Miraculous Prints in Early-Modern Emilia-Romagna

This doctoral thesis focuses on a selection of rare Italian early-modern prints from Emilia-Romagna which are believed to be miraculous images and have functioned as local cult objects since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By analysing these prints and the circumstances of their veneration, the thesis attempts to shed light on the impact that prints had within the context of miraculous imagery. While the use of prints in the dispersion of cult images is well-known, less attention has been paid to prints that became miraculous images in their own right. By analysing prints within the broader category of miraculous imagery produced in more permanent media, my research examines relatively neglected but crucially important aspects of the print medium, thus contributing a new chapter to the history of printmaking as well as to the discussion of miraculous imagery.