Il libro dei miracoli: intersections of gender, class and portraiture in Italian multimedia votive sculpture, 1450-1630

Multi-media votive sculpture, made from wax, papier-mâché, wood, terra cotta and textiles, is a long-neglected subject of study in early modern Italian art history. This dissertation focuses on an unparalleled seventeenth-century manuscript, the Libro dei miracoli, which reproduces in watercolor a number of the lost multi-media votive statues that once populated the church of S. Maria della Quercia in Viterbo. The names of votaries, along with a description of their miracles, accompany the watercolors and present an invaluable source of information that allows for this first comprehensive study of votary identity. Abundant archival material maintained by S. Maria della Quercia, situated within larger historical events and cultural trends, informs this dissertation which explores the democratic nature behind votive statuary effigies. The offerings granted male and female members of most socio-economic classes in early modern Italy the extraordinary opportunity to act as patrons of art. Moreover, the sculptures, and watercolors after them, were individualized representations of votaries that can be considered a form of portraiture available to rich and poor alike.