Cor ad cor loquitur: Burning Hearts and the Iconography of Divine Charity

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dc.contributor.advisorManca, Joseph
dc.creatorPalermo, Melisa Jeanette
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-17T13:39:45Z
dc.date.available2019-05-17T13:39:45Z
dc.date.created2018-05
dc.date.issued2018-04-20
dc.date.submittedMay 2018
dc.date.updated2019-05-17T13:39:45Z
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation examines the iconography of divine charity (caritas) through the image of the burning heart and heart-bearing saints known as cardiofori between the early sixteenth century and late eighteenth century to illuminate a crucial period of spiritual development in the Catholic Church. I focus primarily on Italian, Spanish, and French works because a majority of the representations of cardiofori come from those heavily Catholic countries, even in the depiction of saints who were not native to those lands. I also cover a small sampling from the Spanish Viceroyalties of New Spain and Peru because they were the most prolific art centers in the New World and were heavily influenced by the art and literature of Catholic Europe. These works are viewed in the context of the post-Tridentine Church, Catholic Reformation, and Counter-Reformation. While these three designations have different definitions, and characterize a particular movement within the Church, the spirituality that emerges at this time calls for a deepening personal responsibility for one’s spiritual life. This shift in spirituality called people to holiness, regardless of their station in life. The consensus among contemporary Catholic spiritual writers, following St. Paul’s lead, was that the best way to achieve Divine Union with God was through the virtue of charity. The hearts of those who cultivated charity burned, as seen in the allegorical representations addressed here. This burning heart mirrored the Heart of Jesus, that burns with love for humanity. The journey of the soul to God passed through the wounded side of Jesus; it meditated on the Passion of his corpus, to reach his cor. Reception and adoration of the Eucharist, the “Sacrament of Charity,” was central to understanding the love of God. In art, we see the transformation of the depiction of charity. In the earliest representations, charity is an allegorical personification; then the attribute is given to various saints whose lives and spirituality reference the heart and divine love. The saints, as models of Christian perfection, then make way for the viewer to be the direct recipient of God’s burning love. The culmination is the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, specifically when he is shown offering his heart (presumably in exchange) to the viewer. Anyone standing or kneeling before the image of Jesus and his Sacred Heart is offered and can access Christian perfection; this is the visualization of the universal call to holiness promoted by Catholic Reformation spiritual writers. One of the earliest saints depicted as a cardiophori is St. Augustine of Hippo (d. 430), whose writing on charity is notably influential in the lives of other heart-bearing saints. During the sixteenth century, when representations of these saints proliferated, St. Augustine’s iconography more frequently incorporated the burning heart. Perhaps as an indicator of St. Augustine’s continuous influence in Catholicism, several saints, particularly female ones, recorded mystical visions or interactions with him. Eventually, through the emphasis of personal holiness, images of hearts aflame and making their way to God (often symbolized by the Sacred Heart of Jesus) came to embody the spiritual character of the period and the concern of the Church. This study of the iconography of the cardiofori in the post-Tridentine period reveals how art was used not only to educate the illiterate but to promote and encourage a shifting spirituality, a personal, almost tangible mysticism.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.citationPalermo, Melisa Jeanette. "Cor ad cor loquitur: Burning Hearts and the Iconography of Divine Charity." (2018) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105622">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/105622</a>.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/105622
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectsacred heart
dc.subjectcardiofori
dc.subjectseventeenth-century art
dc.titleCor ad cor loquitur: Burning Hearts and the Iconography of Divine Charity
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentArt History
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanities
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.majorSeventeenth Century Art
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy
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