To date scholarly research has tended to focus the attention on the most famous centre of artistic production in Renaissance Italy. These studies, undoubtedly valuable, lead to relative neglect of provinces and their local identities, and run the risk misrepresenting the complexity of the 16th century. Furthermore, the existing literature is far too often limited to an examination of a single piece of art and rarely explored as multifaceted phenomenon. This research investigates the relationship between sacred space and its function in a comparative way through a case study in the Venetian Republic between the 16th and 17th centuries, a key transitional period. Through an interdisciplinary approach, it seeks to understand the organisation of the space in relation to its function, form and spatiality. By studying the ways in which liturgical and musical needs influence church interior, this thesis addresses these issues by means of a main case study on the westernmost boundaries of the Venetian mainland empire, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, which is explored through the interconnections of the church with the Confraternity of the Misericordia Maggiore, proprietor of the Basilica, as well as with other larger regional processes. Analyses of the 16th and 17th centuries manuscripts sources are critical to this approach as they shed light on contemporaneous negotiation of local political and religious imperatives. By interpreting patterns of source-survival and employing hitherto unexamined sources, it is possible to understand the history of the sacred space of the Bergamask Basilica as a local but significant case in the Renaissance Venetian Republic, in which the life of the confraternity influenced and shaped both space and liturgy for a common purpose: 'per eccitar il popolo al concorso et alla divotione'. - Chapter III was presented in shortened and abridged form at the "New Directions in Renaissance Italy" Conference (November 2012) at the University of Edinburgh, with a paper entitled "'Stettero molti cantori sopra l'organo et in choro', performance practices and architectural settings. Chapter V, and VI.5 were presented at the PG-NOISIS Network of Italian Studies in Scotland (September 2013) at the University of St Andrews with the title "Magnificentia, Devotion and Civic Piety in the Venetian Mainland Empire" and at The Visual Arts and Music in Renaissance Europe c. 1400-1650 Second Annual Postgraduate Renaissance Symposium, Renaissance Art & Music AHRC project, The Courtald Institute of Art in London (January 2014) with the title "Per eccitar il popolo al concorso, et alla divotione'. The relationship between architectural and music patronage in Northern Italian Renaissance Church Interiors". Chapter VI.3 and VI.4 were presented at the European Architectural History Network, Turin (June 2014) with the title "Liturgy, Devotion and Civic Piety in Northern Italian Renaissance Sacred Spaces" and at the Society for Renaissance Studies 6th Biennial Conference (July 2014) at the University of Southampton with the title " Pro majori devotione': Performance Practices and Architectural Layouts in the Lombard-Venetian area".

‘Per eccitar il popolo al concorso et alla divotione’. Art, Music and Liturgy between ‘Pietas’ and ‘Magnificenza’ at the Confraternity of the Misericordia Maggiore on the Venetian Mainland (15th-17th c.) / Vai, Emanuela. - (2015).

‘Per eccitar il popolo al concorso et alla divotione’. Art, Music and Liturgy between ‘Pietas’ and ‘Magnificenza’ at the Confraternity of the Misericordia Maggiore on the Venetian Mainland (15th-17th c.)

VAI, EMANUELA
2015

Abstract

To date scholarly research has tended to focus the attention on the most famous centre of artistic production in Renaissance Italy. These studies, undoubtedly valuable, lead to relative neglect of provinces and their local identities, and run the risk misrepresenting the complexity of the 16th century. Furthermore, the existing literature is far too often limited to an examination of a single piece of art and rarely explored as multifaceted phenomenon. This research investigates the relationship between sacred space and its function in a comparative way through a case study in the Venetian Republic between the 16th and 17th centuries, a key transitional period. Through an interdisciplinary approach, it seeks to understand the organisation of the space in relation to its function, form and spatiality. By studying the ways in which liturgical and musical needs influence church interior, this thesis addresses these issues by means of a main case study on the westernmost boundaries of the Venetian mainland empire, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, which is explored through the interconnections of the church with the Confraternity of the Misericordia Maggiore, proprietor of the Basilica, as well as with other larger regional processes. Analyses of the 16th and 17th centuries manuscripts sources are critical to this approach as they shed light on contemporaneous negotiation of local political and religious imperatives. By interpreting patterns of source-survival and employing hitherto unexamined sources, it is possible to understand the history of the sacred space of the Bergamask Basilica as a local but significant case in the Renaissance Venetian Republic, in which the life of the confraternity influenced and shaped both space and liturgy for a common purpose: 'per eccitar il popolo al concorso et alla divotione'. - Chapter III was presented in shortened and abridged form at the "New Directions in Renaissance Italy" Conference (November 2012) at the University of Edinburgh, with a paper entitled "'Stettero molti cantori sopra l'organo et in choro', performance practices and architectural settings. Chapter V, and VI.5 were presented at the PG-NOISIS Network of Italian Studies in Scotland (September 2013) at the University of St Andrews with the title "Magnificentia, Devotion and Civic Piety in the Venetian Mainland Empire" and at The Visual Arts and Music in Renaissance Europe c. 1400-1650 Second Annual Postgraduate Renaissance Symposium, Renaissance Art & Music AHRC project, The Courtald Institute of Art in London (January 2014) with the title "Per eccitar il popolo al concorso, et alla divotione'. The relationship between architectural and music patronage in Northern Italian Renaissance Church Interiors". Chapter VI.3 and VI.4 were presented at the European Architectural History Network, Turin (June 2014) with the title "Liturgy, Devotion and Civic Piety in Northern Italian Renaissance Sacred Spaces" and at the Society for Renaissance Studies 6th Biennial Conference (July 2014) at the University of Southampton with the title " Pro majori devotione': Performance Practices and Architectural Layouts in the Lombard-Venetian area".
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11583/2618312
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo