Jessica Delgado | The Ohio State University (2024)

Women's History Review, 2018

Laywomen and the Making of Colonial Catholicism in New Spain, 1630–1790

This chapter reviews the scholarly treatment of religion and race in the early modern Iberian At... more This chapter reviews the scholarly treatment of religion and race in the early modern Iberian Atlantic world and colonial Latin America and suggests new directions for research. Through a critical reflection of the place that Spain and colonial Latin America have held in histories of race in the West, the chapter challenges historians of the Americas to rethink their understanding of the relationship between religion and race in the early modern era. It highlights processes and ideologies visible in Spanish America and calls for investigation into similar dynamics in the Anglophone colonies.

Jessica Delgado Re-fashioning Gender and Modern Visual Theology A powerful tension exists in the ... more Jessica Delgado Re-fashioning Gender and Modern Visual Theology A powerful tension exists in the role and meaning of the body, materiality, and beauty in Catholic theology, history, and practice. Sumptuously adorned bodies, the presence of the sacred within material form, and the use of rich color and images to represent the splendor of God and the heavens coexist with theologies of sin and purity that pit carnality against the spirit in a never-ending battle. The former sanctifies physicality while the latter relegates it to a burden humans must bear and ultimately overcome. In one sense, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is an extended meditation on this paradox. The aesthetic, creative, visual, and material sensibility on display through the exhibit's provocative and breathtaking exploration of Catholic-influenced modern fashion design placed alongside medieval Catholic art and vestments has been fundamentally shaped by the apparent contradictions in Catholic approaches to materiality and embodiment. The visual and material repertoire that Heavenly Bodies reveals has also been fundamentally shaped by the role of allegory in Catholic theology and visual culture. Taking the importance of analogy and allegory into account, seemingly incommensurable pairings no longer appear to simply represent contradictory strains of Catholic thought. The body, understood literally, is something to control; physical desires and longings, understood literally, are things to fear and rise above; material beauty, luxurious texture, color, and form, in and of themselves, are at best, petty distractions, and at worse, sources of temptation through which Satan can awake carnal appetites that threaten the soul's eternal salvation. However, all of these things, when they serve as an allegory for God's love, God's truth, and God's majesty, can

Women's History Review, 2018

Laywomen and the Making of Colonial Catholicism in New Spain, 1630–1790

This chapter reviews the scholarly treatment of religion and race in the early modern Iberian At... more This chapter reviews the scholarly treatment of religion and race in the early modern Iberian Atlantic world and colonial Latin America and suggests new directions for research. Through a critical reflection of the place that Spain and colonial Latin America have held in histories of race in the West, the chapter challenges historians of the Americas to rethink their understanding of the relationship between religion and race in the early modern era. It highlights processes and ideologies visible in Spanish America and calls for investigation into similar dynamics in the Anglophone colonies.

Jessica Delgado Re-fashioning Gender and Modern Visual Theology A powerful tension exists in the ... more Jessica Delgado Re-fashioning Gender and Modern Visual Theology A powerful tension exists in the role and meaning of the body, materiality, and beauty in Catholic theology, history, and practice. Sumptuously adorned bodies, the presence of the sacred within material form, and the use of rich color and images to represent the splendor of God and the heavens coexist with theologies of sin and purity that pit carnality against the spirit in a never-ending battle. The former sanctifies physicality while the latter relegates it to a burden humans must bear and ultimately overcome. In one sense, Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination is an extended meditation on this paradox. The aesthetic, creative, visual, and material sensibility on display through the exhibit's provocative and breathtaking exploration of Catholic-influenced modern fashion design placed alongside medieval Catholic art and vestments has been fundamentally shaped by the apparent contradictions in Catholic approaches to materiality and embodiment. The visual and material repertoire that Heavenly Bodies reveals has also been fundamentally shaped by the role of allegory in Catholic theology and visual culture. Taking the importance of analogy and allegory into account, seemingly incommensurable pairings no longer appear to simply represent contradictory strains of Catholic thought. The body, understood literally, is something to control; physical desires and longings, understood literally, are things to fear and rise above; material beauty, luxurious texture, color, and form, in and of themselves, are at best, petty distractions, and at worse, sources of temptation through which Satan can awake carnal appetites that threaten the soul's eternal salvation. However, all of these things, when they serve as an allegory for God's love, God's truth, and God's majesty, can