Engaging the Inner Sensorium: A Journey to Paradise in the Magi Chapel

• In Event: Figuring Language, Space, and Sound in the Italian Renaissance

Abstract

The frescoes representing the adoring angels in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi are an invitation into a heavenly space of great beauty that appeals to all of the senses of the viewers, including that of hearing. The angels' halos are inscribed with the words of the Gloria in excelsis Deo, an angelic hymn, emanating from the angels' heads almost as an allusion to an inner form of music. By considering the implications of depicting music as words and the tradition of spiritual inner perception, I would like to interpret these frescoes from the perspective of the sensorial and devotional experience of the viewers, as they embark on an inner journey through a musical heaven in order to mirror themselves into its inhabitants and unite their prayers with the angelic choir above.

Author

• Laura Cristina Stefanescu, University of Sheffield