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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Sensing Death: Italian Renaissance Comforting Rituals and their Visual and Aural Impact on the Condemned Criminals' Spiritual Redemption

Allison, Jessica Lynn
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9490-505X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510864027854912

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Art/Art History.
This thesis will examine the rich, and sometimes overwhelming, sensory environment of punishment rituals in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy to draw attention to the intimate relationship between sight and sound. In recent decades, the study of art history has expanded to consider the appreciation of the work of art as part of a coherent sensory experience for the viewer. It analyzes the justice systems use of tavolette (hand held images) and laude (devotional songs) during the public execution process in order to give criminals the chance for redemption. Images of Christ's crucifixion, as well as other martyr scenes, were used in tandem with laude particularly focused on redemption in order to place salvation in the front of the criminal--visually and aurally. These thoughts would subdue the criminal, making him or her more likely to follow along with the rituals willingly, which would have sent a message to the public about the importance of repentance. Examining these visual and aural components not only provides a look into the judicial system of this period, but it provides a look at how the justice system determined the types of imagery to use for their very specific purposes, allowing for a deeper understanding of arts place in this society. Using tavolette, laude, and the text of the Bolognese Comforting Manual, along with the narratives of primary witnesses and images of execution, this essay will highlight the way in which the tavolette contributed to the carefully controlled sensory experience of Renaissance criminals during the punishment process, creating an environment that provoked the criminal to ask for redemption, not necessarily for his own well-being or beliefs, but to appease the political and public ideas of death and justice.
Allie Terry-Fritsch, PhD (Advisor)
Sean Leatherbury, PhD (Committee Member)
54 p.
Art History
execution; redemption; comfort rituals; tavolette; laude; devotional imagery; senses; aural landscape; sight; sound; punishment; penal justice; renaissance Italy; archconfraternity; performance; sensory experience; somaesthetics; penance; salvation

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Allison, J. L. (2017). Sensing Death: Italian Renaissance Comforting Rituals and their Visual and Aural Impact on the Condemned Criminals' Spiritual Redemption [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510864027854912

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Allison, Jessica. Sensing Death: Italian Renaissance Comforting Rituals and their Visual and Aural Impact on the Condemned Criminals' Spiritual Redemption. 2017. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510864027854912.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Allison, Jessica. "Sensing Death: Italian Renaissance Comforting Rituals and their Visual and Aural Impact on the Condemned Criminals' Spiritual Redemption." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1510864027854912

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1510864027854912
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This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.