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Introduction

Shelly Matthews

in Perfect Martyr: The Stoning of Stephen and the Construction of Christian Identity

This chapter introduces the arguments of Boyarin, Lieu, and van Henten concerning martyrdom and identity construction among Jews and Christians, arguing that the death of Stephen should be considered ... More

This chapter introduces the arguments of Boyarin, Lieu, and van Henten concerning martyrdom and identity construction among Jews and Christians, arguing that the death of Stephen should be considered through this theoretical lens. As supporting argument for considering Stephen alongside second-century martyrologies, it situates Acts as an early second-century text. Appropriating Castelli’s arguments concerning martyrdom in Christian cultural memory, it argues that scholarly assertions concerning the historicity of Stephen’s death are more indebted to the force of cultural memory than to the historical-critical method. While concurring with Penner that verisimilitude, not “historical accuracy,” is the coin of ancient historiography, it then moves to suggest that this is not a reason to abandon the historiographic project but rather to frame historical narrative differently, in terms of rhetoric and ethic, as has been long argued in biblical studies by Schüssler Fiorenza.Less

Maternal Martyrdom: Alien3 and the Power of the Female Martyr

Laura Copier

in Powers: Religion as a Social and Spiritual Force

This chapter offers an interpretation of Lieutenant Ripley, the female character in the Hollywood movie Alien3, who turned into a martyr by jumping into a cauldron of ... More

This chapter offers an interpretation of Lieutenant Ripley, the female character in the Hollywood movie Alien3, who turned into a martyr by jumping into a cauldron of molten lead to save humanity from the alien queen she is hosting. It compares Ripley to Perpetua, the famous ancient female martyr. Building on Mieke Bal's work on quotation, it asks to what extent the contemporary and popular representation of Ripley reconfigures her historical predecessors such as Perpetua as female martyrs. The chapter further utilizes Elizabeth Castelli's analysis of gender as malleable to analyze female martyrs: Castelli argues that women martyrs typically adopted masculine features and abandoned their femininity, thereby transgressing and reaffirming gender difference. Perpetua's story has been taken to imply that mothers cannot be martyrs and vice versa, but Alien3 says otherwise. Although Ripley is strong and masculine, she embraces her motherhood at the moment of her self-sacrifice.Less

A moon circle: celestial reflections and illusions with Sarpi, Galileo, and Castelli

Marco Piccolino and Nicholas J. Wade

in Galileo's Visions: Piercing the spheres of the heavens by eye and mind

Two aspects of Galileo’s interpretation of visual appearances are compared with the conception of two of his contemporaries that were tightly connected to him, the Venetian Servite friar Paolo Sarpi, ... More

Two aspects of Galileo’s interpretation of visual appearances are compared with the conception of two of his contemporaries that were tightly connected to him, the Venetian Servite friar Paolo Sarpi, and the Benedictine monk Benedetto Castelli, Galileo’s most devoted pupil. In the case of the interpretation of the mechanism of light reflection Galileo’s theories were largely anticipated by Sarpi, even though the friar did not achieve as complete a comprehension of the mechanism underlying diffuse reflection as Galileo. On the other hand, in the case of the interpretation of the illusory size of the moon, sun, and other celestial bodies when viewed near the horizon (the so-called moon illusion), Sarpi and Castelli were much more perceptive than Galileo. In a rather disconcerting and uncritical way he seemed to adhere to an old-fashioned explanation based on an (erroneous) optical interpretation of the phenomenon.Less

The (Re)Generation of Italian Thought: The Interwar Period

Rocco Rubini

in The Other Renaissance: Italian Humanism between Hegel and Heidegger

This chapter addresses the demise of Giovanni Gentile’s scholarly and philosophical influence during the interwar period. It recounts how Gentile’s stance and agenda came under attack, from the ... More

This chapter addresses the demise of Giovanni Gentile’s scholarly and philosophical influence during the interwar period. It recounts how Gentile’s stance and agenda came under attack, from the Catholic quarter, where his archenemy, Agostino Gemelli, sponsored a Neothomism and thus a renewed medievalism, countering the modern mainstream, and also from within, as some of his former students, in line with European concerns, vociferously called for the “problematization” of Gentile’s actual idealism and the philosophical task tout-court. At the same time, this chapter examines the concerted, indeed, collaborative efforts of a younger generation of existentialists who, relying on smuggled French and German sources, succeeded in definitely overcoming, in critical assimilation, the “hegemony” of Italian idealism. Notable among the latter group of young thinkers given to the “deprovincialization” of Italian philosophy are Enrico Castelli (1900-1977), who, inspired by Maurice Blondel, sponsored a Catholic existentialism and, more influentially, Nicola Abbagnano (1901-1990), who, through a newly discovered Heidegger, came to conceive of a distinctively Italian existentialism that would be “positive,” “constructive,” and “civic” as opposed to defeatist and solipsistic. The chapter makes the case that only with this philosophical background in mind can some of the most influential interpretive paradigms in postwar Renaissance scholarship be fully grasped.Less

East Hampton, Pro Sports, and the Separation

Cathy Curtis

in A Generous Vision: The Creative Life of Elaine de Kooning

A party the de Koonings attended at the home of Fritz Hensler in 1952 was an alcohol-fueled example of Artists Behaving Badly—increasingly common as the decade progressed. During the summers of 1952 ... More

A party the de Koonings attended at the home of Fritz Hensler in 1952 was an alcohol-fueled example of Artists Behaving Badly—increasingly common as the decade progressed. During the summers of 1952 and 1953, the de Koonings were guests of art dealer Leo Castelli and his wife in East Hampton. Bill’s fierce-looking Woman paintings, shown in 1953, embroiled Elaine in controversy. In spring 1954, she had her first one-person show, at the Stable Gallery—portraits and paintings of basketball games, based on games at Madison Square Garden, photos in tabloid newspapers, and compositions from Old Master paintings. Although she had long lived apart from Bill, the birth of his daughter with Joan Ward marked a turning point in the marriage. The de Koonings separated in 1957. The brooding, largely abstract paintings she showed at Tibor de Nagy Gallery that November seemed to reflect her state of mind.Less

Galileo answers Apelles

in On Sunspots

This chapter discusses Galileo's reply to the commentaries of Christoph Scheiner on his sunspot study. It explains that Galileo's first response contained no series of systematic observations like ... More

This chapter discusses Galileo's reply to the commentaries of Christoph Scheiner on his sunspot study. It explains that Galileo's first response contained no series of systematic observations like the Tres Epistolae. This is because it was only after this first letter that Galileo learned the telescopic projection method from Benedetto Castelli which allowed him to conduct systemic observation of the Sun. Galileo promised to provide observations and drawings of the solar spots in his next letter. During this time Scheiner was already preparing his Accuratior Disquisitio for publication.Less