St. Birgitta of Sweden (1303-1373) - left a lasting mark on the history of Renaissance and early modern Italy as far as religion, art and politics are concerned. Her Revelations were translated into Italian and during the first half of sixteenth century they were re-discovered and circulated widely, especially thanks to the diffusion of images inspired by Birgitta, to the charismatic activities of women prophets, and to the work of nuns in the convents, such as Santa Brigida al Paradiso in Florence. At the beginning of the seventeenth century a renewed interest in Birgitta’s political and religious message emerged, as in the case of Tommaso Campanella, who considered Birgitta’s prophetic voice in the genealogy of messianic philosophers from Joachim of Fiore to Girolamo Savonarola. The panel aims to outline the contours of the multifaceted legacy of St. Birgitta in artistic, literary, political, philosophical and prophetic works throughout two centuries of Italian history.
Chair: • Eleonora Cappuccilli (University of Oslo)
Panelists: • Eleonora Cappuccilli (University of Oslo) - St. Birgitta among the Prophets: The Reception of the Revelationes in Domenica Narducci’s Work • Unn Falkeid (University of Oslo) - “A single fold under one shepherd.” Birgitta of Sweden in Tommaso Campanella’s Monarchia del Messia • Isabella Gagliardi (Università di Firenze) - Prophetic Theology: the Santa Brigida al Paradiso in Florence • Angela La Delfa (University of Maryland University College) - The Birgittine imagery’s influence on Tuscan iconography • Maria Oen (Stockholm University) - The Authority of Birgitta’s Heavenly Revelations: The Image of the Saint and Her Work in Quattrocento Manuscripts
