Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T00:50:56.156Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Gregorio Lombardelli, Invisibility, and the Representation of Saint Catherine of Siena’s Stigmata

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2022

Get access

Summary

Abstract

The promotion of Catherine of Siena's stigmata through their visual representation was strongly contested by the Franciscans supported, towards the end of the fifteenth century, by a pope from their own order, Sixtus IV. In response, Dominican apologists of the sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries made arguments supporting images of Catherine with stigmata. This chapter concentrates on the Sienese Dominican Gregorio Lombardelli whose views on the tasks of art were informed by discussions about the rationale for picturing the sacred and miraculous in the period following the Council of Trent. By placing Lombardelli's arguments within the context of post-Tridentine writings on art, this chapter contributes to scholarship on the plurality of discussions about the purposes of art during this period.

Keywords: Council of Trent, Gabriele Paleotti, Gregorio Lombardelli, saints’ attributes, art writing

The promotion of Catherine of Siena's (d. 1380) stigmata through their representation in the visual arts was strongly contested by the Franciscans who were supported, towards the end of the fifteenth century, by a pope from their own order, Sixtus IV (1471–1484). In response, and as part of an ongoing debate, Dominican apologists of the sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries made arguments designed to support images of Catherine with stigmata. This chapter concentrates on the writings of the Sienese Dominican Gregorio Lombardelli (d. circa 1613) whose views on the tasks of art were informed by discussions about the rationale for picturing the sacred and miraculous in the period following the Council of Trent (1545–1563). By placing Lombardelli's arguments about the representation of stigmata within the context of post-Tridentine writings on art, this chapter contributes to scholarship on the plurality of discussions about the purposes of art during this period.

Gregorio Lombardelli was a native of Siena who had trained as a doctor of theology and served as consultor to the Sienese Inquisition. He was also a prolific author of hagiographical literature and wrote lives of a number of Sienese holy people including the ninth-century shoemaker Blessed Sorore, reputedly the founder of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala; Saint Galgano (d. 1180/1181); and Aldobrandesca Ponzi (d. 1309).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×