The Arts of Encounter: Christians, Muslims, and the Power of Images in Early Modern Spain by Catherine Infante (review)

Reviewed by: The Arts of Encounter: Christians, Muslims, and the Power of Images in Early Modern Spain by Catherine Infante Mary-Anne Vetterling Infante, Catherine. The Arts of Encounter: Christians, Muslims, and the Power of Images in Early Modern Spain. U of Toronto P, 2022, Pp. 250. ISBN 978-1-4875-0930-9. In The Arts of Encounter Catherine Infante utilizes the lenses of art, literature, and a variety of written documents appearing in Spanish, French, Arabic, and Aljamiado to provide insights into encounters among Christians and Muslims, noting throughout, their respective attitudes towards religious images in Early Modern Spain. The book contains an introduction, a conclusion, six [End Page 322] chapters, detailed endnotes, a bibliography, an index, and eighteen black-and-white illustrations scattered throughout the text. Quotations are in English with their originals in the endnotes. Chapter 1 documents the justification of Old Christian apologists for the expulsion of Moriscos from Spain (1609) via their writings that told how the Moriscos defaced and destroyed Christian symbols, especially the Cross. The Christians also mistakenly assumed that the Moriscos had adored the crescent moon as an icon. Works by Bleda, Guadalajara y Xavier, Aznar Cardona, and others are examined, along with a number of striking artistic illustrations. Infante explains that the Moriscos' aversion to the adoration of the Cross stems from the fact that in the Qur'an, Christ is not crucified. In the following chapter, Infante examines documents written by Moriscos in Arabic, Aljamiado, and Spanish. She observes that often the texts themselves were used as a form of resistance to Christian religious images. She reveals that Moriscos often acted outwardly as Christians while inwardly keeping true to their Islamic faith. She cites several fascinating stories, such as the Aljamiado version of the legend of Princess Carcayona, whose Christian father had her hands cut off in punishment for her Islamic beliefs. Infante observes that the way in which some Moriscos treated the book of the Qur'an paralleled the Christians' adoration of religious paintings and sculptures. She also discusses the epic-chivalric narratives that feature the triumph of Islam over Christianity, tales widely circulated among Moriscos. In chapter 3, Infante focuses on the numerous crosses deposited on the Sacromonte hillside in sixteenth century Granada and on the sacred Cross of Caravaca. We find out that the sacred tablets, made of lead, with mysterious inscriptions in Arabic script—also found on Sacromonte—were actually forgeries. Nevertheless, these tablets held special significance for both the Moriscos and the Christians through their messages in Arabic script and their accounts of miracles witnessed by early Christians. Infante dedicates a good portion of the chapter to analyzing in detail poems about this hill by famous Spanish poets: Góngora, Bonilla, and Fernández de Ribera, all of whom promote Christianity while barely mentioning the Moriscos in Granada. Chapter 4 dazzles the reader by Infante's explanations of the power of the image of the Virgin Mary to convert Muslims to Christianity. She stresses the fact that the Qur'an extols the Virgin Mary (Maryam) in her role as mother. She explains how images of the Virgin holding the Christ Child were venerated by both Christians and Muslims and even inspired non-believers to convert to Christianity. The best section of the chapter is when Infante's research provides insight into Lope's play Tragedia del rey don Sebastián y bautismo del príncipe de Marruecos. Here we see how the dramatist portrays the conversion of Muley al-Shaykh (fictionalized as Muley Xeque), first by his instruction from a friar on the principal Marian icons in Spain, and then by Muley's final conversion upon seeing the image of the Virgin of la Cabeza during a parade. The next chapter discusses how Mary's power to win battles for the Christian side is depicted in a series of popular Early Modern Spanish plays about moros y cristianos. At times the Virgin appears miraculously as a vision; at others she works through Marian icons. Infante provides us with analyses of seventeenth century comedias in which the Virgin plays a key role, and focuses her in-depth comments on plays by Lope, Calderón, Rojas Zorrilla...

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