Kiss him and delight in him : modern devotion at the Sacro Monte Nuova Gerusalemme

The Sacro Monte Nuova Gerusalemme of Varallo is an artistic complex of massive proportions. It is filled with interactive tableaux depicting the life of Christ and is made up of fifty-one chapels with over eight hundred individual statues. Nuova Gerusalemme’s purpose is to educate all people on the life of Christ by presenting them with realistic scenes and murals. What gives the Sacro Monte power is its use of Franciscan and devotio moderna ideologies about spiritual education. These schools of thought advocated the use of physical touch, contemplation, and dramatic interaction to create spiritual experiences. By examining the history of the mountain, the artistic structure of the chapels, and first-hand accounts, one can see how these ideas affected individual worship. This paper will examine how Franciscan thought and devotio moderna made Nuova Gerusalemme a powerful example of how art and spiritual mysticism work together to create epiphany.