Art, Controversy, and the Jesuits: The Imago primi saeculi (1640). Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts Series, volume 12, edited by John W. O’Malley, S.J.
Year: 2016
Type: book-review
Abstract: Art, Controversy, and the Jesuits: The Imago primi saeculi (1640).Early Modern Catholicism and the Visual Arts Series, volume 12. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph's University Press, 2015.Pp. x + 771 + dvd.Hb, $120.How does an echo precede a sound?Although today this question may read like a Zen koan, it was the query the Jesuit Josse Andries (Jodocus Andreas, 1588-1658) sent in response to the request of Jan De Tollenaere (1582-1643), provincial of the Flemish province of the Society of the Jesus, when asked to provide a frank critique of the Imago primi saeculi Societatis Iesu (158, 174).The Imago was compiled to commemorate the first centennial of the Society of Jesus by an all-star team from the Flemish province under the principal editorship of Jean de Bolland (Bollandus, 1596(Bollandus, -1665)).Father Andries's specific concern may have been the illogical sequence of a motto's metaphor for Jesuit obedience (#192), but his riddle-like comment also captures the Imago's preferred mode of presenting both a representational portrait, and to a degree, the reenactment of the historical performance of the order's identity.As a book by Jesuits for Jesuits, few texts are as revealing of how Jesuits in early modern northern Europe understood themselves and what bound them together as a community in their first century of existence, when they numbered 16,000 members across forty provinces worldwide.At 952 folio pages in an intricate rhetorical blend of poetry, prose, and 127 emblems spread over six chapters, in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, with highlights of the Society's history arranged following the life of Christ, the Imago has resisted the scrutiny of a single monographic study until this book.John W. O'Malley, S.J. has gathered together an august group of scholars to create a volume worthy of its illustrious predecessor by focusing on the Imago's emblems as a lens through which to understand the book's significance.Emblems were especially valued in Jesuit schools for the training they offered in sacra eloquentia, and an emblem-text dialogue was the manner by which the Society chose to portray itself in the festive Aristotelian epideictic style, or ceremonial oratory, that was used for memorial declarations and entertaining display, particularly self-display, as seen in the emblem-based paintings, or affixiones, that would decorate the Jesuit church in Antwerp for the jubilee celebrations.The present volume honors the original Latin version of the Imago with a magisterial (at almost 800 pages) folio facsimile critical edition and translation of the complete set of emblems by Michael C.J. Putnam from the Latin, Alexander Sens from the Greek, and James P. M. Walsh, S.J. from the Hebrew (423-705).It includes a dvd with high-resolution reproductions that
Source: Journal of Jesuit Studies
Author: Mia M. Mochizuki
Institutions: New York University Abu Dhabi, New York University
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2440546208