Facing the Plague in Renaissance Italy: A Tale of Two Female Saints

In this article I focus on two of the most prominent female saints: the Franciscan St. Clare of Assisi (1194–1253) and one belonging to the third order of Saint Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380). I analyze a series of visual examples that picture their roles as saviors against epidemics an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Debby, Nirit Ben-Aryeh (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: Religion and the arts
Year: 2022, Volume: 26, Issue: 5, Pages: 604-634
Further subjects:B Siena
B Plague
B St. Catherine of Siena
B Assisi
B St. Clare of Assisi
B Italian art
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Summary:In this article I focus on two of the most prominent female saints: the Franciscan St. Clare of Assisi (1194–1253) and one belonging to the third order of Saint Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380). I analyze a series of visual examples that picture their roles as saviors against epidemics and point out similarities and differences between them. I emphasize the power of the images in providing relief and salvation. St. Clare of Assisi and St. Catherine of Siena offer two distinct models of female sanctity that protect against the plague: the first owing to her symbolic power and her being a kind of a second Mary and the second because of her unique personality and actions in healing the sick and saving the dying in Italian cities.
ISSN:1568-5292
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02605003