Divine Presence in Spain and Western Europe 1500–1960
Title
Divine Presence in Spain and Western Europe 1500–1960
Subtitle
Visions, Religious Images and Photographs
Price
€ 68,95 excl. VAT
ISBN
9786155053375
Format
Paperback
Number of pages
328
Language
English
Publication date
Dimensions
13 x 20 cm
Categories
Imprint
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eBook PDF - € 68,99
Table of Contents
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Preface Chapter 1. Toribia del Val and the Mysterious Wayfarer of Casas de Benítez Chapter 2. Images as Beings: Blood, Sweat, and Tears Chapter 3. Presence, Absence and the Supernatural in Postcard and Family Photographs, Europe 1895-1920 Endnotes Bibliography Index

William A. Christian Jr.

Divine Presence in Spain and Western Europe 1500–1960

Visions, Religious Images and Photographs

This study addresses the relation of people to divine beings in contemporary and historical communities, as exemplified in three strands. One is a long tradition of visions of mysterious wayfarers in rural Spain who bring otherworldly news and help, including recent examples. Another treats the seeming vivification of religious images—statues, paintings, engravings, and photographs apparently exuding blood, sweat and tears in Spanish homes and churches  in the early modern period and the revival of the phenomenon throughout Europe in the twentieth century.  Of special interest is the third strand of the book: the transposition of medieval and early modern representations of the relations between humans and the divine into the modern art of photography. Christian presents a pictorial examination of the phenomenon with a large number of religious images, commercial postcards and family photographs from the first half of past century Europe.
Author

William A. Christian Jr.

William A. Christian Jr. is an anthropologist and historian living in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.