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Disseminating Christian Beliefs Through Word and Image in Medieval and...
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Disseminating Christian Beliefs Through Word and Image in Medieval and Renaissance Times

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 3142

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. José María Salvador-González

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Art History, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Interests: religious studies; Christianity; Mariology; iconography; medieval studies; intellectual history; social history
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Based primarily on the writings of the Bible, Christianity is essentially a religion centered on the word. All its guiding principles, both the primary ones concerning doctrine, morality and worship, as well as the derivatives concerning uses and customs, are essentially based on the canonical texts of the Old and New Testament.

In addition, these biblical texts are clarified through the exegetical comments and the catechetical teaching of the Church Fathers and theologians in their role as teachers in charge of transmitting the contents of Christian orthodoxy to the believing community. Therefore, they had to resort to various modes of verbal expression, from profound theological treatises to direct homilies or attractive liturgical hymns.

On the other hand, Christianity assumed the image very early on—especially in the Middle Ages, when almost the entire population was illiterate—as an indispensable support and complement to the word: that way the words were illustrated by images, as a visible embodiment of the ideas.

This essential intertwining between word and image in Christianity becomes particularly dramatic in periods of iconoclastic crisis, such as in the 8th century in the Byzantine sphere and in the 16th century in the Central European domain affected by the Protestant Reformation, especially the Calvinist one. To counteract such iconoclastic crises, Orthodox Christianity chose to emphasize even more the necessary visualization of verbal contents through images, thus motivating a crucial revaluation of worship of images.

The fundamental purpose of this Special Issue of Religions is to publish the work of several specialists in various academic fields who can debate this specific subject matter from an interdisciplinary and transversal perspective.

We seek to invite contributions from a wide range of academic disciplines, such as Church history, theology, philosophy, iconography, arts and humanities, cultural studies, sociology, and other branches of knowledge to contribute to shaping a monograph with a multifocal approach that aspires to provide a valuable supplement to the existing literature.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore some fundamental dimensions of the interaction between word and image in medieval and Renaissance Christianity. Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Interaction between words and images in medieval and Renaissance Christianity.
  • Role of Christian images as a useful tool for teaching the theological message.
  • Historical examples of interactions between Christian images and their doctrinal meanings.
  • Various modes of embodiment of Christian beliefs in medieval and Renaissance images.
  • New insights on doctrinal approaches to medieval and Renaissance Christian iconography.
  • Empirical case studies to formulate new iconographic analyses.
  • Interaction of Christian words and images with new methods of approach.
  • Interdisciplinary insights into the questions addressed.
  • Contribution of Christianity to medieval and Renaissance iconography.
  • Christianity facing to iconoclastic reactions.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor (jmsalvad@ucm.es) or to the Religions Editorial Office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of this Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Prof. Dr. José María Salvador-González
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Christianity
  • Christian doctrine
  • patrology
  • theology
  • Christian iconography
  • church history
  • medieval culture
  • Christian society
  • popular devotion
  • religious experience
  • liturgical hymns
  • interdisciplinary studies
  • middle ages
  • renaissance

