Historical-Anthropological Study on the Creation of Hierotopy and the Image-Memory in the Christian Culture

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02275
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Fine art history
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: MIZUNO CHIYORI 青山学院大学, 文学部, 教授 (40330055)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 西洋美術史 / 宗教美術史 / 歴史人類学 / 神聖空間 / 図像記憶 / イメージ人類学 / 主日のキリスト / 聖像儀礼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I examined two case studies to consider the functions of the sacred images in the late medieval and Renaissance Christian culture from historical-anthropological point of view.
(1) I focused on the veneration of the “Madonna of Impruneta” in Tuscany and analyzed how the sacred objects (relics and images) made the ‘Hierothopy’ through the paratextual equipment (frames, veils, mantles, reliquaries, tabernacles), narratives of sacred images and ritual performances.
(2) I observed the formation, transfiguration, amalgam and disappearance of the strange image “Christ of Sunday” which survived in the cultural peripheries in the Alpine region, and pointed out its function as the memorial image to remember the notion of the sin and redemption. I also considered how the memory of several other figures was compressed in this image, and compared it to the similar images in the other culture: for example, “Dona Sebastiana” in New Mexico, and Minkishi in Congo.

Free Research Field

西洋美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、近代に遡及的に生み出された「芸術」概念をはじめ、美術史学の諸前提を問い直し再検証するとともに、イメージ人類学的、あるいは歴史人類学的手法でイメージを再考するためのケース・スタディであり、方法論という点で学術的意義がある。扱う対象も、一般的な意味での「芸術作品」にとどまらず、キリスト教文化において礼拝対象とされた聖像の地位や機能、文化や時代を超えて図像そのものに積層する記憶の問題、等、従来の伝統的な研究手法では十分に掘り下げられてこなかった問題領域である点で、独創性がある。