Images of Leprosy : : Disease, Religion, and Politics in European Art / / Christine M. Boeckl.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
• VerfasserIn: Boeckl, Christine M.,
• Place / Publishing House: University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021]; ©2011
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Early Modern Studies ; 7
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (248 p.)

From biblical times to the onset of the Black Death in the fourteenth century, leprosy was considered the worst human affliction, both medically and socially. Only fifty years ago, leprosy, or Hansen's disease, was an incurable infectious illness, and it still remains a grave global concern. Recently, leprosy has generated attention in scholarly fields from medical science to the visual arts. This interdisciplinary art-historical survey on lepra and its visualization in sculpture, murals, stained glass, and other media provides new information on the history of art, medicine, religion, and European society. Christine M. Boeckl maintains that the various terrifying aspects of the disease dominated the visual narratives of historic and legendary figures stricken with leprosy. For rulers, beggars, saints, and sinners, the metaphor of leprosy becomes the background against which their captivating stories are projected.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction An Ancient Disease in European Images -- Chapter 1 Leprosy Worldwide and the State of Modern Research -- Chapter 2 Historiography of Hansen's Disease in Europe -- Chapter 3 Societal Responses to Leprosy in Europe -- Chapter 4 Development of Leprosy Iconography -- Chapter 5 Christ Healing a Leper in Christological Cycles ἀ e Political Significance of Imperial and Royal Commissions, ca. 800-1200 -- Chapter 6 Patron Saints of Leprosy and ἀ eir Images in Religious and Political Contexts, ca. 1200-1800 -- Chapter 7 Diversity in Leprosy Subjects Biblical ἀ emes and Increasing Secularization ca. 1450-1750 -- Conclusions Images of Leprosy as a European Cultural Phenomenon -- Appendix A Sources Related to Leprosy Images -- Appendix B ἀ e Most Prominent Saints Associated with Lepro -- Endnotes -- Bibliography -- About the Author -- Index