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Institute of Art History

Einladung zum Gastvortrag: Print as an Instrument for Revelation: Early Modern Visual Practices and Uses between Rome and Mexico City

06/12/2026

This talk examines the visual operations invoked by the Simbolica Descriptio, a 1609 Roman print that articulates the relationship between Nature and Grace through the figures of Christ and the Virgin. Produced within the humanist circle of the Accademia dei Lincei, and later circulating to the Jesuit College in Mexico City, this print will be examined both in its origin as well as its use in the Spanish territories in the Americas.

The analysis focuses on early modern theories concerning the acquisition of knowledge through the observation of epistemological imagery. In light of contemporary philosophical and alchemical inquiries into the relationship between matter and spirit, this research investigates the role of observation in acquiring knowledge of the intersections between the divine and the material world. It argues that the use of the internal mental faculties to discern relationships between images on a surface, thereby revealing their hidden connections, catalyses an intellectual understanding of the concealed relationship between the divine and nature. In doing so, it offers a framework for elucidating the Incarnation of Christ and the Virgin, which will later serve to articulate the devotion to the Immaculate Virgin in the Spanish Americas.

Dr. Vanessa A. Portugal, Assistant Professor in Global Art History, Trinity College Dublin

Donnerstag, 25. Juni 2026, 17:00 Uhr c.t.

Philosophiegebäude (PH1), Seminarraum 24

Veranstaltet vom Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Kontakt: Dr. Linda Müller, linda.mueller1@uni-wuerzburg.de

Poster

 

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