METADATA
This article has been subjected to double blind peer review
This article has been published in: Ocula 23, Flowers of the soul: The symbolism of flowers in the religious imagination
author: Graziano Lingua (Università di Torino IT)
How the lilies of the field dress: transformations of the floral imaginery in the early Christian centuries
language: italian
publication date: July 2020
abstract: The essay analyses the debate about use of flowers in the Early Christianity identifying two principal attitudes of the Fathers of the Church. Initially there is a negative attitude towards flowers that is related with the critique of the pagan idolatry (Tertullian, Minucius Felis, Clemens of Alexandria). Along side to this refusal of pagan practises gradually grows a more positive floral imaginary that valorises the beauty of flowers as symbol of the presence of God and his divine providence. Analysing some patristical comments to the famous Gospel passage of Mt 6 about “lilies of the field” passage, the author shows that this new imaginary is related to a more broader transformation of Christian sensibility towards creatural beauty that involves not only flowers but also the sacred images.
keywords: immaginario floreale, padri della chiesa, cristianesimo delle origini, idolatria, corone, giardini, floral imagery, fathers of the church, early christianity, idolatry, crowns, gardens
OCULA-23-LINGUA-Come-vestono-i-gigli-del-campo-trasformazioni-dell-immaginario.pdf ➞ PDF [356Kb]
DOI: 10.12977/ocula2020-29
citation information: Graziano Lingua, Come vestono i gigli del campo: trasformazioni dell’immaginario floreale nei primi secoli cristiani, "Ocula", vol.21, n.23, pp.79-89, July 2020. DOI: 10.12977/ocula2020-29
Ocula.it publishes articles and essays in semiotic research, with a particular eye on communication and culture; it is open to dialogue with other research fields and welcomes contributions from all the areas of the social and human sciences.
Editorial Committee
Giovanni Baule (Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Design)
Anne Beyaert-Geslin (Université Bordeaux- Montaigne, France)
Giovanni Boccia Artieri (Libera Università di Urbino Carlo Bo)
Vanni Codeluppi (Università Iulm, Milano)
Marcel Danesi (University of Toronto, Canada) president from 2014
Bernard Darras (Université Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne, France)
Alessandro Duranti (University of California Los Angeles, USA)
Ruggero Eugeni (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore , Milano)
Guido Ferraro (Università di Torino)
Roberto Grandi (Università di Bologna)
Gianfranco Marrone (Università di Palermo)
Pino Paioni (1920-2013) (Università di Urbino) president from 2009 to 2013
Guglielmo Pescatore (Università di Bologna)
Susan Petrilli (Università di Bari)
Isabella Pezzini (Università La Sapienza di Roma)
Maria Pia Pozzato (Università di Bologna)
Andrea Semprini (Université de Lille, France; Iulm, Milano)
Junji Tsuchiya (Waseda University, Tokio, Japan)
Alessandro Zinna (Université de Toulouse 2, France)
Editorial Board
Coordinator (Editor in Chief): Michela Deni (michela.deni@gmail.com) from 2020
Giampaolo Proni (giampaolo.proni@unibo.it) from 2020
Andrea Bernardelli (andrea.bernardelli@unife.it)
Cinzia Bianchi (cinzia.bianchi@unimore.it)
Michela Deni (michela.deni@gmail.com)
Nicola Dusi (nicolamaria.dusi@unimore.it)
Francesco Galofaro (galofaro_francesco@hotmail.com)
Davide Gasperi (davide@davidegasperi.it)
Valentina Manchia (valentina.manchia@gmail.com)
Antonella Mascio (antonella.mascio@unibo.it)
Federico Montanari (federico.mont@gmail.com)
Valentina Pisanty (valentina.pisanty@unibg.it)
Giampaolo Proni (giampaolo.proni@unibo.it)
Ruggero Ragonese (ruggero.ragonese@unimore.it)
Stefano Traini (straini@unite.it)
Salvatore Zingale (salvatore.zingale@polimi.it)