UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Cadagin, Sarah MellottSubject: search.filters.subject.Religious history

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    Creaturely Vision: Animals and Sacred Meaning in the Chiostro Grande of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Tuscany
    (2011) Cadagin, Sarah Mellott; Gill, Meredith J; Art History and Archaeology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The 1498-1508 cloister frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Sodoma at the monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore outside Siena, Italy, have been noted for their bright colors, ingenious compositions and playful character. Scholars have given little attention, however, to the inclusion of numerous animals into the religious scenes of the life of St. Benedict. This thesis explores the use of those animals and argues through a discussion of the history of animals in Christian theology and Christian art that the cycle's animals have important symbolic, historical and hagiographic purposes that underline and enhance Benedict's role as saint and exemplar for the Monte Oliveto monastic community. It furthermore contends that early modern notions of animals as metaphysical beings capable of supernatural senses and of animals as important signs of moral and theological truths underscore the frescoes and their message. Their inclusion ultimately elevates and intensifies Benedict's saintly efficacy for his order.