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.
Pagan Sacrifice in the Italian Renaissance
in: Journal of the Warburg Institute, v. 4 (1939), issue 2: pp.346-367.
The Angel with the Ram in Abraham’s Sacrifice: A Parallel in Western and Islamic Art
in: Ars Islamica, v. 10 (1943), issue --: pp.134-147.
The angel with the ram in Abraham’s sacrifice: a parallel in Western and Islamic ar
in: Ars Islamica, v. 10 (1943), issue : pp.134-147.
Sacrifice et banquet à Rome : quelques problemes
in: Mélanges de l'école francaise de Rome, v. 97 (1985), issue 1: pp.193-206.
La spartizione sacrificale a Roma
in: Sacrificio e società nel mondo antico, pp. 267-292
Roma - Bari: Laterza , 1988.
Dissertatio de sacerdotibus et sacrificis Aegyptiorum
Tübingen: Cotta, Johann Georg, 1768.
Sacrifice and Sacrament: Eucharistic Substances and Traditions in the New World
in: Sacrifice and Conversion in the Early Modern Atlantic, pp. 123-138
Florence: Harvard University Press- Villa I Tatti , 2022.
Der Heilige Georg und der Georgstag auf dem Balkan
in: Zeitschrift für Balkanologie, v. 31 (1985), issue 1: pp.80–105.
The Romans and Ritual Murder
in: ournal of the American Academy of Religion, v. 78 (2010), issue 2: pp.516–541.
De nieuwe bereysde wereldt
The Hague: Iohannes Tongerloo, 1662.
The Impartial Spectator of Sati, 1757-84
in: Eighteenth-Century Studies, v. 42 (2008), issue 1: pp.19-44.
Die Menschenopfer bei den Griechen und Römern
Giessen: Alfred Töpelmann, 1915.
Gebet und Opfer. Studien zum griechischen Kultus
Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1927.
Sacrifice of a Pig [1547 - 1587]
RISD Museum, Providence
A bull offered in sacrifice to Jupiter (16th Century)
Biblioteca Casanatense, Rome
Animal Sacrifice in Ancient Mesopotamian Religion
in: A History of the Animal World in the Ancient Near East, pp. 389–403
Leiden: Brill, 2002.
Le sacrifice d'Iphigénie
in: Revue des études grecque, v. 44 (1931), issue 208: pp.368-426.