Foundation, Dedication and Consecration in Early Modern Europe

Erscheinungsjahr 2011
ISBN: 978-90-04-21757-7
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 22, 396 Seiten, Format (B × H): 168 mm x 246 mm, Gewicht: 839 g

Reihe: Intersections

foundation ceremonies, consecration rituals, history of origins, cosmogony, history of ideas, history of early modern art and architecture, history of classical tradition.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Schraven, Minou

Schraven, M.

Delbeke, Maarten

Delbeke, M.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie des Brauchtums und der Traditionen
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Geschichte der Architektur, Baugeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements
Notes on the Editors
Notes on the Contributors
List of Figures
List of Maps

Foundation, Dedication and Consecration in Early Modern Europe: An Introduction
MAARTEN DELBEKE AND MINOU SCHRAVEN

I. FOUNDATION AND THE HUMANIST QUEST FOR ORIGINS

Founding an Ideal City in Filarete’s Libro Architettonico
BERTHOLD HUB

Stepping Out of Brunelleschi’s Shadow: The Consecration of S. Maria del Fiore as International Statecraft in Renaissance Florence
ROGER J. CRUM

Establishing Independence: Leonardo Bruni’s History of the Florentine People and Ritual in Fifteenth-Century Florence
BRIAN J. MAXSON

Pienza: Relics, Ritual and Architecture in the City of a Renaissance Pope
SUSAN J. MAY

Founding Rome Anew: Sixtus IV and the Foundation of Ponte Sisto, 1473
MINOU SCHRAVEN

II. (RE)FOUNDATION AS PURIFICATION AND APPROPRIATION

A Means for the Projection of ‘Soft Power’: ‘Spanish’ Churches at Rome 1469-1527
PIERS BAKER-BATES

Clash of Power and Creed: Cultural (Re)foundations in Northwest Africa
JORGE CORREIA

Building a Sense of Belonging: The Foundation of Valletta in Malta
CARMELINA GUGLIUZZO

St Ignatius of Loyola’s “Vision at la Storta” and the Foundation of the Society of Jesus
ALISON C. FLEMING

III CONSECRATION CEREMONIES AFTER TRENT

Consecration and Violation: Preserving the Sacred Landscape in the (Arch)diocese of Cambrai, c. 1550-1570
ANDREW SPICER

Foundation Rites in the Southern Netherlands: Constructing a Counter-Reformational Architecture
DAGMAR GERMONPREZ

Church Consecration in England 1549-1715: An Unestablished Ceremony
ANNE-FRANÇOISE MOREL

Ritual and its Negation: ‘Dedicatio Ecclesiae’ and the Reformed First Sermon
ALMUT POLLMER-SCHMIDT AND BERNWARD SCHMIDT

III. NEW BEGINNINGS

Midsummer Moderns: The Foundation of the Paris Observatory, 21 June 1667
INDRA KAGIS MCEWEN

The Importance of Beginning, Over and Over: The Idea of Primitive Germanic Law
COLIN WILDER

Index Nominum

Leseproben

FOUNDATION, DEDICATION AND CONSECRATION IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE. AN INTRODUCTION

Maarten Delbeke, Minou Schraven

Across all times and cultures, mankind has invested the act of founding buildings and cities with particular meaning and rituals. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, multiple preoccupations and agendas are at play at foundational moments, be it the laying of the first stone, the dedication of a building, the embarkation upon new territory, or the foundation of a new institution. As a result, the components of the foundation act become heavily endowed with meaning, from the location of the future building, the act of depositing the first stone, to the invocation of prestigious mythical and historical models to add weight to the occasion.
Being associated with the very foundation of human society itself, the foundation act of a building or institution may well become emblematic for a larger entity, such as the city, or indeed the cosmos. This being the case, the image of a founder holds an immense appeal to future generations, and founders across all ages and societies eagerly tap upon the aura of sacrosanctity of founders from a distant, mythical past. In his eulogies composed to praise the reform program, or Renovatio Romae, of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, the humanist poet Brandolini frequently compared the achievements of the pope to those of the city’s mythical founder Romulus and Emperor August, claiming that the pope surpassed them by far. Likewise, American politicians today hope to gain votes with references to the moral examples of the founding fathers, while Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes great pride in likening himself to King Cyrus II (d. 530 BCE), founder of the ancient Persian Empire.
In the same way, also institutions and communities eagerly appropriate the status of mythical founders and meaningful foundation dates in order to enhance their own status and inscribe themselves within history with the capital H. Once humanists in the circle of Pomponio Leto and his Roman Academy had established the date of the supposed foundation of Rome on 21 April, they chose that day for the annual staging of banquets, orations, and the conferral of laurel crowns to poets. Some four centuries later, in 1961, the Brazilian government opted for 21 April as the date of the inauguration of their new modernist capital Brasília, constructed from scratch in the heart of the country. Felicitously, that very date happened to coincide with the date of the discovery of Brazil itself, celebrated on 22 April 1500. During the Fascist Era, Benito Mussolini turned 21 April into the Festa del Lavoro italiano, a day off for the nation. Since it happily coincided with the Dies Natalis of Rome, over the years numerous archeological and urbanistic projects were inaugurated on that very day, broadcasting the imperial ambitions of the Duce. This being the case, the inauguration of Richard Meier’s Ara Pacis museum in Rome on 21 April 2006 remains at best politically sensitive.
Then as now heavily invested with meaning, foundation and inauguration ceremonies are of key importance to establish enduring relationships both between patron, building, and a larger civic or religious community. Because of this relevance for social relationships, foundation ceremonies in late medieval and early modern culture were typically staged as public events of major scale and expenditure, in order to create and consolidate bonds between buildings, communities and beliefs.
There is an inherent circularity to the notions of foundation, dedication and consecration, because each of these acts marks a new beginning by repeating or recalling a previous or original foundation act. This circle comes into being in a chain of ideas, artifacts and actions. The aim of this volume is to investigate the way foundation acts were performed, described, theorized and appropriated, and how they formed part of a larger network of similar acts acr

Über Autor(innen)

Maarten Delbeke, Ph.D. (2001) in Architecture, Ghent University, is Associate Professor at Ghent University, and researcher at the LUICD of Leiden University. He has published on Early Modern theory of art and architecture, as well as modern architecture

Minou Schraven, Ph.D. (2006) in Art History, Groningen University, is postdoctoral fellow at Leiden University. She has published on early modern material and festival culture, including her Festive Funerals in Early Modern Italy. Cultures of Conspicuous Commemoration (in press, Ashgate).