Project Details
Projekt
Subproject 2: Imagination and Play. Exploring Variations in the Intermedial Discourse of Spiritual Love in the Early Modern Period
Subject Area
German Literary and Cultural Studies (Modern German Literature)
Art History
Art History
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 435118611
The aim of this subproject is to combine literary, neo-Latinist, art-historical and historical-theological expertise to investigate three notable examples of early modern emblems of spiritual love in their respective literary, pictorial, and devotional contexts. The main focus is on the following intermedial artefacts: first, a series of textually enhanced engravings titled Cor Jesu amanti sacrum (ca. 1600) by Antonius Wierix II; second, the collection Amoris divini et humani antipathia by the Capuchin Ludovicus van Leuven (1626/1629); and third, works by the Nuremberg polymath Georg Philipp Harsdörffer, such as the Andachts-Gemähle (1646), the Hertzbewegliche Sonntagsandachten (11649/1652), and the Stamm- und Stechbüchlein (11645/1654). This subproject will thus explore significant examples of early modern emblems of love that were reprinted multiple times in the 17th and 18th centuries, with some achieving widespread recognition across Europe and beyond the confessional divide. In line with this subproject’s chosen direction for the second funding period, the question of the diversity and variability of emblematic figurations will guide the examination of these works. For example, it is necessary to clarify how the spiritual intermediality of the artefacts (not least in the mode of their replication) stimulates the imaginatio interna and conveys religious beliefs. Preparatory work has shown that these works likely involve a complex interaction of playful entertainment, instruction, and edification, which may well have changed over time in their reception history and require more detailed examination. By focusing on the figuration of the heart (particularly seen in Wierix and Harsdörffer), subproject 2 will also explore the mediality and relationality of the body. Since the heart represents both a physical organ and a metaphorical concept, it raises important questions about the emotional and bodily aspects of spiritual love, which is especially relevant in light of early modern biblical discussions surrounding the heart of God. In subproject 2, three comprehensive case studies will be conducted to analyze and historically contextualize the spiritual-intermedial physiognomy of the aforementioned sources. In all three case studies, special attention will be given to how the relationship between horizontal and vertical intermediality manifests in various ways. Of particular interest here are, on the one hand, the spiritual text-image syntheses and, on the other hand, the media of salvation represented in them, which connect humanity with God.
DFG Programme
Research Units
