual psychology, phenomenology or sculptural aesthetics?
Dr Peter Dent read Modern History and English at Merton College, Oxford, before taking an MA in the History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, where he also completed a Ph.D. on 'The Body of Christ in Fourteenth-Century Tuscan Sculpture'. At present, he is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art where he is working on 'Sculpture and the Senses in Late Medieval Italy'. He has organised an international conference on 'Sculpture and Touch' that will take place in May 2008.