New article: Natural Calamities, Litany, and Banners: The Intercession of the Virgin and Christ in Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Florence
This new article, by Jessica N. Richardson, explores the performativity of images and script in late medieval Florence.
Jessica's article offers a new interpretation of the Intercession of the Virgin and Christ, a late-fourteenth century cloth painting from Florence attributed to Lorenzo Monaco, today in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It considers new evidence in favour of its long-debated early function as a banner, arguing that the painting’s highly sophisticated use of text and image might be linked directly to its role in processions. Central to this hypothesis is the painting’s theme, as it was understood in relation to liturgical feasts and crisis processions in fourteenth-century Florence and, in particular, the form, placement, and language of the words painted on its surface. These inscriptions recall the songs and sounds of litany. This proposition is further supported by the later fifteenth-century visual quotations in paintings in and around Florence, attesting to the multisensorial dimensions of its imagery within the ritual environment of the city. Focusing on the dialectics between image and script in the Intercession, it shows how the performative aspects of this work broaden our understanding of traditional iconographies and contribute to wider discussions on the role of image and script in the definition of ‘public’ ritual practices.