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.
Sacrificio: questioni, interpretazioni, comparazioni
in: Storicamente [special issue], v. 18 (2022), issue 44: pp..
A Companion to the Early Modern Catholic Global Missions
Boston-Leiden: Brill, 2018.
Gli animali e la sofferenza. La questione della Shechità e o diritti dei viventi
in: La rassegna mensile di Israel, v. LXXVIII (), issue 1-2: pp.--.
Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Pantheon sive Idola Judeorum [1650]
The British Museum, London
Jacopo Pesaro Being Presented by Pope Alexander VI to Saint Peter [1511 - 1513]
Koninklijke Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp
Human Sacrifice in Ancient Egypt
in: The Strange World of Human Sacrifice, pp. 127-134
Leuven - Paris - Dudley: Peeters, 2007.
La dimensione politico-filosofica dei caeremonialia hebraeorum: Baruk Spinoza e Simone Luzzatto
in: Materia Giudaica, v. 13 (2008), issue : pp.81-90.
Lycaon at left, with the face of a wolf, carrying an axe over his left shoulder and approaching Jupiter (1523)
from: Italy
The British Museum, London
Amor and Psyche. Psyche's father consults the oracle, animals for sacrifice (1530)
from: Apuleius, La novella di Psiche, Rome, 1530-1560, Plate: 4
The Warburg Institute, London
Numancia (1880 - 1881)
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid (Spain)
Théorie générale du sacrifice et mise à mort dans la thysia greque
in: Le sacrifice dans l'Antiquité (Entretiens sur l'Antiquité classique de la fondation Hardt XXVII), pp. 1-39
Vandouvres - Genève: Fondation Hardt, 1981.
Chasse et sacrifice dans l'Oreste d'Eschyle
in: Mythe et Tragédie en Grèce ancienne, pp. 133-158
Paris: François Maspero, 1972.
Self-sacrifice, Compensation and the Anonymous Gods
in: Le sacrifice dans l’antiquité, pp. 135-185
Genève: Fondation Hardt, 1981.
Heat and Sacrifice in the Vedas
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1985.
Heat and Sacrifice in the Vedas
Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992.