About the Book Traveling around the world has led to an awe-inspiring spiritual collection that will leave people feeling passionate to learn more. This life changing journey has led to more stories and art that should be shared.

Picturing Death: 1200–1600 brings together essays considering four key centuries of imagery related to human mortality, from tomb sculpture to painted altarpieces, from manuscripts to printed books, and from minute carved objects to large-scale architecture.

In Renaissance Florence, certain paintings and sculptures of the Virgin Mary and Christ were believed to have extraordinary efficacy in activating potent sacred intercession. Cults sprung up around these "miraculous images" in the city and surrounding countryside beginning in the late 13th century. In The Miraculous Image in Renaissance Florence, Megan Holmes questions what distinguished these paintings and sculptures from other similar sacred images, looking closely at their material and formal properties, the process of enshrinement, and the foundation legends and miracles associated with specific images. Whereas some of the images presented in this fascinating book are well known, such as Bernardo Daddi's Madonna of Orsanmichele, many others have been little studied until now. Holmes's efforts center on the recovery and contextualization of these revered images, reintegrating them and their related cults into an art-historical account of the period. By challenging prevailing views and offering a reassessment of the Renaissance, this generously illustrated and comprehensive survey makes a significant contribution to the field.

The Mother of Mercy was painted in 1796 by Giuseppe Soleri Brancaleoni at the request of his sister, Sr. Clare Soleri, as a replica of the miraculous image venerated in the Oratory of St. Girolamo. This painting was placed as an object of veneration in a rear chapel within the Church of St. Clare in Rimini, Italy. On May 12, 1850, three women, having gone there to pray in front of the holy image, witnessed an extraordinary phenomenon: the pupils in the image "rose and lowered; sometimes having the splendor of shining stars, at other times veiled in tears." This miraculous event repeated itself again and again over a period of several months in the sight of many. Rimini and its surrounding countryside began to experience a spiritual renewal. After a rigorous examination of evidence given by numerous witnesses, the miracle was verifi ed by the Holy Catholic Church. In 1851, the image was adorned with a crown of gold, silver and precious stones; as a gift from Pope Pius IX. The venerated image has had many, various miracles attributed to it over the years, and numerous ex-voto offerings which commemorate them may be seen in the Church of St. Clare. In time, the Mother of Mercy came to be known as the Madonna of Rimini. The beautiful image, traditionally said to have been painted while Soleri was on his knees, is currently located over the High Altar in the Church of St. Clare, and to this day retains that "delicacy and smoothness" which have never failed to move those who prayerfully contemplate it.

Domestic Devotions in Early Modern Italy illuminates the vibrancy of spiritual beliefs and practices which profoundly shaped family life in this era. Scholarship on Catholicism has tended to focus on institutions, but the home was the site of religious instruction and reading, prayer and meditation, communal worship, multi-sensory devotions, contemplation of religious images and the performance of rituals, as well as extraordinary events such as miracles. Drawing on a wide range of sources, this volume affirms the central place of the household to spiritual life and reveals the myriad ways in which devotion met domestic needs. The seventeen essays encompass religious history, the histories of art and architecture, material culture, musicology, literary history, and social and cultural history. Contributors are Erminia Ardissino, Michele Bacci, Michael J. Brody, Giorgio Caravale, Maya Corry, Remi Chiu, Sabrina Corbellini, Stefano Dall’Aglio, Marco Faini, Iain Fenlon, Irene Galandra Cooper, Jane Garnett, Joanna Kostylo, Alessia Meneghin, Margaret A. Morse, Elisa Novi Chavarria, Gervase Rosser, Zuzanna Sarnecka, Katherine Tycz, and Valeria Viola.

It is almost impossible to believe, but it appears that the handsome young Italian Prince Antonio di Sogino has stolen an exquisite Florentine antique necklace from Jennie, the Marchioness of Kirkham, with whom he has enjoyed a brief dalliance on a visit to London. Distraught and terrified that her ageing husband will discover the loss of the necklace, she seeks help from her brother, Lord Mere, a military hero and a close confidant of Queen Victoria. Determined to help his sister Lord Mere travels to Florence and uncovers a sinister blackmail plot by the ugly and depraved Prince Vincente Gorizia, trapping a young beauty named Florencia into an unholy marriage. Lord Mere is struck hard by this appalling injustice and smitten in a trice by Florencia’s ethereal Raphaelite beauty, as he has always admired and been enchanted by Raphael’s paintings of other worldly Madonnas. Heroically he proposes to challenge her persecutor and meticulously plans his campaign to rescue Florencia from a dreadful fate worse than death. And, as he finds his sister’s precious necklace, he realises that he has lost his heart. But can he and Florencia ever be free of the evil Prince, free to marry and be together forever?

As sightings of the Virgin Mary have increased around the world over the last couple of decades, the Vatican has placed increased importance on a group of theologians, scientists and physicians whose job is to investigate them. These are the miracle detectives. Randall Sullivan's book follows these investigators on the trail of the Virgin Mary from the Vatican City in Rome to Oregon, Arizona, Venezuela, Switzerland, Ireland, Japan and Kenya. What he discovers is that every road and each mystery leads back to a tiny village in Bosnia. There, against the background of the ongoing war, eight young visionaries have been receiving what they say are the final apparitions of the Madonna. These appearances, which began in 1981 in a small village in the former Yugoslavia, have been more thoroughly examined than any purported miraculous phenomenon in history. To date, the results defy explanation. This is an amazing story of religious mysticism, as well as a testing of the author's own faith and beliefs.