Topic: 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)
Religious sacrifices across various cultures and contexts sparked widespread interest in Early Modern Europe. As Christianity expanded into regions inhabited by "infidels" and "pagans", Europeans encountered a diverse array of sacrificial customs, ranging from the Sati rituals in India to the Aztec sacrifices in the Americas. This cross-cultural exposure captivated a wide audience, including theologians, philosophers, political thinkers, antiquarians, orientalists, missionaries, poets, artists, and even the general public. These encounters broadened the European understanding of sacrifice and led to a critical reassessment of classical and biblical sacrificial rites. This section includes:
- Sources: A selection of early modern printed materials, which include descriptions of the Americas, Asia, and Africa, alongside antiquarian and philological studies on religious sacrifice in classical antiquity and beyond. It also presents early modern works of ethnological observations and the first attempts to compare different sacrificial practices in various traditions and contexts, laying the groundwork for disciplines like the history of religions and anthropology.
- Iconographic Representations: A rich collection of images from the 16th to 18th centuries, illustrating a range of sacrificial rituals and practices as seen in different cultural and geographical contexts.
- Related Bibliography: An extensive bibliography spanning scholarly works from the 19th to 21st centuries, providing contemporary analyses and interpretations of these early studies and observations.
L'ardore
Milano: Adelphi, 2010.
From Midrash to scripture: the sacrifice of Abraham in early Islamic tradition
in: Le Muséon, v. 101 (1988), issue : pp.375-402.
L’omicidio Rituale Nell’italia del Settecento Tra Polemica Antigiudaica Ed Erudizione Agiografica
in: Rivista di storia e letteratura religiosa, v. 38 (2002), issue 2: pp.475-508.
Initia Sacrificiorum
Halæ: Institutus Judaicus et Muhammedaicus, 1738.
Culte du Démon (The Cult of the Demon), from Les Sacrifices (The Sacrifices) (1625-1627)
from: http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42582956v
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Le Culte de Dieu (The Worship of God), from Les Sacrifices (The Sacrifices) (1625-1627)
from: http://ark.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb42582956v
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Ad Divum Petrum apostolorum principem triumphantem. Atheismus triumphatus, seu reduction ad religionem per scientiarum veritates. Fr. Thomae Campanellae, stylensis, ordinis praedicatorum. Contra antichristianismus achitophellisticum
Paris: Tyssanum Dubray, 1636.
Writing the Holy Land: The Franciscans of Mount Zion and the Construction of a Cultural Memory, 1300-1550
--: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Immagine e sacrificio: un'antropologia storica della scultura votiva tra Antichità e Medioevo
in: Statue: rituali, scienza e magia dalla tarda antichità al Rinascimento, pp. 365-401
Firenze: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2017.
Spartaco e il sacrificio del cavallo (Plut., Crass, 11, 8-9)
in: Critica Storica, v. 2 (1963), issue : pp.251-293.
In dispregio della religione nostra christiana'. Il martirio di Simonino da Trento nella Pala di Pier Martino Fiamingo di Perugia
in: Lo scorpione sul petto. Iconografia antiebraica tra XV e XVI secolo alla periferia dello Stato Pontificio, pp. 141-156
Roma: Gangemi, 2014.
Opinion, Idolatry, and Indigenous Consciousness: Bartolomé de las Casas’ Approach to Human Sacrifice
in: Casuistry and Early Modern Spanish Literature, pp. 156–175
Leiden: Brill, 2022.
The Problem of Sati: John Locke’s Moral Anthropology and the Foundations of Natural Law
in: Journal of Early Modern History, v. 18 (2014), issue 1-2: pp.69-100.
Palaces of Time: Illustration of Sifre Evrenot
in: Images, v. 2 (2008), issue 1: pp.21–44.
in: Obbedienza di Abramo e sacrificio di Isacco: la ricezione di un racconto violento tra giudaismo e cristianesimo antico, pp.
Trapani: Il Pozzo di Giacobbe, 2020.
1. Sacrifice and Bible (16th-18th Century) 2. Sacrifice and religion: Comparisons, Antiquarians, Anthropology (16th-18th Century)
I diecimila crocifissi del monte Ararat (1515)
Venezia, Gallerie dell'Accademia