Visual expression of private female devotion in the area of Rome between the 4th and the 7th century
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | As Christianity slowly spread through the Mediterranean area and instilled itself as the only endorsed religion of the Roman Empire by the end of the 4th century, martyrs, Christ, and Mother of God replaced Lares and other deities on the private altars and apotropaic amulets. The important role women played in the religious observance in the pre-Christian Roman Empire, while not entirely wiped out from the public religious life (arguments for which, especially for the period after the end of the 4th century, have been heatedly discussed by generations of scholars from 1970s onwards), was relegated to the private female space. The private devotion may have been communal, as illustrated by the existence of female religious communities formed around the matronae following St. Jerome in the second half of the 4th century, which kickstarted the female monastic movement in Rome. In my paper, I delve into the visual means which devoted women utilized to demonstrate their faith and which may have been used as aids in the private liturgy. My focus is on the few material remains attesting such devotion, namely the votive medallion from the Vatican Museums (inv. n. MV.60539.0.0) and the wall painting inside the oratory under the church of San Giovanni e Paolo in Rome. By exploring the insight on the use and meaning of votive medallions for the early Christian private devotion, brought to the discussion by archaeology and cultural anthropology, and the primary sources attesting the devotional practices of the female religious communities, I uncover the differences and points of contact between the visual and ritual manifestation of individual and group female devotion in early Christian Rome. |
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