Christian Works : Incomentiano le deuote meditatione sopra la passione del nostro signore

Christian Works

<p style='text-align: justify;'>This lovely book is finely illuminated, in its original binding, and generously annotated by an early owner, who identifies herself inside the text as a nun, Sister Alexia, who has been given the work by her uncle as a gift. A second owner from within the convent, Sister Teofila, probably received the book from her fellow nun. Sister Alexia has annotated the text fully and carefully, highlighting the passages of particular relevance to her, as well as adding poetic texts to the front and back. By reading ‘over her shoulder’, we encounter an individual engaging with her devotional book in her home environment, in this case a convent cell. Alessia’s careful annotations testify to the rise of a new kind of readership, made up of literate women who modeled humanist trends in their own reading practices. </p><p style='text-align: justify;'>Dr Abigail Brundin</p><p style='text-align: justify;'>This item is part of the <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/madonnasandmiracles'>Madonnas & Miracles exhibition</a> at the Fitzwilliam Museum, 7th March-4th June 2017</p>