Agiography is the literature concerning the saints. It begins in the first Christian centuries, with the Acts of the Martyrs, and is prolonged to our days. The hagiographic intent is the building up of the faithful through the narration of exemplary lives. Critical or scientific hagiography was born during the Counter-Reformation era by the Bollandist Society, founded in Belgium in the 18th century. The hagiographic texts are the basis of the inspiration of medieval artists in the representations of the saints.
The course aims to provide students with the ability to:
- to outline the 'exemplary' function of the lives of the saints during the historical-social phases of Christianity;
- identify the elements of tradition and innovation of the classical biography in the hagiographic text;
- acquire basic tools to understand the Bible and the history of its interpretation;
- recognize the biblical rewriting in the hagiographic text;
- understand the iconographic models through the biblical symbolism and its tradition;
- outline the different forms of rewriting of the hagiographic genre in European art and literature.
Lectures
Aulaweb
Types of holiness in the Golden Legend of Jacobus De Voragine, between literature and iconography: the apostles Andrew and Mary Magdalene, Antony the hermit, Lawrence the deacon, the bishops Martin of Tours, Syrus of Genoa, Augustine of Hippo.
An example of hagiographic rewriting: The Gospel of the Pseudo Matthew - Jacobus De Voragine - Giotto.
For the iconographic part, visits to places of worship are planned (St. Mary of the Castle, church of St. Syrus, Cathedral of St. Lawrence).
During the lessons will be made available on the aulaweb critical edition texts taken from:Iacopo da Varazze, Legenda aurea, con le miniature del codice Ambrosiano 240 inf., testo critico riveduto e commento a cura di G.P. MAGGIONI, traduzione italiana coordinata da F. STELLA con la revisione di G. P. MAGGIONI, Sismel-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2007, 2 voll.
Recommended reading:
J. LE GOFF, Il tempo sacro dell’uomo. La “Legenda aurea” di Jacopo da Varazze , Laterza, 2012.
S. BOESCH GAJANO, La santità, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1995.
M. C. VIGGIANI, Antonio, il padre dei monaci, in S. ISETTA (a cura di), Letteratura cristiana e Letterature europee. Atti del Convegno – 2004- Genova Capitale europea della cultura. Genova 9-11 dicembre 2004, Bologna 2007 (Dehoniane, Letture Patristiche 11), pp. 183-223.
S. ISETTA, La Vita Antonii: prima e ultima tentazione di Flaubert, in S. ISETTA (a cura di), Letteratura cristiana e Letterature europee. Atti del Convegno – 2004- Genova Capitale europea della cultura. Genova 9-11 dicembre 2004, Bologna 2007 (Dehoniane, Letture Patristiche 11), pp. 183-223.
S. ISETTA, «Ed ella credette, partorì un feto abortito e il dolore scomparve»: le vite interrotte della lussuria, in S. Isetta (a cura di): «… neanche una corona dura d’età in età» (Prv 27, 24). Pagine sulle età della vita, in FuturAntico 10, Genova 2015, pp. 129-146, Erredì Grafiche Genova.
S. ISETTA, Virtus invicta, si non sit caritas ficta (Aug., serm. 303, 5, 4). La celebrazione del martire Lorenzo e la polemica contro i falsi cristiani, in Auctores Nostri. Studi e testi di letteratura cristiana antica. vol. 14, Bari 2014, pp. 419-434, Edipuglia.
Ricevimento: Tuesday and Thursday 12-13, via Balbi 4, III piano
SANDRA ISETTA (President)
MARGHERITA RUBINO
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
oral exam
Verification of the acquisition of the fundamental concepts of the subject and the ability to read and understand an hagiographic text
