Conference | Miraculous Images in Global Perspectives

Miraculous Images in Global Perspectives

Centre Paul Langevin, Aussois, France
June 20th–23rd, 2022 | In-person | Online
To register for the Zoom link, please email: jean-baptiste.georges-picot@etu.ephe.psl.eu

Professor Emerita Julia K. Murray will be presenting her paper “Miraculous Portraits of Confucius” on Tuesday, June 21st at 2:50pm CET. She will also be chairing the session Power and Place of Pilgrimage on Wednesday, June 22nd at 9:30am CET.

Conference Summary
Images are ubiquitous in the world’s religious traditions—even in those traditions in which their creation and veneration have been highly circumscribed or entirely banned. They can serve as objects or expressions of devotion, as pedagogical instruments, as markers of class or status, and as aesthetic productions in their own right. But not all images are held to be equal. In “Miraculous Images in Global Perspective,” we seek to examine in cross-cultural perspective the phenomenon of images that possess supramundane powers or abilities: to perform miracles, emit light, sweat, bleed, move about, heal, protect and at times even to destroy. We seek to shed new light on the nature of materiality, of religious devotion, and of the transmission of ideas and objects within and between cultures and traditions. The conference will address four key interrelated questions: What is a miraculous image? How is knowledge of miraculous images transmitted? How are miraculous images experienced and used? And who authenticates and regulates these miraculous images?

Please download the full program here. 

Organized by: Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (UMR 8582, EPHE/PSL-CNRS, France) ; University of Virginia (USA); Yale MacMillan Center (USA)