The most visited exhibition of 2024 in Italy offers an opportunity to revisit the Norwegian painter’s interests in Spiritualism, Theosophy, and the demonic.
Esotericism
Diego Rivera and Esotericism: A Forgotten Relationship
Better known as a Marxist, the Mexican muralist was a member of the Rosicrucian order AMORC and cultivated other esoteric interests. His wife Frida Kahlo, a staunch Communist, was fascinated by reincarnation.
From Sleeping Beauty to Theosophical Masters: The Mystery of Hermann Schmiechen
The Bavarian painter produced the most famous portraits of Masters Koot Hoomi and Morya—reportedly not through entirely natural means.
Il dibattito teologico ed esoterico sull’esistenza dei vampiri (secoli XVII-XIX). 5. Echi ottocenteschi e novecenteschi di un antico dibattito
Il grande dibattito accademico sui vampiri del Settecento ha una “coda” tra i demonologi dell’Ottocento. Dopo, rimangono soltanto figure folkloristiche o marginali.
The Theological and Esoteric Debate on the Existence of Vampires (17th–19th centuries). 5. Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Echoes of an Old Discussion.
The great academic debate on vampires of the eighteenth century was restarted by some nineteenth-century demonologists—but it was soon marginalized.
Il dibattito teologico ed esoterico sull’esistenza dei vampiri (secoli XVII-XIX). 4. Equivoci sulla posizione di Dom Augustin Calmet
Voltaire ha presentato lo studioso benedettino, che ha scritto di vampiri, come un credulone. In realtà nel corso degli anni le sue posizioni sono passate da dubitative a scettiche.
The Theological and Esoteric Debate on the Existence of Vampires (17th–19th centuries). 4. How Calmet’s Position Was Misunderstood
Voltaire presented the Benedictine scholar, who wrote about vampires, as gullible. In reality over the years his positions went from dubious to skeptical.
Il dibattito teologico ed esoterico sull’esistenza dei vampiri (secoli XVII-XIX). 3. Interpretazioni razionaliste, teologiche, esoteriche
Antoine Faivre, il padre dei “vampire studies”, ha distinto tra posizioni illuministe, demonologiche e “paracelsiane” nel dibattito settecentesco sull’esistenza dei vampiri.
The Theological and Esoteric Debate on the Existence of Vampires (17th–19th centuries). 3. Rationalist, Theological, and Esoteric Interpretations
Antoine Faivre, the father of “vampire studies,” distinguished between Enlightenment-inspired, demonological, and “Paracelsian” positions.
Il dibattito teologico ed esoterico sull’esistenza dei vampiri (secoli XVII-XIX). 2. Un’epidemia di vampirismo nell’Impero Austro-Ungarico
Tra la fine del Seicento e il terzo decennio del Settecento la possibilità che i vampiri esistano è dapprima ammessa ma finalmente esclusa dalle autorità imperiali.