Treasures of Faith
Midsea Books Ltd,Malta (Verlag)
978-99932-7-562-6 (ISBN)
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The ancient Christian cult of the relics and the rich and enthralling works of art created to house them is a witness to the need of man to be in contact with the beyond. The art of the reliquary is an art of boxes, caskets, and receptacles housing mysteries. An art of amulets and pendants of elaborate goldsmiths' and jewellers' creations made to hold the mortal remnants of the saints and other objects once believed to have touched Jesus Christ himself, the Blessed Virgin, or the saints. It is an art of rich things formed to house the poorest and the most poignant memorials of men and women remembered as holy: bones, locks of hair, and scraps of the blood-stained garments they once wore during the torments of their martyrdom. Yet, more perhaps than any other Christian art-form the study of relics is something neglected and under-appreciated, because it has traditionally been regarded both in Protestant orders and across broad swathes of the modern secular world, with fastidious and morbid distrust.
Treasures of Faith discusses for the first time the rich tradition of relic veneration in Malta. It looks closely at the period between 1600, with the early documented translation of relics, and 1798, the end of the Knights' period which has contributed greatly in the divulgation of the cult and veneration of relics. The knights of Order of St John had arrived in Malta in 1530 after they had been expelled from Rhodes bringing with them a great treasure of relics. Their arrival in Malta followed the Counter Reformation: a period that witnessed the emergence of saints as exemplars of faith and saw the evolution of Christian art as a material expression of the sacred. During this time, churches, chapels, and monasteries served as repositories for relics that might comprise the bodily remains of the saints or other physical evidence of their existence, such as items once owned by them. Enshrined in precious containers studded with jewels, these sacred treasures rapidly became the focus of pilgrimage. Processions with the holy relics conserved in precious receptacles during feasts are a perpetuated extension of the pilgrimages towards churches and shrines during the middle ages.
The author approaches the theme holistically, discussing not only their religious origins and significance but also the artistic value of the containers themselves. Furthermore, he categorizes these reliquaries in the diocese of Malta during the Baroque period in 21 different typologies, varying from pendants to phials, from ostensories to urns, and from arms to lantern. The volume is profusely illustrated with splendid photographs which have been purposely taken by master-photographer Joe. P. Borg.
Edgar Vella, born in Mgarr, Malta in 1961. He first studied the history of art at the Polytechnic (Malta) between 1978 and 1980. Following his licentiate course in Theology in 1985, he was ordained priest in 1988. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2012 at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta. Appointed assistant curator in the Cathedral Museum in 1993, Vella organized a number of thematic exhibitions namely: 'The Crucifix, Public Cult, and Private Devotion in Malta' in 1994; 'Antique Artistic Cribs and other Works of Art on the Nativity Theme' in 1994, 'Artistic Representations of the Passion Theme'; 'Relics and Reliquaries in Malta' in 1996, 'Panel Paintings on the Passion Theme in 1997; 'Decorative Art related to Confraternities in Malta' in 1998; and 'Works of Art on the Marian Theme' in 1999. From 2004 he started setting up an 18th-century Neapolitan crib, which, since then, has become an annual appointment. In 2012, he published the book A Neapolitan crib in Malta. Vella has also published a number of papers, namely in Mattia Preti: Faith and Humanity (2013) in the book A timeless gentleman, a festschrift in honour of Maurice de Giorgio (2014). In 2001 he was appointed Diocesan Inventorist and Curator of the Cathedral Museum in 2008. Currently, he is the Secretary of the Commission for the Cultural Catholic Heritage and Chairman of the Exhibition Board of Palazzo De Piro Mdina.
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 26.4.2016 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | Colour illus. |
| Verlagsort | Sta Venera |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 240 x 300 mm |
| Themenwelt | Kunst / Musik / Theater |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Mittelalter | |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Religionsgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 99932-7-562-X / 999327562X |
| ISBN-13 | 978-99932-7-562-6 / 9789993275626 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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