Hybrid holiness on display. Taking religion into consideration in the displays of sacred objects in collections

What happens with a sacred object when it enters the collection of a museum, of a private collector, or – historically – in a treasury? How does the changed context affect the identity and the viewer’s understanding of the object – and how does the display play in?

My research in the field of Museology has investigated the transfers between sacredness and heritage with a particular focus on early modern collections in Rome and Venice, on the modes of display, and on the interplay with the beholders. One of the key concepts in this investigation is Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s (1998) The agency of display, in my exploration of various ambitions in displays of sacred heritage in Post-Reformation Rome and Venice. I found that the displays changed in order to satisfy and not provoke the emerging cultural (and often non-Catholic) tourists in the course of the 17th century. The displays studied are descriptions in travel journals, presentations in guidebooks, and other accounts of how collections and famous objects have been accessible, presented, and contextualized, and to whom. My results indicate hybrid agencies of display regarding sacred objects in collections during the early modern period: these objects needed to cater the pious pilgrims ascribing sacred and soul-saving qualities to them, as well as the leisure travellers or foreign scholars who more commonly emphasized the artistic, historical, or monetary qualities in same objects. I argue that this ambiguity, or possible rivalry, between agencies of displays of sacred objects is rooted in the Post-Reformation period, but remains a challenge for museums and other collections today.

Dr. Helena Wangefelt Ström obtained her PhD in Museology at Umeå University in 2022, investigating the transfers between heritage and sacredness in the early modern period and today. Her academic background in History of Ideas and Science led her to this topic, focusing on Swedish early modern collections of Catholic objects. She has a professional background including work in a famous early modern collection (Skokloster Castle) and Queen Christina’s manuscript collection in the Vatican Library. She has won several scholarships to pursue her research in Italy, and has presented her research in numerous international conferences, also as a keynote speaker. She has been part of the steering committees in two international research groups; EmoDiR (Early Modern Religious Dissent and Radicalism, emodir.net) and RCHG (Religion and Collections Heritage Group). She joined Uppsala University in 2023 as Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor, and will be in charge of the masters programme in her field at the Department of ALM there.