Author: Cunningham, Dawn

Source: Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief, Volume 4, Number 1, March 2008 , pp. 32-52(21)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

Abstract:

The twelfth-century choir screen, or pontile, sculpted with Passion scenes by the Campionesi for Modena Cathedral, Italy, dominates the nave and dictates both visual and physical access to the sacred east end of the church. In the past, such monuments were viewed primarily as barriers between the privileged clerics and the laity but recently scholars have begun to examine them as integral parts of the audience's experience of the rituals performed within the building. Although the relationship between the Campionesi's imagery and religious rites has been noted in passing, an in-depth analysis of the connections between the art and the liturgy has not been undertaken. This paper attempts to partially fill this void by studying the sculptures of Christ's last days on earth in relation to the High Mass as outlined in a twelfth-century missal (Modena, Archivio Capitolare, O. I. 20), medieval allegorical interpretations of that rite, as well as contemporary Easter rituals. This examination reveals that the liturgy and the sculptures functioned together in order to make the historic-religious events more tangible and to encourage the viewers' active participation in the rites.

Keywords: CHOIR SCREEN; MODENA; CAMPIONESI; MEDIEVAL LITURGY; SACRAMENT; MASS; EASTER

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175183408X288122

Publication date: 2008-03-01

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