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.
Anatomy and Blood Sacrifices in the Renaissance Period. The Frontispiece of De Humani Corporis Fabrica by Andreas Vesalius and the Sacrificial Scene
in: Blood-lyquid-symbol, pp. 83-102
Peeters: Leuven-Paris-Walpole Ma, 2012.
The Sacrifice of Polixena (1647)
Metropolitan Museum, New York
Iphigenie. Tragedie
Paris: Olivier de Varennes, 1676.
(1714)
New York Public Library
Le sacrifice juif dans le système sacrificiel antique : recherches historiques et anthropologiques
in: Annuaire de l'École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Section des sciences religieuses, v. (2014 [open access: http://journals.openedition.org/asr/1216 ]), issue 121: pp.33-38.
The Sacrifice of Isaac (1475-1485)
from: Wandmalereien Filialkirche St. Nikolaus, Klerant
A new and exact account of Jamaica. Wherein the antient and present state of the colony, its importance to Great Britain, laws, trade, manners and religion, together with the most remarkable and curious animals, plants, trees, &c. are described: with a particular account of the sacrifices, libations, &c. At this day in use among the Negroes
Edinburgh: Fleming, 1739.
Travels in Eucharistia: Formosa and Ireland From George Psalmanaazaar to Jonathan Swift
in: Yale French Studies, v. 86 (1994), issue : pp..
Ino and Palemon [1615]
from: Iaspar Isaac Gaultier ; Thomas de Leu, Les images ou tableaux de platte peinture des deux philostrates sophistes grecs et les statues de Callistrate mis en francois par Blaise de Vigenere bourbonnois enrichis d'arguments et annotations reueus et corrigez sur l'original par un docte personnage de ce temps en la langue grecque et representez en taille douce en cette nouuelle edition auec des epigrammes sur chacun diceux par Artus Thomas sieur d'Embry [...], Paris, Abel l'Angelier, 1615
Bibliothèque municipale, Lyon
The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity
New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
La calunnia del sangue in Derekh Emunà (Via della Fede - 1683) di Giulio Morosini alias Samuel Nachmias
in: La Rassegna Mensile Di Israel, v. 82 (2016), issue 1: pp.25-48.
La doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brâhmanas
Paris: Presses universitaires de France [Leroux], 1966 [1898].