Inscriptions on Painted Crosses and the Spaces of Personal and Communal Meditation
Herbert Leon Kessler
Acta ad archaeologiam et artium historiam pertinentia October 25, 2011 DOI: 10.5617/acta.5780 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that the inscriptions accompanying Passion scenes on two twelfth-century Italian painted crucifixes support an anagogical strategy intended for personal meditation on Christ's life, and that the crucifixes were conceived as manifestations of divine real presence. The author contends the scenes and texts engage the problem of Christ's two natures and map meditation itineraries onto the Crucifixion, with implications for liturgical and private devotional use. |
Abstract
Against the background of a general discussion of medieval devotional practices connected to the crucifix, this paper contributes to the study of the oversized, painted crucifixes prominent in central Italy from the eleventh century and onwards. The paper examines and discusses two recently cleaned Italian crosses from the twelfth century, one in Convent of Rosano near Florence and the other in the cathedral of Sarzana. Both include scenes from the Passion of Christ elucidated by inscriptions. The words accompanying the individual narratives support the overall anagogical strategy and were clearly intended for personal meditation on Christ’s life that focuses the viewer’s mind and elevates his or her contemplation. The crucifixes were conceived of as manifestations of divine real presence. Thus the narrative scenes and accompanying inscriptions actively engaged the problem of Christ’s two natures de facto and, in so doing, they mapped itineraries of meditation onto the pictured Crucifixion. The paper considers possible liturgical and devotional uses of the crucifixes, concluding that the inscriptions not only articulate the meaning of the imagery but also bear on their use(s) in liturgical and private spaces.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |