Dr. Steven Stowell at Renaissance Religion II in Bologna, Italy

Art History professor Steven Stowell gave a presentation called Sacred Art at the Intersection of the Miracoulous and the Scientific: A Case Study on Sexual Responses and Religious Images in Renaissance Italy on June 9, 2016 at the Renaissance Religion II: modes and meanings in history conference at Monash University in Bologna, Italy.

Here is a description of his talk:

Hans Belting famously characterized the evolution of medieval and Renaissance art as a transition from images that embodied spiritual presence to those that were valued for being artistically skilled likenesses. Despite the popularity of this interpretation, numerous objections have been registered, not least of all is the revelation, made recently by Megan Holmes, that during the course of the Renaissance in Florence the number of miracle-working images grew,  suggesting that even in a period when artistic and technical skill was highly regarded and widely acknowledged, the spiritual presence of the figured likeness had not altogether faded. This proposed conference presentation addresses the issue of sacred art’s mixed spiritual and artistic/technical qualities by examining a range of Early Modern Italian writings on art, 11 Guide Renaissance Religion II – Bologna 2016 observing how the spiritual efficacy of images was understood as both a result of artistic technique and scientifically understood principles as well as miraculous intervention.

To obtain a clearer picture of how religious images were perceived as being spiritually efficacious, this study examines writings on art – theoretical writings as well as miracle tales pertaining to images – that discuss sexual responses to images, focusing specifically on the sacred image’s ability to decrease sexual temptations. This material is considered alongside scientific and medical writings from the period regarding the nature of sexual arousal and the role played by vision in stimulating and decreasing desire. This analysis demonstrates that the art object was thought to combine both scientifically-understood qualities while also serving as a conduit for miraculous acts of grace, both of which could address the desired need to regulate sexual impulses. One principle difference between the scientific and the miraculous qualities of the image, however, is the image’s miraculous ability to circumvent the time needed for more rationally understood effects to occur. This interpretation suggests that the Renaissance sacred image – situated somewhere between Belting’s “likeness and presence” – is a hybrid object. Drawing on the writings of anthropologist Alfred Gell, who suggests that human technologies are “haunted” by magical thinking, this presentation argues that the work of art is a hybrid of artistic technology and spiritually miraculous “magic.”