Abstract
In her article ‘Sleeping with the Enemy: Infertility and Wife Murder in a Miracle of St. Peter Martyr’, Diana Bullen Presciutti examines three paintings of a miracle ascribed to the Dominican saint in order to demonstrate the value of visual hagiography as a form of historical evidence, one that allows for a richer understanding of how poorly documented social problems like uxoricide and infertility were perceived in Renaissance Italy. In the miracle story, Peter Martyr revives a stillborn baby and thereby resolves a domestic crisis: the baby’s father, frustrated by his wife’s repeated stillbirths, had developed a violent hatred for her. In the paintings, the father is identified as an idealised young aristocrat, his wife as a pious votary, and the saint as a potent thaumaturge and effective social mediator. Presciutti elucidates how the images construct infertility as an existential threat to elite masculine honour and present murderous rage as an understandable (and potentially forgivable) response to it.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
