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This work assesses what happened to liturgical objects from Icelandic churches and monastic houses during and after the Lutheran Reformation, through an examination of written sources, such as inventories and Visitation books, and material evidence in museum collections and from archaeological excavations. The aim of this work is first, to assess the extent and nature of iconoclasm in Iceland and secondly to re-examine traditional narratives of the Icelandic Reformation in the light of material culture.

Artifacts pertaining to Buddhist culture are often studied in relation to their circulation from India throughout the rest of Asia; however, many traveled to Europe during the last few centuries as trade commodities and pieces for the art market, losing any devotional purpose in favor of a specific aesthetic sensitivity that was typically adapted to Western taste to appeal to collectors. This article presents a technical study of seven polychrome wooden sculptures from the Museo d’Arte Orientale (MAO) in Turin, Italy. Originally from China, these objects are generally attributed to the late Ming–early Qing dynasties (16th–18th centuries) based merely on stylistic and iconographic considerations. Scientific analysis sought to expand the available knowledge on their constituting materials and fabrication techniques, to address questions on their authenticity, to assess their state of preservation, and to trace the history of transformations they have undergone while transitioning from devotional objects to private collection and museum artwork. By delving into the sculptures’ intricate paint stratigraphy, the results were also key to guiding treatment choices. The outcomes of this study were featured in the MAO exhibition “Buddha10. A Fragmented Display on Buddhist Visual Evolution” (October 2022–September 2023).

The crowning of statues was a common practice in medieval cloisters, but at the north German convent of Wienhausen, the golden crowns of statues were confiscated by Observant reformers after the reformation of 1469. The nuns voiced distress at the loss of these crowns and made new Marian statues with elegant wooden crowns that were irremovable. The author puts the crowns worn by Mary in the context of the crowns worn by the nuns themselves and argues that such elaborate headdresses carried for the sisters many meanings; they include shaping female identity, signaling monastic commitment, and foreshadowing the rewards of heaven.

Focusing on The Book of Margery Kempe, this article argues that devotional objects such as the crucifix and the pietà functioned as a model for the performance of religious identity. Reading devotional objects as devotional “events,” using material culture and performance theory, the article will demonstrate that pastoral care texts and religious lyrics created an expectation that an encounter with a devotional object could be a powerful opportunity for religious self-fashioning. This was an opportunity that was available to Lollard as well as orthodox devotees and which, I will argue, was especially efficacious for laywomen. A detailed examination of Margery Kempe's encounter with the pietà and her experience in the house of a poor woman in Rome additionally reveals that such performances established female communities that operated outside of ecclesiastical control and renegotiated the contours of sacred space.

A prayer roll made for Margaret of Anjou (1430–1482), queen consort to Henry VI of England, has received little attention despite its production for a queen Shakespeare called the “shewolf of France.” Previous descriptions have characterized the roll as a conventional display of female piety and evidence of Margaret’s devotion to the Virgin Mary. However, closer attention reveals that, far from being conventional, the roll is an anomalous object on a number of counts. It is the only known illuminated roll devoted to the Virgin; its specific representation of the Virgin and Child is unprecedented; it contains none of the typical instructions to the devotee to place the roll close to the body; and it is nearly twice as wide as the average prayer roll. This article revises our understanding of the Margaret of Anjou roll by comparing it to a range of material beyond the intimate devotional objects to which it has been related previously. Consideration of the historical circumstances of Margaret’s arrival in England, records describing a ceremonial pageant that honored her, and objects associated with her highlights the political stakes attendant on Margaret’s assimilation of a Marian exemplar. Embodying features of the genealogical rolls disseminated in support of her husband, the Margaret of Anjou roll asserts a Marian genealogy for the queen tantamount to the monarchic lineages that legitimized her husband. By intertwining both Marian and genealogic discourse, the roll articulates how Margaret of Anjou was integral to the welfare of England.

The canonization of Carlo Borromeo in November 1610 caused an unprecedented demand for his portraits, from large-scale altarpieces to modest paintings and engravings for domestic use. This chapter will focus on the production and circulation of the devotional medals of San Carlo, the many miracle-working properties attributed to them, and the way church authorities sought to control the craze for these medals by granting (and subsequently annulling) indulgences associated with them.

English Discusses the miracle-working statuette in cast chalk and fluorite of Our Lady of Foy in the parish church of Notre-Dame de Foy at Foy-Notre-Dame, and its cult. Argues that the statuette is a late 16th or early 17th-c. copy of a 15th-c. model from Utrecht - or at least the northern Low Countries. Appended is a checklist of 17th-c. copies of Our Lady of Foy.

A treasury of the devotional art that has comforted and inspired millions of Catholics--portraying a remarkable gallery of saints.  Often used in daily rituals or given out at significant life events such as wakes and funerals, communions and confirmations, the holy card can be appreciated as both a religious tradition and a beautiful work of.

A keyboard player who is suddenly given a grand piano might struggle at first to make full use of the entire range of notes that is now on offer. Similarly, many of us are accustomed to play only the familiar, if rather dreary, sonatas of our particular tradition. In some cases, we can only play endless renditions ofChopsticks. What I hope has become clear is that there is a wealth of melody, harmony, and rhythm accessible to us. There are some big fat rachmaninovian chords to play. Some parts chime well with contemporary culture and deserve to be played

Catholics and Protestants alike frequently say that El Alberto is a harmonious town. Despite religious differences, they insist, they are bound together by their common heritage and by their strong tradition of collective labor. So pervasive is this notion of harmony that at first I had difficulty gathering Catholic stories about religious change. The first Catholic perspective on the past that I managed to gain came not from a resident of El Alberto, but rather from Lucita, a hñähñu cultural promoter who had participated in pastoral outreach efforts in El Alberto in the 1980s. By Lucita’s account, evangelicals did not