Mourning into Joy by Thomas Connolly
Although Saint Cecilia is venerated throughout the Western world as the patron saint of music and Raphael's famous painting The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia is filled with musical iconography, the ancient origins of Cecilia's association with music have long been shrouded in mystery. This book, a masterful investigation of the Cecilian cult from its beginnings in Christian antiquity down to the Renaissance, explains how Cecilia came to be linked with music and offers a new interpretation of Raphael's painting. Thomas Connolly finds the key to the mystery in a theme he identifies as "mourning-into-joy." This theme, rooted in the Bible and in Aristotle's doctrine of the passions of the soul, became prominent in the visual and literary arts as well as in theology and spirituality and expressed the soul's passages between vice and virtue as a conversion of sadness into joy. According to Connolly, this idea strongly influenced the legend and worship of Saint Cecilia, a model for all who sought spiritual transformation. Connolly argues that the medieval mystical mind saw music as an intimate expression of the experiences of conversion and spiritual growth and that the conjunction of spirit and music became crystallized in the figure of the saint. His explanation not only provides a better understanding of Raphael's work and other Renaissance and Baroque art but also clarifies puzzling literary questions concerning Saint Cecilia, such as Chaucer's treatment of her in "The Second Nun's Tale."
Connolly, Thomas: - Author's Biography: Tom Connolly is a happily retired senior. He had a dual working career as a communication industry manager and an officer in the naval reserve. At Notre Dame, Tom earned a BA and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. From Rollins College, he earned a Master's degree in Management. His formal education, corporate training and experience, and military training and experience are extensive. Tom provided tender loving care to Laura, his wife of 51 years, for the decades she lived with dementia diseases. During that period, Tom performed extensive research into how to provide Tender Loving Care to Laura and how both could live life to its fullest. He was successful and shares his knowledge with previous, current, and future caregivers in his series of books with the title The TLC Story in the three different phases of dementia: mild, moderate, and severe.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780300059014 |
| ISBN 10 | 0300059019 |
| Title | Mourning into Joy |
| Author | Thomas Connolly |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Year published | 1995-02-22 |
| Number of pages | 380 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |