Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations
of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia

p 2023

Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia

PALLADINO, Adrien

Basic information

Original name

Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia

Authors

PALLADINO, Adrien

Edition

Lecture Series RomanIslam: Empowering the Sacred Spaces, 2023

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Requested lectures

Field of Study

60401 Arts, Art history

Country of publisher

Germany

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

References:

URL

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

Cult of saints; relics; reliquaries; Spain; Italy; North Africa; Late Antiquity; Prudentius; cross-cultural

Abstract

In the original language

As remarked by Peter Brown, the “passing of secular opulence into the opulence of churches […] was a privileged moment in the alchemy of wealth,” highlighting “[…] how treasure on earth became treasure in heaven.” (Peter Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, p. 300). This moment deeply impacted the new ideas, monuments, and artifacts linked with the cult of saints and their relics which flourished around late antique Afro-Eurasia from the fourth century CE onwards. Precious objects were replaced and removed from the system of exchange and ostentation for which they had been designed to be used within a new cult focused around sacred spaces dedicated to the special dead. At the same time, the symbolic and material values of the ancient Roman world were subverted by Christians. This applies, for example, to objects made of gold, ivory or silver, materials notably favored for ostentatious gifts, ornamental, and cosmetic uses among the aristocracy, which now went to the saints. In this lecture, I propose to analyze some remarkable surviving texts and artifacts which, from Prudentius to Augustine, help us to understand the modalities of this subversion and its social and cultural parameters.

Cite

PALLADINO, Adrien. Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia. In Lecture Series RomanIslam: Empowering the Sacred Spaces. 2023.

@misc{2350118,
   author = {Palladino, Adrien},
   booktitle = {Lecture Series RomanIslam: Empowering the Sacred Spaces},
   keywords = {Cult of saints; relics; reliquaries; Spain; Italy; North Africa; Late Antiquity; Prudentius; cross-cultural},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia},
   url = {https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/events-news/lecture-series-romanislam/empowering-sacred-spaces.html},
   year = {2023}
}

TY  - SLIDE
ID  - 2350118
AU  - Palladino, Adrien
PY  - 2023
TI  - Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia
KW  - Cult of saints
KW  - relics
KW  - reliquaries
KW  - Spain
KW  - Italy
KW  - North Africa
KW  - Late Antiquity
KW  - Prudentius
KW  - cross-cultural
UR  - https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/events-news/lecture-series-romanislam/empowering-sacred-spaces.html
N2  - As remarked by Peter Brown, the “passing of secular opulence into the opulence of churches […] was a privileged moment in the alchemy of wealth,” highlighting “[…] how treasure on earth became treasure in heaven.” (Peter Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, p. 300). This moment deeply impacted the new ideas, monuments, and artifacts linked with the cult of saints and their relics which flourished around late antique Afro-Eurasia from the fourth century CE onwards. Precious objects were replaced and removed from the system of exchange and ostentation for which they had been designed to be used within a new cult focused around sacred spaces dedicated to the special dead. At the same time, the symbolic and material values of the ancient Roman world were subverted by Christians. This applies, for example, to objects made of gold, ivory or silver, materials notably favored for ostentatious gifts, ornamental, and cosmetic uses among the aristocracy, which now went to the saints. In this lecture, I propose to analyze some remarkable surviving texts and artifacts which, from Prudentius to Augustine, help us to understand the modalities of this subversion and its social and cultural parameters.
ER  -

PALLADINO, Adrien. Subverting Objects, Values, and Ideas: Material Transformations of the Cult of Saint across Late Antique Afro-Eurasia. In \textit{Lecture Series RomanIslam: Empowering the Sacred Spaces}. 2023.

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