Today we are pleased to present Marco Papasidero's book: Miracles and Benefits. Illness, Thaumaturgy, and Devotion in Licata and Sicily in the Early Modern Period, published by Edizioni Carmelitane in 2021. To find out more about this work, we asked the author three questions.

We know you are involved in the History of Christianity and that your research particularly concerns hagiography, the cult of saints, and relics. In this current volume, you have also delved into these themes: would you like to briefly tell us what it is about?

The volume contains the critical edition of the trial in the provinces, which took place at the diocesan headquarters between 1625 and 1627, to collect the testimonies of the miracles and graces attributed by the inhabitants of Licata to the intercession of Saint Angelo Carmelitan, a martyr who died in 1220 according to hagiographical tradition. Before the critical text, the volume includes a detailed analysis, which focuses primarily on cultural and social aspects: from miracles to healing practices, through the water from the spring that emerged at the site of his martyrdom, passing by relics and processions.

How was the text edition conducted and on what manuscript witnesses? 

The critical edition was based on two witnesses, copies of originals no longer traceable. The first copy, used as the base text, is kept at the General Archive of the Carmelites and was produced by the very notary who drew up the originals, Iacopo Murci; the second is instead kept at the University Library of Cagliari. The edition was conducted adopting a conservative criterion with respect to the first copy, taking into account the substantial variants, which are quite few in number in the second copy. The text contains some parts in Latin and the depositions in Italian and Sicilian, which almost render the viva voce of the witnesses.

Reading the trial records concerning the miracles of Saint Angelo, what were the curiosities or unusual aspects that struck you the most?

As stated, the documents from this investigation are very rich in information. Among the most interesting aspects are the social, historical-medical, and historical-cultural ones. The text describes, for example, the procession with relics that was held for the May festival, but also the devotion of the people of Licata in carrying stones for the expansion of the church, following the plague of 1625, the cessation of which had been attributed to the saint's intercession. A particular detail that we could call curious is that of a local man, one Antonino Morinello, whose nickname is also reported, “Peduzzo,” attributed to him because he «walked with a limp and was born with such a defect.» Beyond the episode of healing, which is interesting in itself, what strikes one is the portrayal of a social reality in which nicknames retained – and in part still retain – all their expressive and descriptive power. Another curiosity is the account of an attempted femicide, described by several witnesses and by the woman herself, Antoninella Caruso, who, while on her way to church to venerate the urn with relics, displayed for the May festival, was attacked by a man who tried to kill her, having mistaken her, the witnesses say, for his wife.

Edizioni Carmelitane has recently published Ruggiero Doronzo’s book: Female Carmelite iconography in engravings from the General Archive of the Carmelite Order in Rome from the 17th and 18th centuries. To find out more about this work, we asked the author three questions.

We know that you are involved in Puglian art history, and that you held a course on the subject at the University of Bari and published various essays and monographs on Painting and sculpture in southern Italy during the modern era. How did the idea for this volume on Carmelite iconography come about?

This book is the result of research commissioned by the General Archive of the Carmelites, titled: Engravers and painters for the Virgin of Carmel, saints and venerable figures of the Carmelite Order. The case of Sister Isabella Piccini, Sebastiano Conca and other artists active between the second half of the 17th century and the early 18th century. Although the study was initially intended to focus on engravings by a few artistic personalities, as research progressed, new discoveries continued to be made, some seemingly insignificant, others extraordinarily important, thus providing the opportunity to broaden the iconographic and iconological analysis to all engravings depicting female subjects of the Order of Carmel. 

The book we have here is a proper catalogue. How did you decide to structure it?

Per agevolare la consultazione del lavoro, il criterio adoperato nell’impostazione del volume tiene conto del soggetto e della cronologia della stampa. Si tratta di stampe di traduzione o according tos, made from a model, which was almost always a painting, and ‘reproduction’ prints derived solely from drawings. When signatures were added at the bottom of the print, that of the inventor was placed on the left, according to a hierarchical order and in a better position, while the engraver's signature was on the right. The terms painted, invented e drew thus indicating the original author and the intellectual and creative responsible for the subject depicted, while result e Sculpsit si riferiscono all’incisore. Di ogni incisione, infatti, vengono indicati il nome del disegnatore o del pittore, quello del bulinista, il soggetto, la tecnica, le misure, eventuali iscrizioni, il numero attuale di inventario e la bibliografia di riferimento, se è già edita. Segue l’esame iconografico e iconologico dell’immagine e si è creduto opportuno stilare anche un profilo biografico del disegnatore e del bulinista, il loro ambito di riferimento, nonché offrire alcune indicazioni sul committente là dove sia segnalato.

The subjects represented are Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the great saints Teresa of Avila and Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, and twenty-three beati and venerabili. Which authors and engravings struck you the most?

Based on philological analysis, it appears that the prints were produced by engravers active in Italy, Flanders, Spain, Bavaria, and Poland, as well as some signed by artists absent from major collections or others that are anonymous. These latter ones pose interesting questions regarding both their identification and their placement in the history of engraving. I was most struck by those for which I was able to find the source material, as was the case, for example, with an engraving by Leonardo Germo depicting the Virgin of Carmel appearing to Antonio Chiavassa, or that by Gaetano Bianchi which reproduces a painting of the Virgin conserved in the sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie at Colletto near Pinerolo. Finally, I find the engravings by Abraham van Diepenbeeck, a Flemish artist capable of conveying theological and Marian messages through images drawn with meticulous graphic skill, to be of great beauty.