Early Modern Visualizations of the Christian Creeds

• In Event: The Interaction of Art and Relics in Early Modernity II

Abstract

Artworks in which sacred relics interact with imagery delineate the Catholic doctrine. Linking saints’ relics with Creed visualizations, veneration with theology, reinforced the impact of each experience: Essential in altars, relics also materially validated depictions of the dogma. Shrine reliquaries were uniquely suited to display the cadenced Apostles’ Creed, support belief in the relics’ miraculous power, and kindle desire for pageantry while offering foretaste of salvation. The Bamberg cathedral features treasured remains of Henry II of Saxony as well as stone reliefs of the Creed, subject historically associated with him. Jean de Bourbon’s “Creed” chapel at Cluny was conceived as a life-size reliquary. Ambitious credal cycles commissioned in Siena by the leading ecclesiastical and civic institutions of the city-state, the duomo and the hospital, owe their origin to and were functionally engaged with relics.

Author

• Suzanna B Simor, Queens College, CUNY