Santa Casa and Its Iconographical Changes related to the Loretan Veneration: Focusing on the Immaculate Conception

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K12886
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01060:History of arts-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Yumi 東北学院大学, 文学部, 講師 (50898434)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ロレートの崇敬 / サンタ・カーザ（聖なる家） / 聖母崇敬 / 無原罪の御宿り / 受胎告知 / ウォルシンガム / 巡礼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

One of my achievements this year is the publication of an article on the Franciscans and the Papacy, “Santa Casa and Pilgrimage: Its relationship with the Papacy and the Franciscans”. Also, my article on the Annunciation and Santa Casa has been accepted by an Italian journal. But my biggest accomplishment has been an actual visit to the shrine of Walsingham in Norfolk, England, to gather necessary information for the research.
An ongoing project is the construction of a database on the “Madonna of Loreto,” using FileMaker software, utilizing my experience in building an OPAC at Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, and the COE office of the University of Tokyo. I hope to finish this database with a next possible grant, using a part-time worker for information gathering and data entry. The articles on the Madonna of Loreto and the Annunciation, and their relationship to the Immaculate Conception have been other achievements.

Free Research Field

初期ルネサンス

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

一大巡礼地のロレートの「聖なる家」の存在は、広く一般的に知られてきた。しかしその崇敬に密接に関連した図像の研究は、キリスト教における最大の神秘の一つである「受胎告知」の図像との観点からは行われてこなかった。本研究はこの点に着目し、研究成果を複数の論文として提示したことに学術的意義がある。また、図像が崇敬に影響を受け変化したことを示し、イメージの持つ力を明らかにした点に社会的意義がある。