Mirrors Of Heaven Or Worldly Theaters

Mirrors of Heaven or Worldly Theaters? Venetian Nunneries and Their Music is the first in-depth study of the dynamic role of musical rituals at Venetian convents in the Early Modern era, examining the nuns as patrons and performers, of both simple plainchant and complex sacred polyphony. The book also considers organs, bells, and musical and theatrical entertainment by and for the nuns.

This text explores the musical world of the nuns of Venice and its lagoon, concentrating on the period from the sixteenth century to the fall of Venice around 1800. It looks at sacred music performed both by the nuns themselves and by professional musicians they employed. Following a historical introduction, the work considers the nuns as collective patrons, both of musical performances by professionals in their external churches, primarily for the annual feast of the patron saint, a notable attraction for both Venetians and foreign visitors, and of musical instruments, namely organs and bells.

A vivid and multifaceted discussion of the sonic cultures developed within the diverse and dynamic matrix of Early Modern Catholicism (c.1450–1750), and of the role played by sound and music in defining Catholic experience.

Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice, a woodcut first printed in the year 1500, presents a bird’s-eye portrait of Venice at its peak as an international hub of trade, art, and culture. An artistic and cartographic masterpiece of the Renaissance, the View depicts Venice as a vibrant, waterborne city interconnected by canals and bridges and filled with ornate buildings, elaborate gardens, and seafaring vessels. The contributors to A View of Venice: Portrait of a Renaissance City draw on a high-resolution digital scan of the over nine-foot-wide composite print to examine the complexities of this extraordinary woodcut and portrayal of early modern Venetian life. The essays show how the View constitutes an advanced material artifact of artistic, humanist, and scientific culture. They also outline the ways the print reveals information about the city’s economic and military power, religious and social infrastructures, and cosmopolitan residents. Featuring methodological advancements in the digital humanities, A View of Venice highlights the reality and myths of a topographically unique, mystical city and its place in the world. Contributors. Karen-edis Barzman, Andrea Bellieni, Patricia Fortini Brown, Valeria Cafà, Stanley Chojnacki, Tracy E. Cooper, Giada Damen, Julia A. DeLancey, Piero Falchetta, Ludovica Galeazzo, Maartje van Gelder, Jonathan Glixon, Richard Goy, Anna Christine Swartwood House, Kristin Love Huffman, Holly Hurlburt, Claire Judde de Larivière, Blake de Maria, Martina Massaro, Cosimo Monteleone, Monique O’Connell, Mary Pardo, Giorgio Tagliaferro, Saundra Weddle, Bronwen Wilson, Rangsook Yoon

This path-breaking account of music's role in Venice's Mediterranean empire sheds new light on the city's earliest musical history.

A Companion to Medieval and Early Modern Confraternities presents confraternities as fundamentally important venues for the acquisition of spiritual riches, material wealth, and social capital in early modern Europe and Post-Conquest America.

This volume brings together the latest scholarship on the principal issues treated at the Council of Trent, including how the Roman Catholic Church formulated its teaching on topics such as the relationship between Scritpure and Tradition, original sin, justification, the sacraments, sacred images, sacred music, and the training of the clergy.