Graffiti in medieval and early modern religious spaces : Illicit or accepted practice? The case of the sacro monte at Varallo

Journal article


van Eck, Marianne Ritsema. (2018). Graffiti in medieval and early modern religious spaces : Illicit or accepted practice? The case of the sacro monte at Varallo. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis. 131(1), pp. 51-72. https://doi.org/10.5117/TVGESCH2018.1.RITS
Authorsvan Eck, Marianne Ritsema
Abstract

Leaving one’s personal mark at a site of cult is an age-old practice attested in several religions, including Christianity from its earliest phases onwards. This article asks to what degree scratching graffiti into church walls was accepted behaviour in Western Europe during the medieval and early modern period. It seeks to complicate the view that disapproval of graffiti is a predominantly modern sentiment, by examining examples of both acceptance and resistance to graffiti at sacred sites. The attempts of Counter-Reformation bishop Carlo Bascapè (1550-1615) to root out what he perceived as impious vandalism at the sacro monte of Varallo in Northern Italy, combined with an analysis of the graffiti on the glass panes of the Ecce Homo chapel postdating Bascapè’s ban, together serve to suggest new directions for the study of the pre-modern significance of, and particularly resistance to, graffiti.

Keywordsmaterial culture; history of religion; graffiti; sacred space; sacro monte
Year2018
JournalTijdschrift voor Geschiedenis
Journal citation131 (1), pp. 51-72
PublisherAmsterdam University Press
ISSN0040-7518
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.5117/TVGESCH2018.1.RITS
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85046701771
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range51-72
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online01 Mar 2018
Publication process dates
Deposited02 Jun 2021
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