Sacred Ecosystems Images of Devotion, Performances and the Environment (4th–20th century)
The purpose of this thematic issue is to propose a detailed reflection on the interaction between sacred and profane cult images, their performative life, and their integration into the various “ecosystems” in which they exist.
The starting point of the present reflection is the notion of “iconic presence”, defined as an encounter between the viewer and the subject of worship mediated through an image, as proposed by Hans Belting. Furthermore, it still seeks to explore the importance of movement in creating such a state of “presence.” Whether it is the movement of the viewers who approach it, or the movement of the image itself, the hypothesis we want to explore here is how the movement itself contributes to the symbolic power of these images. “Presence” and “movement” then become the prerequisites for the main hypothesis of this volume i.e. that the power of mobile “devotional” images increases through their interaction with surrounding landscapes and cityscapes: processions within a rural perimeters, urban processions, images carried into battle, images that sanctify (and fertilize) fields with their presence, and images presented in the built-up area (e.g. celebrating the rulers) are at the heart of the reflection we wish to propose here.
We should add to this general question the decision to follow an extremely longue durée. From the perspective of visual studies and art history, such a perception is even more pertinent if we take into consideration selected expressions of the life of the “devotional” images, which, by all evidence, maintain premodern patterns throughout modernity and up to the beginning of the 20th century. Russian and Greek panel paintings – so-called “icons” and the most popular and thus reproduced devotional images in the Latin West – can be evocative in this regard, such as the Roman Acheiropoieta or the Salus Populi Romani. These images spread during the Counter-Reformation to all of Catholic Europe and then, thanks mainly to Catholic missions, to the colonies. Their acculturated presence was thus the origin of a rituality imposed by colonial oppression, but also, to a certain extent, a mirror of native traditions.
This volume is especially interested in questions such as (but not limited to) the following: ‘How were devotional images constructing ritual “ecosystems” in the Mediterranean space and beyond? How did these “devotional” images survive and transform after important moments of mass conversion and reconversion (including the counterreformation, colonization, the fall of the empires, and the conversion to socialism and communism)? What was the attitude of the authorities towards “devotional” images? Do these attitudes differ depending on time and space? How did elite image-conceivers and makers adapt their language in order to create effective “devotional” images to convey social, political, or religious messages?
