Debby abstract

The Cult of St. Clare of Assisi in Early Modern Italy

Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

St. Clare of Assisi (1193-1253) has been experiencing a certain renaissance in recent years, with extensive monographs and editions of her works having been published. Notwithstanding the wealth of visual and literary material attesting to St. Clare's dominant position during the Catholic Reformation, almost nothing has been written on the cult of St. Clare in the Early Modern period. The paper will chart the story of St. Clare beyond the Middle Ages into the modern world as it appears in artistic imagery, hagiographic sources, preached sermons, theatrical performances and religious processions. I shall begin with a discussion of the medieval tradition as an essential background against which to highlight points of innovation and continuity with the Early Modern tradition. The representation of St. Clare appeared in few medieval artistic examples, but thereafter the saint almost "disappeared" for several centuries. The cult of the saint reappeared in the Italian visual tradition at the end of the fifteenth century in isolated examples, and it became especially popular from the late sixteenth century. Thereafter, it was diffused through various media, such as panels, frescoes, drawings and prints. The cult of St. Clare reappeared in Early Modern Italian art due to the activity of Franciscan Observant preachers and, later, Capuchin and Jesuit preachers; they presented St. Clare as a new protector against the Turks, who were threatening Europe at that time. In this context, St. Clare became a Christian crusader heroine defending Christianity against the infidels as a symbol of post-Tridentine Catholic theology and its adoration of the Host. St. Clare was thus no longer depicted as an ascetic mystical saint but rather as an active heroine of Christianity.