Monday, September 9, 2024

Art in Medicine: Modern Pilgrimage & Health

 

'Lourdes"
Mario Giacomelli, 1957 CE  

The September 2024 Art In Medicine topic is about medical pilgrimages.

Lucinda Bennett, the Medical Librarian at Ascension St Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD,  publishes a regular series on Art in Medicine and The Health Humanities.    

It's only 1-2 pages with gorgeous images, so it won't take you long to read
... and just might enrich your life.


When you hear the word pilgrimage, what comes to mind? If you are literary minded, perhaps the Canterbury Tales wherein a group of humorous pilgrims make their way to England’s most famous holy site. Or, if you are a student of history, perhaps the road to Santiago. However, such travels are not wholly a thing of the past, and many modern pilgrims make the journey for the health of their body, not just their soul.  However, let us review the origin of the modern pilgrim, with its roots in the European Medieval period.  

“Although religion in the Middle Ages was much more nuanced than modern popular culture might imply, Christianity was a pivotal part of medieval society in Europe, and people’s everyday lives were saturated with it, from the way time was measured to the meals they ate. For medieval people, faith was more than just an abstract idea, it was tangible in the works they made (such as the great cathedrals) to glorify God, and the relics they could see with their own eyes. An integral part of this tangible form of faith was the pilgrimage: a spiritual journey to visit a holy site. Penitents would also undertake pilgrimages in order to gain forgiveness for their sins, or to shorten time in purgatory for themselves or for others. When he was dying, Henry the Young King (son of Henry II) asked William Marshal to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in his place in remembrance of his sins in life (Marshal did so). Sometimes, people went on pilgrimages to pray for fertility or safe delivery, too. Basically, as a pilgrimage was a journey of faith, anything a person felt they needed God’s help for could be motivation for the journey.” (Medievalists.Net) 

Centuries later, the practice of pilgrimage was by no means extinct, although its practitioners became less common as Christianity shifted and changed with various reformations and schisms. Unlike the travelers of the past, by the 20th century photography was well developed as a means of documenting pleasure and penitent trips alike. In the biography supplied by the Getty Museum, Mario Giacomelli (1925-2000) is known as one of the most notable Italian photographers of his generation. Although he grew up poor, he began his trade in typography and printing, was a self-taught painter and poet, and served in WWII. His engagement with photography was directly related to healthcare as a resident at the hospice center where his mother was admitted bestowed him with some funds, which he used to open his own studio. This relationship with health concerns can be seen in his series of photographs simply titled “Lourdes.”  

“...the series Lourdes depicts people living with illness, injury, or disability who are in search of miraculous healing.  Giacomelli received a commission to photograph at this Catholic pilgrimage site in southern France in 1957.

Tremendously pained by what he saw, he shot just a few rolls of film, returned the fee that had been advanced, and did not show anyone the images for some time. He traveled to Lourdes again in 1966, with his wife and second child. This time he, too, was in search of a cure, for their son, who had lost the ability to speak following an accident.” (The Getty Museum Collection) Modern pilgrimage provides an unusual opportunity to document those who participated in the journey, as well as the practices performed during and at the end of the road. As such, the message of those images would be up for new interpretation in comparison to images made during the Middle Ages. What was the meaning of the journey, how was the pilgrim feeling as they progressed? How does faith impact our reading of these images? “Spirituality can be defined as a relation to the transcendent, while religion is a system of beliefs often institutionalized which are related to a certain degree of commitment (Dent, 2020). This distinction means that modern pilgrims are seeking a more subjective, less institutionalized spirituality than traditional pilgrims used to seek (Mikaelson, 2012)...Lopez et al.  (2017) found the attractive features of the Camino for the modern pilgrim to be 
  1. the natural landscape
  2. the slow mobility that facilitates introspection
  3. the authentic experience of experiencing different sensations
  4. multicultural and religious dressed as a pilgrim, setting off on his pilgrimage encounters and
  5. monumentalizing, meaning sacred objects and values British Library Egerton that are visual cues on the way.” (Walking for well-being)


“Medieval pilgrimage” detail of miniature showing the Lover, dressed as a pilgrim, setting off on his pilgrimage.  British Library Egerton   Source: Medievalists.Net 


Social media is a recent phenomenon which allows the sharing of vacations, life experiences and all manner of events. The ease of access of photos taken along the pilgrimage, shared in the form of written articles, perfectly combines the revival of the pilgrimage, health concerns, and the spread of modern imagery. “This is their second time on the trail...When I ask why, their answers are beatifically banal. It’s “nice” and “Spain is beautiful.” Coming from East Germany, they grew up without religion, and haven’t obtained any since...They explain that, the previous year, they’d made the pilgrimage on behalf of a friend with multiple sclerosis. They’d carried a rock for him, and on the exact day when they placed the rock before a cross on the trail, their friend had received news of a novel therapy, which they say has since enabled him to walk again. “It’s a miracle!” I practically shout, finding myself strangely eager to believe. “Yes, it was,” they reply, factually.” (What it means to go on a modern pilgrimage)


Reprinted with the generous permission of Ms. Bennett.

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