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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30 pages, 12291 KiB  
Article
Communion Under Both Kinds in the Lublin Frescoes and Gregory Tsamblak’s Liturgy at the Council of Constance
by Mirosław Piotr Kruk
Religions 2025, 16(3), 391; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030391 - 20 Mar 2025
Viewed by 540
Abstract
Communion Under Both Kinds in the Lublin Frescoes and Gregory Tsamblak’s Liturgy at the Council of Constance. The aim of this publication is to draw attention to the fact that a rather lengthy discussion of the peculiar depiction of the Communion of the [...] Read more.
Communion Under Both Kinds in the Lublin Frescoes and Gregory Tsamblak’s Liturgy at the Council of Constance. The aim of this publication is to draw attention to the fact that a rather lengthy discussion of the peculiar depiction of the Communion of the Apostles in the krthodox paintings of the Roman Catholic chapel of Lublin Castle has overlooked the fact that the Orthodox Metropolitan of Kiev Gregory Tsamblak, who was an envoy of the founder of the frescoes, i.e., King Władysław Jagiełło of Poland, to the Council of Constance, gave Communion under two forms during the liturgy he celebrated there and that this was recorded in the annals of the Council. Several issues are worth considering here—the depiction of this Communion in a Roman Catholic Church, its unusual form and the fact that Tsamblak celebrated this liturgy at the Council, which gave separate attention to the question of Communion under both kinds. Metropolitan Tsamblak appeared at the Council in 1418, the same year in which the Lublin paintings were made. It is likely that it was Tsamblak who may have worked with King Władysław Jagiełło to set their programme, just as they both united their efforts to create a framework for Christians of different denominations to coexist within one state organism. Thus, it also seems important to recall this remarkable person and the role he played at a key moment after the unification of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disseminating Christian Beliefs Through Word and Image in Medieval and Renaissance Times)
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19 pages, 2381 KiB  
Article
Fact, Fiction, and Legend: Writing Urban History and Identity in Medieval and Renaissance Siena
by Ming Yin
Religions 2025, 16(3), 337; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030337 - 7 Mar 2025
Viewed by 670
Abstract
Beginning in the 13th century, rivalry among Italian city-states intensified, transforming cultural competition into a strategic tool for asserting identity. Roman heritage was often contested, with cities emphasising their claims as the true heirs of Rome. Siena has faced criticism for its lack [...] Read more.
Beginning in the 13th century, rivalry among Italian city-states intensified, transforming cultural competition into a strategic tool for asserting identity. Roman heritage was often contested, with cities emphasising their claims as the true heirs of Rome. Siena has faced criticism for its lack of major historical sites. In response, its municipal authorities and citizens developed the legends of the “she-wolf” and Saint Ansanus. These legends reinforced Siena’s urban identity through historical narratives and public art. During the Renaissance, Siena redefined its history to assert its legitimacy by drawing on classical culture. This re-articulation of identity addressed historical rivalries and revealed the enduring complexity of local identity formation in Italy. This study examines historical legends and uses historical materials, such as city archives and artworks, to research the Italian city of Siena during the Renaissance and to investigate the origins of urban legends, their controversies, and how Siena created the legends of the “she-wolf” and Saint Ansanus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disseminating Christian Beliefs Through Word and Image in Medieval and Renaissance Times)
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47 pages, 4850 KiB  
Article
The Temple as a Symbol of the Virgin Mary in Medieval Liturgical Hymns and Its Reflection in Images of the Annunciation of the 14th–15th Centuries
by José María Salvador-González
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1446; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121446 - 27 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1476
Abstract
The current article seeks two interrelated objectives. First, we will shed light on the Mariological and Christological meanings underlying the saying templum Dei and other similar metaphorical expressions, with which countless medieval liturgical hymns, inspired by the Bible, designate the Virgin Mary. Second, [...] Read more.
The current article seeks two interrelated objectives. First, we will shed light on the Mariological and Christological meanings underlying the saying templum Dei and other similar metaphorical expressions, with which countless medieval liturgical hymns, inspired by the Bible, designate the Virgin Mary. Second, we will iconographically interpret some paintings of the Annunciation from the 14th and 15th centuries that represent Mary’s house in Nazareth as a majestic temple. In this order of ideas, we will proceed according to two complementary methodological strategies: first, we will analyze an abundant corpus of fragments of liturgical hymns configured around some biblical metaphors, such as temple of God, tabernacle of the Lord, seat of Wisdom, Ark of the Covenant, temple of Solomon, or throne of the King (Solomon); second, we will analyze eight pictorial Annunciations that include a temple in their scene. The comparison of both analyses, the texts and the images, will allow us to conclude that these texts are the conceptual support of those images, and that the latter are the visual illustrations of those concepts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disseminating Christian Beliefs Through Word and Image in Medieval and Renaissance Times)
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