Cordial Message in Birgittine Dialect?
Cordial Message in Birgittine Dialect?

Summary/Abstract: This article examines aspects of Birgittine visual culture in the late Middle Ages, with particular attention to images that appear visually restrained yet were intended to engage perception and devotion. The analysis is based on manuscripts, early prints and textiles associated with Vadstena Abbey and its daughter houses, focusing on the repeated use of heart and wound imagery. These motifs are interpreted as elements of a specifically Birgittine visual ‘dialect’ that articulated theological ideas of affective devotion and the interrelated roles of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Embedded within practices of cura monialum, such images functioned as tools of spiritual instruction, shaping meditative practices and guiding religious experience through visual means.

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